It has been so
bloody long... I think we should catch-up guys! A usual conversation between
buddies who have missed each other… The first thought of a place which comes to
the mind is a CCD, Cuppa, Caffé Pascucci where people can hang out for however
long they want to. ‘A lot can happen over a coffee’ & ‘Life, refreshed’ has
become a very commonly discussed taglines these days…
Since the introduction of Café Coffee
Day (CCD), the definition of hang-outs has changed. The business model of a
coffee outlet has been well discussed & exploited these days. Bangalore
never thought of paying 50 odd bucks for a simple cup of coffee which otherwise
would cost less a tenth of the amount. But with the introduction of CCD, a
whole new era of conversations were triggered. The Mango man who initially perceived
the outlets to be for the rich and the show-offs started sneaking into the
habitat of the polished brews and here you go - a large bunch of customer base
was developed in a jiffy!
With the rich response, there of
course will be motivation for the players to go an extra mile and innovate. The
result was something really nice which the city lacked. A whole new set of
flavors; newer players; Indianised customer focus and what not! The most
important thing is that the competition did not get into a price war - though it
looked like at the beginning of the introduction of the competitors. But with
the onset of exclusiveness and brand association, the individual players did
gain the market share which they deserved. The market now is all the more
matured and ever innovative! Perhaps the only player who lost out in this was
Barista who was not able to cope up with the market pressures. Customer
retention became a huge problem for him as CCD just grew bigger and better each
day!
Apart from the generic business
model of a coffee shop, some chairs & tables and something to munch, there
are a few more which specialize in a beverage. ‘My Tea House’ in the southern
part of Bangalore is one such place which is exclusive for tea. Likewise is ‘Infinitea’
around Central Bangalore. There also exist the older ones - ‘Coffee House’ is a
classic around the central part… A few of them have emerged out of the concept
of being a typical hang-out spot. There is this Cuppa around southern Bangalore
which has an open air projector where corporate can hang-out and convert boring
presentations to lively hang-outs! For innovations and ideas, sky isn’t the
limit!!
Well, this write up isn’t about
the business models around the coffee shop market of Namma BengaLuru. But its
more to do with the emergence of the whole new era. A new world which is chilled
out filled with energy, enthusiasm, hospitality & freshness - just by
associating itself with the basic beverage - Coffee & some tea!
Here I sit in one such open air
coffee house around JP Nagar (south Bangalore) wondering what really has
attached me to these coffee shops over the years. No, it surely isn’t the brand;
it isn’t the coffee / tea I get here as I found a similar association with the
coffee shops around the European region as well. Then what else is it? - The noise,
people around, chilled-out environment, freedom, freshness … ???
These coffee shops have been a
place where my mind thinks and inks. Amidst all the noise around; movement of
people, honking of the traffic, activities on the large wide screen idiot box -
I still can sit and think. Imagine, get crazy with ideas. The whole setup makes
me get out of the normal way of thinking and lets me be imaginative. I don’t go
to put forth the classic question - ‘Why?’ I just do it (Guess Nike can’t sue
me here… :))… At times bump on to known faces; converse with unknown faces; wonder
staring at strange faces; Observe different expressions; Predict actions; More
importantly smile! :). Guess that’s what it really boils down to… It just lets
me be myself and gives me the freedom to express it in the way I want without
any expectations… Sounds familiar isn’t it (Especially if have been in a relationship
with a lady ever in your life :D).
Conversations
Coffees are the best way to start
a conversation around. The aroma, the refreshing feelings are things which are
common among people who come over. The conversations usually take the route of the
‘horrible Bangalore traffic’, ‘political mismanagement’ blah blah… But also
brings in a whole new perspective to the entire jazz around these and minds
start talking. At times you find a connect with people whom you converse with.
Once on my way to the Eastern Europe, bumped on to an old fellow who had
travelled around the world working in various places across the globe (sounds
like a really cool job to me!!). The visit was rather unplanned - this conversation
helped me plan it all (though I almost missed my flight because of the
conversation :)) … never could I have imagined such a stuff! Conversations in
Koshy’s led me to meet a really interesting person - Ravi Lobo who is into making documentary movies… In that phase of
life where I was really into knowing about the existence of communities like
Aghoras, it was something which gave me goose bumps!
The Art of Guessing
My favorite pass time is to look
at people who are sitting distant apart within their groups and guess what will
be their next action! Well, I aint eve teasing or intruding here. It is just a fun
element when you are sitting along in a coffee shop trying to kill sometime.
Instead of getting bored, it always is a better option to do this :). The
conversations build in your mind, you figure out that you are an innovative
person, you can draw inferences on the actions, you can build stories, you can
imagine and sky is the limit here! Trust me, if not for anything, I bet you
will have a smile on your face after this (like the one you have now! :))
The blankness
At times the mind just doesn’t want
to think. Fair enough! It after all needs some rest as well… Open air hang-outs
are the best place to be! Stare at the stars on a clear night; enjoy the loud
music; observe people and their actions and more importantly fill your tummy
with something light and refreshing!
Well well, the story never ends... Where else do you find such variety which will not go over-bound with what fills into your pocket? They say that change is inevitable. Trend is something which has to change to give a respite to the otherwise monochrome outlook. This change has of course added more spice in my life. The moment I get bored of the menu at a place, I find it getting changed... What more do you need :). I sit here sipping away with a mastermind called Life... in the way it matters! A business model which has changed the outlook of life and the experience around existence...
