Home-grown coffee brand leaders are changing the way Indians experience coffee. These leaders are reshaping the coffee culture in India by not only brewing premium coffee blends, but also enhancing the cafe experience, making it suitable for work, hangouts and relaxation alike. Over time, these leading coffee brands began to embrace the production of organic coffee in India, thereby inspiring other brands to invest in various methods of coffee cultivation in India, aiming to bring the best coffee experience in their own unique way. Thanks to that, the coffee growth in India is expected to reach a production of about 374 thousand metric tons in the fiscal year 2024. Let’s look at how each brand's leader or leaders are taking the coffee culture in India to new heights.

Nishant Sinha, Founder, Roastery Coffee House

Alumni of Jodhpur's Institute of Hotel Management, Nishant Sinha spent a generous number of years honing his experience around the coffee business. When he established Roastery Coffee House, he aimed to increase the brand's visibility across all metro areas and eventually take it global. With that, he induced extensive studying and hard work into the base of his vision. As a result, his two cafés carved themselves a niche in the market and brought numerous honors.

How He Shares that Cup of Goodness to All

Behind Nishant’s success is his focus on producing great and consistent coffee and sharing that cup of goodness with as many people as possible. He does this by sourcing and roasting some of the greatest coffees out there. He even ensures that he always commits to sustainable business by paying premium prices to enable coffee farmers.

Interestingly, the leader treasures the value chain from the crop to the cup as one of the brand’s guiding principles.

 

Their efforts in sourcing the beans when they are fresh in season and roasting them to perfection have allowed the brand’s coffees to score 86 and above. Having expanded and changed over the years, the brand indicates that it continues to explore new ways to share flavor and connect communities around India.

Matt Chitharanjan, Co-Founder and CEO, Namrata Asthana, Co-Founder and Shivam Shahi, Co-Founder, Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters

The story begins in 2013 when Matt Chitharanjan, Namrata Asthana, and Shivam Shahi, their third company partner and current COO, founded Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters in New Delhi. With its headquarters nestled in Gurgaon, India, Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters is the largest and fastest-growing specialty coffee brand in India. 

They Take Premium Indian Coffee Beyond Borders

Blue Tokai’s foundation grounds were built as a roastery with the aim of increasing the availability of premium Indian coffee across all formats. Being one of the forerunners of specialty coffee in India, the brand plays a huge part in molding the nation's developing coffee culture to meet international standards. It grew over the years by adding standalone cafés and roasteries all over India. Currently, it boasts four roasteries, and more than 110 physical locations in key Indian cities and areas, namely Chandigarh, Mohali, Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Delhi NCR, in addition to international operations in Japan. Aside from that, Blue Tokai has collaborated with prominent retail stores, high-end hotels and dining establishments, leading corporations, and co-working spaces, among other establishments. The brand constantly brews its effort to enhance the flavors by sourcing from the highest-grade Indian beans and roasts them with expertise to ensure each of its offerings speaks of the highest quality. Blue Tokai envisions increasing consumer access to specialty coffee through its cafés, brewing workshops, website, and social media accounts.

Anirudh Sharma, Co-Founder, Ayush Bathwal, Co-Founder and Sushant Goel, Co-Founder & CEO, Third Wave Coffee

Third Wave Coffee (TWC) marked its starting point in 2016 when it was founded by three young entrepreneurs, Anirudh Sharma, Ayush Bathwal, and Sushant Goel. They set off with the aim of providing the ideal cup of coffee that would satisfy the tastes of Indians. 

They Are Bringing a Whole Movement When they Serve Specialty Coffee

The idea behind Third Wave Coffee Roasters is to bring specialty coffee, or the "Third Wave movement," to India. This movement stands to provide premium coffee that is expertly crafted from the field to the cup. Simply put, the company strives for everyone to enjoy the happiness of a well-brewed beverage. As much as it values its own cafes, the brand also values its wholesale ties and partner cafés. Therefore, it constantly works towards transforming the world one cup at a time. It does this by carefully curating from its food menus to its innovative baristas, from the best hand-picked coffee to creating communities through conversations.

Bharat Singhal, Founder, Bili Hu Coffees

A little to know who Bharat is. First, he is an environments designer by profession, with experience in designing in retail showrooms, brewpubs, exhibitions, events, installations, television set design and other narrative environments. The first chapter in his professional journey was with The Indian Coffee Board. Some of the notable highlights in career include the time he was engaged in a hypothetical retail design project, aiming to promote Indian-grown coffees and provide a comprehensive retail strategy and suitable design solution to back it up in 2012. Being a newbie to the industry, he sought support for information and guidance from the Coffee Board of India in Delhi and Bangalore. By the time he reached completion, he had realized that his passion for coffee had risen excessively, nudging him to find ways to improve this retail model and make it more suitable for the real-world. Therefore, he grew that passion more in blending various ingredients, experimenting with roasts, and producing interesting flavors over time.

He Shares A Story With Every Cup

Named ‘Bili Hu’, the word is derived from the Kannada language in Karnataka, the place of origin for growing coffee in India. "Bili hu" translates to a white flower that blooms during harvest season, which indicates the production of coffee plants. Bili Hu’s purpose is to bring customers the most interesting and unique coffees which were originally only meant for export. The brand stands by its purpose by continually being on the lookout for coffees that carry a distinctive story, either at the crop level or post-harvest. The coffee it serves is a result of the close collaboration with some of India's best Curers, roasters and coffee estate owners.

Aharnish, Raj Singh, and Manideep Chhokra, Co-Founders, BiziBean

BiziBean is a chain of coffee shops brought to life by coffee enthusiasts Aharnish, Raj Singh, and Mandeep Chhokra. The tale behind this brand began in 2004 when Manideep and Aharnish closed the chapters of their corporate jobs to pursue their love of coffee and launch a business-to-business (B2B) venture in the roast and ground (R&G) coffee market. A decade later, the two leaders entered the retail sector by discovering a need for a specialty coffee café with freshly roasted coffee, a variety of blends, roasts, and origins, and the ability for customers to sample coffee before making a decision, all offered at a reasonable price. What emerged from these efforts was the establishment of BiziBean in 2014 with the help of another buddy, also a coffee expert named Raj, who joined in by investing Rs 5 lakh initially.

They Are Transforming the Coffee Experience from Home

BiziBean transforms the experience of drinking coffee from home by providing premium coffee that is directly acquired from Indian farmers and sold at a reasonable price. The goal of the brand is to transform the at-home coffee experience with its takeout mixes, which feature premium coffee. BiziBean starts by picking the finest plantations in the country from planters who are fiercely proud of their estates, which helps it use 100 percent premium green beans to grow coffee. BiziBean’s passion embodies the best possible aromas, flavors, sweetness, acidity and body from every coffee it sources, crediting its roastmasters who are always experimenting and crafting the perfect cup.