Gloria Jean's Coffee to soon re-enter the Indian market

Gloria Jean’s Coffee, the coffee cafe brand, is making a comeback to India with 100 new stores in the next five years.

Jay Jay Capital & Investments is the new master franchise company for Gloria Jean’s Coffee in the country. It is planning to invest up to Rs 150 crore for the expansion.

Gloria Jean’s Coffee is looking at launching 40 outlets across metros and mini-metros in India in the next three years. The brand will be targeting Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi NCR and Hyderabad for expansion.

Earlier, the Australian coffee brand had forayed into a master franchise agreement with Citymax Hospitality of the Landmark Group but had to shut shop after seven years of operations and a bleeding balance sheet.

In 2014, the company had annual revenue of about Rs 15 crore in the country, after seven years of operations.

Founded by Gloria Jean Kvetko in 1979 in the US, Gloria Jean’s Coffee launched its first outlet in Sydney, Australia. The brand now has a presence in over 50 markets.

Plans for India

Gloria Jean’s Coffee will be working on a cold kitchen concept and prepare fresh food. Its cafes will be about 800-1,500 sq ft with a per-store investment of about Rs 1 crore. The brand expects the return on investment to begin within two-and-a-half years of a store first being set up.

The company’s first set of stores is slated to launch in Mumbai and Bengaluru by June 2020.

Gloria Jean’s Coffee will also be revamped to provide fresh and live food at all outlets, which are to be a game-changer in the cafe industry. It will be positioned as a mid-segment brand.

The café brand is targeting to unveil outlets in shopping malls as well as selected high-street locations.

Offerings by Gloria Jean’s Coffee

Gloria Jean’s Coffee offers a variety of cold and hot coffees, chillers, quick bites, and muffins and pastries.

Rohit Malhotra, CEO of Jay Jay Capital & Investments Pvt Ltd, said, “At Gloria Jeans, we take our coffee very seriously, so not only does it taste great, but we also make sure we buy from suppliers that look after both their workers and the environment.”

“Our coffee beans are sourced from all over the world and from many different farms of all types and sizes large plantations, co-operative groups and tiny family farms,” he added.

Indian café chain market

In India, the café chain market, led by Café Coffee Day and Tata Starbucks, is one of the fastest-growing categories in the consumer food service industry. As per market research firm Euromonitor, this market is estimated to grow 6.9% a year to Rs 4,540 crore by 2023 in value sales at constant prices exclusive of inflation.

According to Euromonitor, India is now the world’s 10th fastest growing market for specialist coffee and tea retail chains, valued at Rs 2,570 crore in 2018.