Costa Coffee Fails in India
Costa Coffee, like other ambitious coffee corporations, expanded its already far-reaching coffee empire throughout India in 2005. But five years on, Costa's CEOs announced that they had failed in India. Well, only slightly, it seems. With a 24% growth in the final quarter of 2009, Costa is still aiming for expansion in 2010. But despite any successes displayed in the hard numbers, Costa's higher ups are declaring that they can do better.
According to Santhosh Unni, CEO of Costa Coffee, the corporation directly planted their original UK model onto the Indian subcontinent. In review of the their 5 year stint in India, Costa discovered the coffeehouses were first and foremost meeting places. As a result, the entire Costa Coffee model had to be reworked. The layout and atmosphere of these coffeehouses needs to better accommodate socializing. The location of these coffeehouses needs to be strategically placed in high traffic areas, like airports, malls, shopping avenues and IT parks (hubs of offices of the top technology corporations). The brand needs to refocus their efforts in the south, where coffee is a popular drink. The chain needs to open another few hundred shops by 2014 in order to dominate the Indian coffee market.
And in order to capture and emulate the local culture of coffee-drinking, Costa has created a Mogiano, a new coffee drink that "is a combination of Mughlai and Italian to suit Indian tastes," explains Unni. Let the culturally-adapted-coffee sampling begin! Or perhaps can discount coffee enjoyed in private spaces, like homes, be an alternative?
For those who don't want to travel to cafes afar for the taste of exotic coffees there is hope for you yet. Keurig brewers—which are coffee machines that produce high quality, great tasting drinks—feature a selection of flavors from afar. Keurig brewers feature K-Cups coffees with the following flavors that reveal the taste of local flavors like French Vanilla, Authentic Green Tea, Indian Spice Chai Tea, and Kenyan AA Blend.