BEST WISHES KAAPI READY FROM
-A N Sriram (cbedit@imaws.org)
In the heart of India’s burgeoning coffee culture, Kaapi Ready has emerged as the undisputed leader in filter coffee, captivating the taste buds of enthusiasts across the nation. With a reputation built on delivering an unparalleled coffee experience, this trailblazing chain has secured exclusive tie-ups with the Central Government, further cementing its status as the preferred choice for coffee aficionados. As Kaapi Ready ambitiously plans to establish 2000 outlets nationwide, it is on a mission to redefine the coffee landscape, blending tradition with innovation, and setting new standards of excellence and authenticity. Here, Kaapi Ready’s COO & Director Mr. K.S. Kishore, shares more inputs about their plans for our readers.
Can you tell us about the journey of Kaapi Ready and how it has become India’s number one filter coffee chain?
After the COVID, we started our own two, three shops to run ourselves. And then we started this brand. Eventually – customers liked the coffee we are serving. It is after almost six months of R&D to get into this blend. Eventually we started receiving offers asking for the franchises and that is how we started selling the franchises. Initially we didn’t have a big plan, but, the customer support and penetration of franchise network changed our paths and made us here where we are now. This is how the brand started elevating.
What inspired the founding of Kaapi Ready and how has the vision evolved over time?
As far as filter coffee is concerned, there are many brands locally, which will be available only in that particular area. But when you see the gap between the coffee, you will see coffee price for Rs. 10 or maybe Rs. 15 in a bakery. Or maybe you will see a coffee in Coffee Day or something like that, nationally. The price range difference too, there is a big gap. And one more, the next price range is Rs. 200 or Rs. 300 coffees. So, there is a very big gap. There are lot of opportunity to do the business in coffee. And also, if you see Tea brand, there are more than 15, 20 tea brands available nationally. So, for coffee, no one is actually available to sell coffee between Rs. 30, Rs. 40 across the nation in the same quality. That was the concept actually.
Kaapi Ready has secured exclusive tie-ups with the Central Government. How have these partnerships contributed to your growth and brand positioning?
Petrol pumps requires basic necessary facilities of the air, toilet, hygiene, drinking water etc. which is lacking in Indian petrol pumps excepting few like Shell. So, for the travelers, there is no refreshment in the petrol pump. Normally, when you travel along with the family to some other city by car or maybe a two wheeler, when you stop in between, you need some break, refreshment. So, this was the concept behind. We opened outlet in Chennai and Coimbatore. Because of this, the petrol pump sale also increased marginally as customers know in which petrol pump they can get a coffee.
HPCL was noticing all these things very carefully. Because, nowadays the batteries cars, EV charging vehicles, ethanol vehicles are increasing. So, even they don’t want to give up the petrol business. That is a very big opportunity for them also. They want to give a service to the customers. And if you see, there are lot of petrol pumps, ATM machines has gone outside because of the UPA. There are lot of empty spaces available. Even they want to utilize it and maybe they want to get the additional revenue from the petrol pump. So, it is both vice versa, right. This is how the concept started. Because of us, they got some good… Increase in footfalls. Because of them, even we got the opportunity of increased business and market penetration. So, it has now become two way Win-win situation for both of us.
With the goal of establishing 2000 outlets nationwide, what strategies are you employing to achieve this ambitious target?
A person for example who is having capital of 8 to 10 lakhs may doesn’t know what to do if he is going to do the business. Also, he don’t know whether it is going to be success or not. So, they are our customers. We will help them to set up a business so that they can run their own shop. To get this kind of customer clients, we have various sources. We will be getting that. And second thing, as a company, we ourselves are investing and we are expanding also.
What challenges have you faced in expanding Kaapi Ready, and how have you overcome them?
Challenges are lot actually. It is not so easy to run 50 or 60 coffee shops. Challenges like the need of manpower, raw materials, supply chain, getting investors are there. It is everything equally means the problems are equally contributing. For example, if we set up a store in Hyderabad, we need to source the manpower locally. Now, we tied up with couple of brands who supply the manpower. Likewise, raw materials also are all handled in a proper way as we need to give a consistent taste to the customer across all outlets. We cannot tell Hyderabad store to buy coffee powder there itself. They need to procure all from our central warehouse where only we will do the transfers.
Your brand promises an unparalleled coffee experience. Can you share what makes Kaapi Ready’s coffee unique?
One is, our coffee beans are procured from a single estate. We don’t change. There is no chemical used to grow the beans and are pesticides free. Second thing, the blending. It is an exclusive blending not given to others. That is our exclusivity. Throughout the year, the consistency will happen. This makes our branding unique. Even though we will be having many exclusive items, definitely, coffee is a main face for us actually.
As you expand internationally, what steps are you taking to adapt your offerings to different markets while maintaining the essence of Kaapi Ready?
Lot of discussions are going on to start our business in UAE, Qatar, even Oman also and even in Singapore also. Singapore and Malaysia. Yes, market is open.
Franchising is a significant part of your growth strategy. What can potential franchisees expect when partnering with Kaapi Ready?
We guide them on what kind of offers we need to put? What kind of marketing we should do? What kind of menu we should plan locally? We will help them to do the local analysis. We help them in corporate tie-ups. Our trainers go to the outlets weekly and will do the trainings there. Not only helping them to maintain consistency in business, in case of any legal issues, landlord issues maybe some local municipality or some issues, our area managers are available to support them.
Consistency is a growing concern in the F&B industry. What initiatives has Kaapi Ready implemented to address this?
When you open a coffee shop, getting the space for rentals is the first challenge. The second thing is the consistency of the owners. Keeping a landlord as an example, if you open a coffee shop with some X, Y, Z person, maybe after a year or two years, once the business increases, he may demand additional rental. So, here with us, to be consistency, we have a central government tie-up. We are using the central government premises. There is no locals involved there. Your rentals are consistent. Your premises is secure and safe. You have all the premises, genset back up to security. Everything is available in the petrol pump. So, your premises is secure and when you see legally, your documents are secured, there is no worry. You do not have to go outside to search for a customer as they are coming inside the petrol pump. Only you have to utilize those and have to maintain the quality.
As Kaapi Ready continues to expand its footprint both nationally and internationally, the future looks promising for this pioneering filter coffee chain. By offering franchise opportunities and embracing sustainability, the brand is poised to leave a lasting impact on the global coffee industry. In the years to come, Kaapi Ready aims to transform into a multinational sensation, bringing the rich heritage of Indian filter coffee to the world.
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