Bottomless Coffee anyone?

Seated at Third Wave Coffee outlet in Bangalore for the last 2 hrs preparing an important presentation. Done with a cappuccino already and going for the second one. 

The cafe has around 32 covers and there are atleast a dozen guests who have been here since the time I arrived. All of them are busy with their devices - someone is writing codes, another is working on something, another on a video call and one is even watching a movie (I didn’t prowl their screens - just giving a distant glance, so not intruding anyone’s privacy). 

I would reckon the cafe had no more than 10 bills cut in the last 2 hours and each bill size is around Rs. 600, so that’s Rs. 6,000 over 2 hours. Assuming they operate for 12 hours a day, on a weekend, the cafe would have an average turnover of no more than Rs. 30,000 (weekdays will be still lower). 

Like how multiplexes and pubs offer unlimited popcorn or beer for an incremental price, what if cafes offer unlimited cappuccino for a certain price, but to be consumed within, say 3 hours? 

This would be a great way to sweat the same table, than letting customers use the real estate for an unlimited period of time and without contributing much revenues. 

Of course, this should be an option to consumers and not a forced fit. 

Are there any such cafes doing this already in India or elsewhere in the world? 

I recall Pizza Corner offering unlimited pizza and bottomless pepsi / fanta in the late 90s in Chennai and during my college days, my friends and I have ransacked the place many a time! 

An International city sans Cafes

Trichy is among the fastest growing Tier 2 towns in Tamil Nadu. A lot of investment is being planned by the State Government, by setting up SIDCO centres in and around the town. During the 1980s, the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Late MG Ramachandran wanted the city to be the second capital for the state. What a clairvoyance he must have had.

After all, Trichy Airport has among the second highest foreign passengers landing and departing the city, mostly from Southeast Asian countries and the Middle East.

In March 2024, Prime Minister Modi inaugurated the newly constructed integrated airport terminals, much to the excitement and comfort of departing passengers.

I remember coming to the airport in 2010 to bid for a café space during my stint at Café Coffee Day. We didn’t win the tender though, as the winning bidder had quoted way higher than us.

And back then, Airports Authority of India (AAI) had the rule of H1 bidder winning the tender, i.e., the one who bids the highest takes away the tender opportunity. This and many other such rudimentary conditions have changed over the years in the AAI Tenders, which is following the rule book of the private airport operators.

The fledgling city is famous various centres of worship, such as the Rockfort Temple – the hill is said to be as old as the Himalayas; the Srirangam Temple and a dozen Divya Desam Temples, Our Layd of Lourdes Church, the rock stone dam “Kallanai” built by the Chola Kings and several monuments.

Yet, every time I come here, I find that the city has not graduated to host coffee shops or cafes. This is due to two main reasons – international and domestic brands in F&B are not smelling the coffee here yet; on the other hand, the city lacks quality retail space to offer such businesses.

For a city that is said to have a population of over 12 lakh people, there is just one outlet each for Pizza Hut, Burger Kind, Baskin Robbins and Dominos (perhaps two).

I have personally instigated several people in the town with deep pockets to develop the city’s first shopping mall but of no avail. The Femina Mall that’s in the city centre is a large hypermarket at best and houses a few local eateries and outlets.

A city of international stature such as Tiruchirapalli requires a handful of international and desi cafés which sell high quality coffee, tea and other beverages.

Many high-fliers in the city or those who travel host their one-on one meetings at popular star hotels such as at the Marriott, Ramyas, and a few others. Yet, the charm of a coffee shop for casual conversation, a third and alternative space to sit and work, read, write or just enjoy the cuppa is missing.

There are no more than a dozen good vegetarian restaurants whereas the city is dotted with several small and mid-sized F&B outlets that offer various veg- and non-veg cuisines. The night life is not there at all – forget top end pubs or restobars, the city has just. Graduated from neighbourhood TASMAC attached bars to private permit rooms in a few hotels.

