Indian chain Cafe Coffee Day is firming up plans to expand into Southeast Asia.

Cafe Coffee Day is looking to use the franchise route to set up presence in Southeast Asia, however, it is not ruling out the possibility of opening directly-owned stores.

The company said it is in advanced discussions with potential partners in the region.

“The thinking is that, if we align with a local franchisee partner, we may have a deeper understanding of the customer preferences in the local markets and a whole host of ‘route-to-market’ strategies,” said a company official.

With around 1400 outlets, Cafe Coffee Day is the largest coffee chain in India. It also has 16 stores in Austria and Czech Republic.