The time of Chai (Tea) in India is being surpassed by coffee drinkers today. I believe, in India the customers having chai on their table still wants the coffee in the morning and evening, says TJ Joulak

The 3rd BW Hotelier’s F&B Conclave and Expo 2017, had another session on ‘How to make Indian Coffee Hip and how the F& B community can make it possible’ moderated by Bikramjit Ray, Executive Editor, BW Hotelier at Andaz Aerocity, Delhi.

The session was addressed by esteemed panelists such as Devika Dutt Founder Director, Devi Coffee, TJ Joulak, General Manager, W Goa, Zubin Songadwala General Manager, ITC Maurya, Sahil Mehta Pastry Chef and Co- Founder, The Baking Lab and Matt Chithranjan Founder- CEO, Blue Tokai.

The discussion began with why coffee is still behind tea in India in terms of consumption, Devika, said, “Although coffee has there been in India since the 1670s, with the introduction of tea it became the dominant drink which it still continues to be, but in the last few years, coffee drinking is seeing a significant growth in India. Today for every 30 drinkers of tea, there is one for coffee, So the growth path of this product is steep and it is growing fast”

Coming from a culture which drinks a lot of coffee TJ Joulak said, “The time of Chai (Tea) in India is being surpassed by coffee drinkers today. I believe in India the customers having chai on their table still wants the coffee in the morning and evening.”

“Every time I go to Mumbai or Delhi I’m very impressed by the number of cafes there are in both the cities. The generation today loves to go to a café and have coffee where wi-fi is free and everything is trending,” he said.

Adding to this Sahil Mehta said “10 years back when I was in France I was always a tea drinker, it was only when I came back to India I became a coffee drinker, I feel a good pastry and a good coffee can really go well, people like their tea but at the same time they want their coffee as well’.

Speaking about the trend of coffee in India, Zubin said, “In last two three years the coming of Starbucks and CCD in India has created more awareness among the customers. In mid-1980’s espresso was just about the milk, foam and Nescafe powder in it and then slowly espresso got a business and grew up.”

“ITC has been sourcing and exporting coffee from the last 25 years and today Indian coffee is some of the most superior coffees in the world,” he added.

According to Matt’s Indian consumers know their coffee but still educating them about different coffees is important. “Initially people just used to open Nescafe putting it in the cup and steering it and having a cup of coffee. They have same expectation from all types of coffee so making them understand the difference is important”.