13 Facts About Café Coffee Day(CCD) That Led To Coffee Revolution In A Tea Loving Nation
Café Coffee Day or CCD (as we love to call it) has its outlets everywhere!
From the state of Jammu and Kashmir to the streets of Tamil Nadu, from the corners of Meghalaya to the beaches of Goa, from the sands of Rajasthan to the mangroves in the West Bengal, you can sip a perfectly brewed cup of coffee at CCD almost anywhere, anytime.
You think of coffee and it’s CCD that comes to your mind, even when you are half asleep. Thanks to V G Siddhartha, the man who dreamt of CCD and brought it to life. Back in 1990s, when Siddhartha founded Café Coffee Day, there was no concept like this.
CCD’s success is all clearly visible. The invisible are the interesting facts associated with Café Coffee Day. How did CCD become the largest Indian coffee chain? How did CCD reach every nook and corner of India? Where else in the world can we find CCD?
Feeding Trends brings you 13 interesting facts about Café Coffee Day (CCD).
1. The first CCD outlet was set up on July 11, 1996. With an initial investment of ₹ 1.5 crore, V.G. Siddhartha opened the first CCD outlet in one of the busiest and luxurious localities of Bangalore, Brigade Road. Besides providing coffee, CCD also gave free internet to their customers.
2. It was in 2010 that CCD’s logo, layout of the stores, and interiors were revamped. This happened because of an investment of INR 10 billion (US$140 million) in Coffee Day Resorts, owned by the company. This gave a boost to the coffee chain numbers.
3. The present CCD logo was chosen to denote the coffee chain as a place to talk. It was to convey a relaxed and fun hangout for the aspirational, urban youth in the country. That’s how Café Coffee Day touched the hearts of the Indian youth, assuring them that all they need is a cup of coffee and a peppy place to talk it all out.
4. The Café Coffee Day (CCD) tagline, ‘A lot can happen over coffee’ goes well with everyone. It conveys the warmth of CCD and the magic that a perfect cuppa coffee can do. Although, the first outlet offered more of a novelty value, today CCD has become a place for people to spend a leisurely hour or even two.
5. Café Coffee Day (CCD), the Indian coffee café chain, serves 1.8 billion cups of coffee, annually, in six countries. Yes, CCD expanded out of India and has functional outlets in Austria (Vienna), Czech Republic, Malaysia, Egypt and Nepal. So, if your travel takes you there, do stop by to get a taste from back home!
6. In India alone, there are 1,843 CCD outlets. They are present in almost every city, in the remotest locations. Whether you are in Jammu & Kashmir, or in Andaman & Nicobar, or in Rajasthan, or in Meghalaya or in Chennai, you can sip a perfectly brewed cup of coffee at CCD almost anywhere, anytime.
7. The amazing coffee that we sip at Cafe Coffee Day comes from the coffee estates of 20,000 acres owned by the company. Out of these, 10,000 acres of coffee farms were inherited by V G Siddhartha from his parents and have been the secret behind the evergreen taste of CCD’s coffee.
8. Café Coffee Day grows three varieties of beans primarily - Dark Forest, Arabica & Robusta in the estates. Then too, it is the largest producer of Arabica beans in Asia. It exports the Arabica coffee beans to various countries including USA, Europe and Japan.
9. The CCD group also takes special care of the local tribe that handpicks the coffee beans in their estates. They run a school and a hospital for local tribal people working for CCD people, and also provide free electricity to all the homes.
10. Besides brewing the happiness in coffee, the company also produces coffee machines and furniture for the CCD outlets. This is how the brand does its cost-cutting and focuses on making great coffee easily accessible and affordable for all.
11. The greatest challenge for V G Siddhartha was to create a demand for a place like CCD, where you drink coffee, conduct meetings and even finish office work. He wanted to create a hangout place when none existed in India! Yet, CCD was successful in bringing a coffee revolution in a tea loving nation.
12. Over the time, CCD became biggest rival for Starbucks and nobody in India knew that it was a full desi brand. It was the success of Café Coffee Day that encouraged the international coffee brand, Starbucks to partner with Tata and enter the Indian market.
13. CCD has been keen on customer experience. They had the ‘Latte Art Festival’ – where customers were served coffee topped with creative latte art designs, they served Cappuccinos for Rs. 22 at all outlets on their 22nd anniversary, gave amazing offers to women on women’s day and now started home delivery too.
With so much interesting about CCD placed on the table, it’s sad that the company's founder and Chairman V. G. Siddhartha committed suicide on July 29th 2019. None of us knew what was happening behind coffee.
