Project Café India 2025 is the world’s first deep-dive report on India’s burgeoning branded coffee shop market. It reveals the overall market grew 12.7% over the last 12 months to reach 5,339 outlets as both international and domestic operators vie for market share in the world’s most populous country
- Project Café India 2025 shows the total Indian branded coffee shop market added 600 stores (12.7%) over the last 12 months to reach 5,339 outlets
- Tata Starbucks (480 stores) is the market leader, followed by Barista (465 outlets) and Café Coffee Day (425 outlets)
- Indian consumers value in-store beverage consumption with friends and family over takeaway, with a third of branded coffee shop visits occurring after 5pm
- Younger urban consumers are driving demand for aspirational hospitality experiences
Indian branded coffee shop market primed for rapid growth
Espresso-based beverages and café culture are rapidly gaining ground in traditionally tea-drinking India. Twenty-four percent of 2,000 coffee shop consumers surveyed by World Coffee Portal now visit coffee shops daily, with 57% doing so at least once a week.
Indian consumers also have more choice than ever before, with the overwhelming majority of 104 coffee operators featured in this report achieving outlet growth over the last 12 months.
Starbucks, which entered India in 2012 via a partnership with domestic conglomerate, Tata Group, is the branded coffee shop market leader, with 480 stores commanding a 9% market share of outlets.
New Delhi-based Barista is the second largest branded coffee chain overall with 465 outlets, while pioneering Bengaluru-based Café Coffee Day operates 425 outlets, but continues to close stores amid ongoing challenges with debt.
Homegrown coffee brands thriving as consumers back Indian brands
International branded coffee chains, such as Starbucks, Costa Coffee and Dunkin’, played a significant role in generating consumer demand for premium coffee experiences during the late 2000s and 2010s. However, today’s branded coffee shop is increasingly defined by homegrown operators, with 79 out of 104 branded coffee chains featured in the report founded in India.
Boutique brands, such as Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters, Third Wave Coffee and Subko, are harnessing India’s rich coffee-growing traditions to spur a new generation of specialty coffee consumers. Meanwhile, value-focused operators, such as Nothing Before Coffee, abCoffee, and First Coffee, are building loyalty among India’s young urban workforce.
Underlining the growing momentum behind India’s homegrown operators, domestic coffee chains Third Wave Coffee and Café Buddy’s Espresso are the fastest-growing in the market, adding 56 stores each to reach 172 and 145 outlets respectively.
Indian consumers embrace in-store experiences
Coffee shop visits in India are highly social occasions, with consumers favouring in-store beverage and food consumption with family and friends, and a third of coffee shop transactions occurring after 5pm.
Coffee also remains a relatively expensive luxury in India, with espresso-based beverages often double the price of food in coffee shops. Project Café India 2025 shows total average coffee shop spend per visit combining coffee and food stands at ₹660.86 ($7.53), compared to ₹426.22 ($4.85) for beverages only visits ($4.85).
Outside of coffee shops, nearly three-quarters of Indian consumers surveyed ordered coffee at a restaurant over the last 12 months.
Responding to this preference, UK-based coffee and food-to-go chain Pret A Manger debuted its first full-service restaurant market in the world in India in April 2025.
A Blue Tokai barista (left), the interior of a Subko Coffee Roasters outlet ((centre) and First Coffee cups on display (right)
The makings of a global coffee shop giant
With a population of 1.45 billion, more than half of whom are under the age of 30, coupled with growing economic prowess and vast coffee-growing regions, India is poised to become a major global hotspot for coffee and hospitality commerce.
World Coffee Portal forecasts the total Indian branded coffee shop market will surpass 6,110 outlets in 2026, and reach over 10,000 outlets by the end of 2030, representing a five-year growth of 13.2% CAGR.
The coffee-focused segment is forecast to grow at 15% CAGR over the next five years to exceed 8,050 outlets, while the food-focused segment is anticipated to grow at 7% CAGR to exceed 1,860.
Commenting on the report findings, Allegra Group Founder and CEO, Jeffrey Young, said:
“It’s incredible to see the rise of Indian coffee culture and the cementing of its place as one of the new hot spots of influence in the global coffee industry. While the market still has some way to go, its youthful population of 1.4 billion people and aspiring middle class means premium coffee consumption is rapidly becoming one of the biggest trends in this major world economy.
“Coffee and café culture is moving well beyond the major cities of Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore, into second and third-tier cities and continues to make a mark in smaller cities and towns throughout India.
“It’s clear that coffee is a very attractive lifestyle product for Indian consumers, and the country’s coffee producers are working hard to deliver high-quality and speciality-grade coffee to this enormous population.”
