Coffee shops galore

Walk through the streets of Bangalore and you will spot a minimum of three Coffee Day outlets. The Kormangala area near Forum has about eight if I am not wrong. Now in addition to CCD you can see Mocha, Gloria's etc.

Sitting in a tea shop , Tea Centre at Churchgate yesterday, I started thinking about coffee shops in general. I was sitting in a classy, plush ambiance exactly reminded me of Barista except for a much more classy and sophisticated appeal. And what's more the place was extremely reasonable , it was comparable to the Mocha beside , but the service and ambiance was so good, anyone would expect the rates to be as high as a ChaBar Leela , Blore.

Now what is the difference between a CCD, Barista, Mocha, Costa Coffee, Gloria's etc?

According to me, CCD caters to the extremely discount segment, right at the bottom. CCD if for all and sundry. The service is abysmal, most Bangalore CCDs bring the cheque at your table with your coffee even if you have not asked for it!! So much so for their tagline " A lot can happen over coffee". CCD has increasingly started playing the volume's game. They need fast moving crowds, but this would affect their customer base and brand in long run. People do not go to coffee shops to drink mere coffee, they go to spend time and if CCD does not allow that , then I really do not know what is their value proposition. The only compelling reason for me to enter a CCD would be their Green Apple Soda!


Barista has always been my first love. Since college times we as a group would flock to the St Marks Road Barista ( now HRC Bangalore), play pictionary, scrabble and other games. Now Barista conjures memories of several friendships, all over a cup of Hazelnut cappuccino. Barista is a place where people can simply read their fav book at peace, have an official meeting, kill time if you are running early between appointments, and hang out with friends. Barista never drives out people. They have an extremely loyal customer base and slightly more upmarket as compared to a CCD. Barista allows me to customise my drink if I need more HazelNul flavour in my cappuccino, while CCD charges me if I ask them for more green apple squash in my soda! That was surely pissing off!
Barista provides most comforts of a 5 star coffee shop at a reasonable price. Plus I love their standees and merchandise. Barista also follows a consistent positioning though I must admit their service delivery is not consistent. Some Barista's have a self service thing while others serve at your table. When I asked them about this, the store manager said Barista is slowly moving towards serving at the table because CCD does that. Well... mebbe but I think Barista should not take any parity with CCD because their whole strategy, TG etc are very different.

CCD follows a cluster strategy like Starbucks, where incremental sales would compensate for the cannibalisation. Barista opens it outlets carefully ensuring enough footfall would occur. Once Barista has opened its outlets, CCD opens several outlets nearby.


Coming to Costa Coffee- premuim pricing, more for the youth, plush ambiance , and more variety on their palette. Pricing is the only difference which filters out crowd and ensures a more homogenous segmentation. I did not like the place at all and thought it was extremely over priced for no extra service at all.

Mocha has differentiated services for its loyal customers, based on membership and gives a very different ambiance. Primarily aimed at youth and groups. It is not a place where you would go on a solitary outing. It is for socialising and hanging out.

Gloria has matched Costa Coffee on its price points and has all the POPs. It is still a recent entrant and let us see if they modify its palette.

Waiting for some tea chains to come up in this tea drinking nation, but until then Barista and coffee shall remain my first love.