Current Market Analysis
The domestic coffee market is highly fractured with multiple players at different levels. Offering direct competition to Starbucks are branded players such as Cafe Coffee Day, Barista and Costa Coffee, all having a national foot print. Other players such as Coffee World, Coffee Bean & tea Leaf exist but their threat perception is minimal, they having been marginalised due to no growth and lack of focus.
The next level competition comprises regional and local players such as Sarvana Bhavan, Kamat Café, Kalmane Coffee, Hatti Tea & Coffee etc. As indicated they have a strong regional presence and serve the value seeking segment.

Strong kiosk brands such as Nescafe, Bru World also service the value seekers and leverage the strong brand recall among the daily coffee drinkers.
The strongest emerging threat, would, however, be from burger chains such as Mac Donald’s. In the last few years they are converting a part of their stores, especially in high end malls to McCafe serving the similar product mix to Starbucks.
Growth of cafes in India is driven by many factors. This includes favourable demographics, fast rising income levels, migration from mid-sized towns to larger metros. The advent of global chains has also in a way catalysed growth. What is interesting to note is that cafes in India are considered a perfect place to socialize among college goers and working professionals. This is very unlike the West.
But having said that India is a very tough