V.G. Siddhartha's and Café Coffee Day's rise through the years

A look at V.G. Siddhartha and his enterprise Cafe Coffee Day's journey since its inception. | File

Son of a coffee plantation owner, V.G. Siddhartha created the Indian rival of Starbucks. Coming from a family that has a 140-year history of growing coffee, Siddhartha initially dabbled in stock trading before actually setting his foot in the coffee business.

He initially wanted to join the Indian Army but then envisaged interest in working as an investment banker in Mumbai after completing his Master’s degree in Economics from Mangalore University. In 1984, he launched his own investment and venture capital firm Sivan Securities in Bangalore, and began investing the profits from his start-up to buy coffee plantations in Karnataka’s Chikmagalur district.

'

Also Read

V.G. Siddhartha's and Café Coffee Day's journey through the years

Inspired by a chat with the owners of Tchibo, a German coffee chain, Siddhartha decided to open his own chain of cafes in a country that had no formative cultural grounding in cappuccinos. He opened Cafe Coffee Day’s first outlet on Bangalore’s upscale Brigade Road in 1994 with a tag line ‘A lot can happen over a cup of coffee’

It’s now the largest chain of coffee shops in India, a nation of tea drinkers, with 1,750 cafes in more than 200 cities, including outlets in Prague, Vienna and Kuala Lumpur.

1993	Coffee Day Global Ltd incorporated, to start café business
1995	Coffee Day retail stores launched
1996	Café Coffee Day's first outlet in Bangalore opens
2000	Launch of Way2Wealth, offering financial advisory services after acquiring Sivan Securities; Coffee Day invests ₹44 crore for a 6.6% stake in Mindtree
2006	Hospitality firm The Serail launched. Venture runs 3 resorts in Karnataka
2010	PE firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Standard Chartered and NLS invest in Coffee Day Enterprises
2011	Coffee Day picks up another 7.62% in Mindtree
2012	Sequoia exits Siddhartha's Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Ltd and takes additional 6.84% stake in Mindtree
2015	CDEPL goes public with listing at $1 billion valuation
2019	Jan: Tax Department attaches Mindtree shares owned by Siddhartha and Coffee Day Enterprises
March: L&T signs deal with Siddhartha to buy 20.4% stake in Mindtree for about ₹3,300 crore
June: Soft drinks major Coca-Cola begins talks to acquire stake in the coffee chain

 

(With inputs from PTI)