Franchised locations currently make up 70% of Barista’s store network | Photo credit: Barista

Indian coffee chain Barista plans to double its store count within the next five years by scaling its regional footprint and opening more company-owned stores.  
 

Barista opened its 400th outlet earlier this month and expects to reach 500 stores by the end of the year. Franchised locations currently make up 70% of that network, but the Haryana-based coffee chain is seeking achieve a 50% split with company-owned sites over the next few years.  

Additionally, Barista is seeking to increase its presence in India’s eastern, southern and western regions which currently make up approximately 35% of its total store count. The coffee chain also plans to enter up to 80 new cites as part of its expansion drive. 

“As the overall market sizing is maturing and the overall appetite for consumers to eat out is increasing, we plan to double our presence in India in the next five years. We have pretty much been in a stable state in terms of the way we are growing the network. The idea is not to just grow but to have a balanced set of growth,” CEO Rajat Agrawal told ET Retail. 

Barista is the third largest branded coffee chain in India behind Bengaluru-based Café Coffee Day, which operated 467 stores as of 30 June 2023, and Starbucks’ 390 outlets. 

Its growth plans were announced a week after Tata Starbucks, the joint venture that manages the US coffee chain in India, unveiled an ambitious goal to scale its operations to 1,000 stores by 2028. 

Tata Starbucks said outlet growth will focus on further penetration of India’s Tier 2 and 3 cities, as well as the expansion of its drive-thru, airport and 24-hour store network.