Especially after the Covid-19 led lockdowns, several individuals have settled in their hometowns, especially tier 2 towns, so they can WFH as well as enjoy their lifestyle in Tier 2 towns. Trichy continues to be one of the most promising cities that I have travelled to in India in the last 2.5 decades of my professional career.

Similar towns such as Jaipur in Rajasthan, Surat in Gujarat, Ludhiana in Punjab, Siliguri in West Bengal, Bhopal in MP, Calicut in Kerala, Hubli in Karnataka are great examples where the retail wave is riding high. I am yet to understand what ails this city to grow beyond its seams.

As MK Gandhi said, become the change that you want to see, I am trying my best to bring in as many brands as possible to the city, from apparel to luggage, F&B to QSR and what not.

If your brand wishes to explore opportunities here, then please do reach out to me. I am an email away – shri611work@gmail.com

A short flight that I enjoyed…

On 4 Nov. ’24, I stepped down from my role as Executive Vice President, Minmini app. Touted as the world’s first hyperlocal social media platform for global Tamils, the App was launched amid much fanfare on 22 Jan. ’24. The buzz was just great across mainstream media as well as social media. I thoroughly enjoyed my time working with a bunch of enthusiastic colleagues during and right after the launch.

Ahead of the Pongal festival in 2023, I met Mr. Bala Adityan, Chairman and Managing Director of the eponymous Daily Thanthi Group, world’s largest Tamil language publication with over a million prints a day of the mainstream newspaper, read by over 2 million people everyday.

The hour-long meeting was all about my career and my understanding of the Indian Retail market. The cordial discussion ended as it was meant to be, and I moved on with my Consulting work, travelling across Tamil Nadu which I endear the most.

In April 2023, I was again prodded by the Management at DT to consider taking up the top role which I was quite skeptical honestly. Somehow, my gut said that I should take up yet another adventure ride and boy, it was more than what I thought it would be.

I was the seventh employee at the newly formed entity and had the unique distinction of “007” as my employee Id. Among others, I was fortunate to work with some of the brightest minds from M/s Accenture, the Strategic Consulting and Technology Partner for the app.

Over the next couple of months, we brainstormed about various facets of the app, features that would keep users engaged, components of the app that users would come looking for regularly and most importantly, recruiting over 100 super-champions for various roles.

Though my offer letter restricted me to oversee Sales, Marketing and Business Strategy, I took up keen interest in various other areas including Legal, HR, Recruitment, etc. As I have actioned some of these in my previous roles, it did help me to hone my skills better.

There were numerous occasions when teams from M/s Accenture and ours got together to debate, discuss and decide on various initiatives. Some were overtly excruciating, while many were interesting and eye-opening sessions.

By end-December, we had roadshows across a dozen centres in Tamil Nadu during which we introduced the App and its interesting features to the revered Agents and ecosystem partners of the Daily Thanthi Group, a mammoth operation spanning two weeks, that involved coordinating with various stakeholders within and outside the group at large.

As we got nearer to the D-Day of launch, adrenalin was overflowing from all quarters and every one of us were fully geared up for the challenges.

The Management was kind enough to offer a largesse – an iPad for all employees numbering over 60 on the day of launch as memorabilia, with an engraving of the brand trademark, much to the delight of all of us. We conducted workshops at various colleges across the state to gauge the interest and engagement of users.

As days went by, we had mixed responses from users – some were about the lack of a unique features in the app, some which were about unexpected tech-related lapses and some which were about the positioning and marketing of the app in itself.

Minmini became the official “Social Media Partner” for Chennai Super Kings for IPL 2024 season, and this brought in a bounty of tickets for the home matches that CSK played at the Chepauk Stadium. 

Users won tickets to these matches, which drew daily active users to the App, though it was short lived and just around till the season was over.

Thereafter, we decided to pursue a slow-down mode, rethinking our strategy and the way forward. What was meant to be a few weeks, got extended to a few months. As I write this piece, an enthusiastic team is putting the bricks together for the mighty firefly to fly higher. 

I am sure the purple-coloured bee would reach great heights in times to come.