India’s Third Wave Coffee is planning a significant expansion, aiming to open 50 new stores and triple its roastery capacity within the next 12 months.
CEO Rajat Luthra revealed that the premium coffee chain, which currently operates 108 stores, will focus on strengthening its presence in existing markets like Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Hyderabad. Additionally, it plans to venture into new markets, including Chennai.
The company also intends to expand its central roastery operations this year to triple capacity. This expansion aims to meet the increased demand from the new stores and to support other offline retail channels.
“Our current roastery capacity is sufficient for our existing stores. With new equipment secured and land deals finalized for expansion, construction will commence soon. Subsequently, we will aggressively market our beans,” Luthra stated.
In September 2023, Third Wave Coffee completed a $35 million investment round, valuing the business at $150 million. The coffee chain is part of a burgeoning scene of Indian coffee startups, including Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters, Subko Coffee, and abCoffee, which are all raising capital to fund outlet growth.
In addition, several international coffee chains have been scaling their footprints in India over the past year. Starbucks and Costa Coffee both achieved record outlet growth in India last year, reaching 421 and 179 stores, respectively.
Canada’s Tim Hortons now operates 30 sites in the country, a quarter of the way to its planned 120 stores by 2026. Meanwhile, UK-based Pret A Manger has opened 16 outlets since its debut in Mumbai in April 2023.