Tata Opens Tea Retail Shops
Tata Cha shop
INDIA
Tata Global Beverages has opened four pilot cafes in Bengaluru (Bangalore).
The larger 1,400-square-foot Tata Cha tea shops will be located on main streets while a smaller format store will open in neighborhood locations. The menu includes cold teas, milkshakes, dunkers, snacks, and meals. Tea sells for 75 cents a cup (INR50, which is about triple the cost of chai from a street vendor). Meals are priced at $1.85 to $2 (INR120–180).
Sushant Dash, Tata Global Beverage’s regional president for India, said: “The plan is to open three kinds of formats—large -format cafés on highstreets, an abbreviated 700-square-foot format in highstreets and neighborhoods and kiosks in malls and IT parks.”
Eating out is on an upward trajectory, Dash said: “We want to be a part of this trend and through this pilot launch of Tata Cha want to test our model and feasibility. At the core of this venture is the motivation to enhance the appeal of tea and make it more vibrant for the newer consumer groups like the millennials. “
“The menu is crafted to revive lost Indian recipes that blend warmth with a dash of youthfulness. This includes signature tea-based hot and cold beverages, traditional snacks, dunkers and meals with a twist,” he said.
Tata Global Beverages, the world’s second-largest tea company, is based in Bengaluru, an affluent and fast-growing city with a vibrant coffee culture. Tata noted that more than 90% of the people of India regularly drink tea, which is available for as little as 15–20 cents on street corners and public transport. The $3.6 billion domestic tea market is growing by 3-4% annually, a sign of India’s expanding middle class.
Tata previously launched a chai retail concept in 2009 that failed. The small-format shops, essentially kiosks with limited food, closed within a year. The company release noted that based on the outcome of the pilot, “Tata Global Beverages will decide on future course of action for the out-of-home beverage space.”