As part of its overseas expansion plan, coffee retail chain major Barista will soon open six stores in Bangladesh, informed a top company official. Elaborating the plan, Vishal Kapoor, head — marketing and product development, Barista said, “We are growing pretty well in terms of the number of outlets opened and the revenue generated as well. With 230 outlets currently operational in 32 cities, we plan to close the year with 300 stores across 40 cities in India.”
“In the next couple of weeks, we will have six outlets in Dhaka in Bangladesh. In domestic expansion, our primary focus is on opening outlets in the towns where we are already present, but we also are moving to some new towns as well. We have some franchisees like the one in Guwahati, but in terms of expansion, we are currently working on company operated format and all the scheduled stores which will be opened in 2009 will be company owned outlets only,” added Kapoor.
Besides India, the company currently operates 30 outlets in countries including Sri Lanka, Oman and Dubai. “Retail is growing faster in organised segment as more and more people are shifting to the same and that’s the reality,” said Kapoor.
Further, the company has also introduced a new range of products with its existing variants. Branded as Sweet Nothings, the range includes six products such as Hot Mayan Mocha, Cold Mayan Chocolate, Strawberry Dream, Hot Mayan and Love Mugs.
“With Love Mugs, we have been offering a specially designed straw for the couples. It is a single straw with two open-outs that helps the couples drink together. We have introduced the range to bring excitement among them when they are drinking together,” concluded Kapoor.
— Sarimul Islam Choudhury
