Joining the coffee industry on his teacher’s advice, this 35-yr-old entrepreneur’s business now clocks Rs 8 Cr annually
Nishant Sinha’s teacher at IHM Jodhpur told him to join the coffee industry because Indians grow a lot of good quality coffee but don’t consume it as much. After working with CCD, HUL and Lavazza, he launched a cafe, Roastery Coffee House, in 2017.
According to research platform Statista, coffee is one of the most popular beverages in India, alongside tea. In 2018, the value of this market was estimated to be Rs 25 billion, according to a report by Coffee Business Intelligence.
For years, India has been indulging in instant and filter coffee, which is popular in south India. However, brewers and coffee experts believe that the country has just started to understand the taste and quality of freshly-brewed coffee, thanks to chains like Starbucks, Cafe Coffee Day (CCD), and most recently, Blue Tokai Coffee.
Nishant Sinha, a graduate from the Institute of Hotel Management (Jodhpur), has worked in the coffee industry for several years. He also has a strong family background in the food and beverage industry. His grandfather was the chief catering inspector of Indian Railways, and Nishant’s father ran a catering business in Patna. This further gave him an impetus to seriously consider entrepreneurship.
Additionally, Nishant’s professor in college gave him two pieces of advice which played a significant role in shaping his journey. First, he suggested that he pursue a career in the quick-service restaurant (QSR) space as it had the potential to boom in the coming years, and second, he advised him to join the coffee industry.
“He said that we (Indians) grow a lot of good quality coffee but we don’t consume it as much,” Nishant adds. His teacher was right.
His first assignment was in CCD (Delhi), thereafter, he worked with Hindustan Unilever, Metro Cash and Carry, and Italy-based Lavazza.
Nishant also highlights that he learnt hospitality from CCD and “how to make customers feel at home”. He adds that his first roasting experience happened while working with Lavazza.
The year 2008 was a turning point for Nishant when he moved to Hyderabad for an assignment for Lavazza. Soon, he quit Lavazza and worked as a consultant, helping entrepreneurs set up cafes. This compelled him to marry his experience in the coffee industry with the growing cafe culture in India.
In 2017, Nishant opened Roastery Coffee House in Hyderabad’s Banjara Hills, with an initial investment of Rs 30 lakh. He bought a bungalow, the ground floor of which was converted into the cafe.
For some time, Nishant says he was living a very “chilled out” life. But with the cafe gaining acceptance, he found more avenues to grow and scale. Soon after, he opened another cafe in Kolkata and started supplying coffee beans to several places in and around Hyderabad, and even other places including Ahmedabad. The venture clocks sales worth approximately Rs 80 lakh every month and the company closed a turnover of Rs 8 crore in FY20.
Credit By : https://yourstory.com/smbstory/coffee-brands-india-roastery-coffee-starbucks-hyderabad/amp
