Food & Beverage News: Top Stories - Italy-based "Caffe Pascucci" forays in India

Italy-based "Caffe Pascucci," one of the leading coffee brands in Italy, has launched its first outlet to retail imported blended coffee at MG Road, Bangalore.
The company also signed an agreement with Madhura Beverages as its master franchisee in setting up coffee chain outlets across the country.

Currently, Pascucci has around 100 outlets in about 20 countries, including South Korea, China, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Dubai. Speaking about the launch, M Pascucci, MD, Caffe Pascucci, said, "Our franchisee will invest Rs 60 crore over the next three years to set up about 60 outlets across India, including 10 in Bangalore, five each in Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune and New Delhi over the next 18 months." In spite of a whopping 120 percent import tariff levied on blended coffee, Pascucci will ship the ingredient from its roasting plant at Montecerignone in Italy in a blended form as the coffee beans are sourced from Latin American countries such as Columbia, Haiti and Brazil.

"Once we establish our global brand presence and build volumes, we will be able to set up a roaster and blending plant here. We will also explore using Indian coffee variety such as Arabica and Robusta, which have a distinct flavour
We also aim to sell flavoured tea, iced tea and coffee-based recipes in the country," Pascucci added.

In India, about 70% of coffee produced in the southern states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are exported as domestic consumption remains sluggish. VS Sudhakar, MD, Madhura Beverages, said, "Our focus is to bring select premium food & beverages brands to India from Europe and Caffe Pascucci is our first venture. We will also be offering a range of teas, pastries, cakes and Italian food."