Located at Metro Park in Lazimpat, the 65-seater espresso bar of Barista Lavazza, the Indian wing of Lavazza, serves a range of hot and cold coffee from espresso and latte to Americano, at prices starting from Rs 75. [break]
For starters, there are beverages like fruit drinks made of kiwi, mango and strawberry to name a few. And if you are concerned about getting a bite, food items, like cottage cheese sandwich, peperoncino chicken and muffins, are also served.
"We hope to get a good response from our clients as our staff underwent three weeks of training in India to learn the art of making coffee and other food and beverage items. We also think we can succeed in winning hearts of our clients as our entire recipe comes from the parent company, which guarantees authentic Lavazza taste," Ravi Bhakta Shrestha, chairman of Premium Beverage and Food, the franchisee of Barista Lavazza, told a press meet on Thursday.
Spread in an area of 1,800 square feet, the outlet, established at a cost of Rs 10 million, is planning to rope in urban youngsters, foreign tourists, expat community and coffee connoisseurs to create its clientele base.
Yet the company agrees creating a loyal following is a challenge, as Nepal is predominantly a society of tea lovers.
"But at the same time youngsters have started thronging in few coffee bars that have been established here. So we think we can gradually build by tapping into this growing coffee culture," said Shrestha of Premium Beverage and Food, which is 40 percent owned by Shrestha´s NE Group and 30 percent each owned by Nanglo International and Shangri-la Hotel and Resort.
If Shrestha succeeds in doing what he said, Kathmandu Valley will see openings of five more outlets of Barista Lavazza in the coming days. "We then plan to move to Pokhara," Shrestha informed.
´It´s not only about coffee; it´s about ambience as well´
Lavazza, the Italian coffee chain, opened its franchise in Nepal on Thursday, giving Nepalis an opportunity to taste the Italian coffee. Republica talked to R Shivashankar, director, South Asia, of Lavazza, about the company´s plans in Nepal. Nilanjan Bhattacharya, Lavazza´s chief operating officer for Indian and SAARC region, also contributed to this interview. Excerpts:
How long have you been trying to enter the Nepali market?We had been looking for this opportunity for more than a year now and were scouting for partners. Luckily, we came across Premium Beverage and Food, which is the right partner for us.
You´ve entered the market at a time when labor related problems have resulted in temporary closure of international chains like Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut. Does this problem bother you?
That´s why we partnered with a local company to open the branch here. Since they have been operating businesses here for a long time and have the expertise, we are confident they´d be able to manage these kinds of disputes.
What does the franchise agreement include?
The local partner will have to give certain percentage as royalty to us. And to protect the brand value, we train staff, finalize food and beverage menu and extend advice to the local partner on creating a certain ambience. For instance, we certify the brew master or the bartender. This is to ensure nothing is being compromised.
Have you given any targets to the local partner?
We have drawn figures in mind but have not announced those because this is the first store here, and the local partner first needs to get acquainted with the market. So in the first few months, we will watch things very closely and learn about the market dynamics. After 90 days, we will know how quickly we should move ahead.
Since coffee is your main business, where do you get the commodity from?
We use Indian coffee. We roast those in our own facility in India.
Are you planning to give a Nepali touch to the menu here?
There won´t be any changes to the cuisine. We serve Italian and we´d like to remain that way. But we will see what is working here and give a little tweak to those dishes to give them a local touch. For instance, in India, chicken tikka sandwich is very famous, which is a very Indian dish. But that doesn´t mean we will also start serving biryani.
As you know tea culture is very prominent here. How confident are you on securing good business here?
This was the same in India. But coffee business grows along with growth in the economy. Besides, Barista Lavazza is renowned not only for its coffee but ambience as well. This helps create social networks and that´s the culture we are trying to build here. So our brand is not built on just one product.
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