Australian family-owned coffee house Di Bella Coffee is making inroads in India.
And unlike most other international coffee chains who have entered India through franchise agreements, Australian coffee chain Di Bella Coffee has forged a joint venture with a local business.
Di Bella Coffee has partnered with Indian Sachin Sabharwal who will take 30 per cent and 70 per cent respectively.
“Instead of the Indian company paying us a royalty, we took equity in the company, as we believe in being there for the long term. The brand will continue to be owned by the Australia-based parent company, while the Indian partner will have the responsibility of growing the business,” said Di Bella Coffee chairman Phillip Di Bella.
“It makes sense to forge a JV as the local partner understands the market. The majority of the financial risk will rest with him as he has a 70 per cent stake in the business,” he added.
Di Bella Coffee entered India earlier this year with first outlet opened in Mumbai which has grown to seven outlets at present. The number of outlets is expected to increase to 50 in the next three years.
Apart from outlets, Di Bella Coffee also plans to operate wholesale and online businesses in India.
“We would also be selling our coffees to high-end hotels and restaurants as part of the wholesale operations. The online business would start towards the later part of the year as we are waiting to have enough number of stores which can deliver the coffee,” said Sabharwal.
Di Bella Coffee claims to be the first coffee chain in India to have a full digital interactive platform throughout all stores. This will include tablet PC’s on each table for menu ordering, internet and email usage.
Di Bella Coffe is the second international coffee chain to enter India through a joint venture following Starbucks, which developed a 50:50 joint venture with Tata Global Beverages.
Di Bella Coffee was founded in 2002. Today, Di Bella Coffee has over 1200 wholesale and retail outlets in Australia, New Zealand, China and India.
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