Aromas wafts into India; joins hand with IHPL

05 Jun 2009

Aromas, the leading coffee chain from Australia has set foot in India with launch of its first café lounge at Hiranandani Powai in Mumbai. With an offering of tea and coffee, Aromas has made its foray into the Indian market through an exclusive tie-up with Ideal Hospitality Pvt Limited (IHPL).

Sprawled over 2,000 square feet, Aromas offers a variety of freshly ground coffee and rare exotic teas from around the world. The café lounge at Powai has a seating capacity of 90 with a live kitchen. The Café Lounge also serves wine, pre-cooked food and beer.

Further, Aromas are planning to open their next outlet at Bandra followed by Pune by August and also plans to open 99 more outlets within the next three years at pan-India level. The coffee chains will be present in two formats - Café and Café Lounge. Out of the 99 coffee outlets, 60 per cent will be raised in the format of Café Lounge and the remaining will be in the format of Café.

Under the signed agreement of MoU between Aromas and IHPL, Aromas will hold a 5 per cent stake in IHPL and will get a one-time fee on opening each outlet. However, Aromas will not be expanded through franchise route in India and all the outlets will be IHPL-owned.

The company claims that the brand’s USP will be its coffee beans that will primarily be acquired from Aromas` roastery based in Australia and at a later stage from within the country itself. The price ranges of the coffee and tea are kept standard to attract the various classes of customers.

— Nivedita Jayaram Pawar, Mumbai Bureau