Asmita Mukherjee | Hyderabad 
Nishant Sinha, a graduate of the Institute of Hotel Management (Jodhpur) had a lofty dream of putting Indian coffee on the global map, which manifested in the form of Roastery Coffee House (RCH) in 2017. Since then, his brand has been growing by leaps and bounds owing to the adulation received from his patrons. The brand recently celebrated its 5th anniversary and plans to open two new outlets each and every year for the next 5 years in tier-II and tier-III cities to be the torchbearers of the niche coffee market. Now, in 2022, within a span of 5 years, the brand boasts a presence across 5 different locations in the country successfully architected by Sinha. He grew his coffee knowledge by working in the coffee industry for several years before starting the brand. Sinha also has a deep focus on creating a sustainable business by sourcing coffee directly from the farmers and estates. Asmita Mukherjee spoke with Sinha to know more about his plans for RCH.
Kindly tell us about the inception of Roastery Coffee and why have you chosen Hyderabad as a launchpad for your brand.
I was already working in the Indian coffee industry for over a decade and travelling extensively across India and abroad when I realised several things related to Indian coffee. My visits to the coffee farms made me realise that we were producing very good coffee, but our coffee wasn’t getting its due credit or recognition. I realised that Indians who travelled outside and drank good coffee didn’t know where to go for coffee in their country. Clearly, there was a demand for good coffee and Indian farms were producing good coffee but there was no one telling them how to brew it. Plus, there were only very few places, and that too in metro cities that catered to coffee demands.
I wasn’t born in Hyderabad but it’s still my home ground. I had been living here for over a decade before I opened Roastery Coffee House. I spent my growing years in the city; hence, Hyderabad will always be home.
How does RCH plan to stand out from the mushrooming coffee shops all around?
RCH is one of a kind. It’s the perfect place for a coffee enthusiast or anybody who is curious about coffee. Although there are many differentiating factors, the one thing that stands out is our coffee. Our baristas are always available to show guests the various brewing techniques and share knowledge about coffee and the estates which we source from.
Cafés are generally supposed to be quaint and small. We redefined cafés by venturing into expansive spaces and very importantly, by catering to guests of all ages. RCH is perhaps the only cafe where one will find individuals of age 8 to 80.
The food we serve is unlike cafés. Besides American and Continental, our menu includes gourmet Italian, health items, and vegan varieties as well. The service that we provide at each of our cafés will match the standards of a fine dining restaurant. We take utmost care in providing a wholesome experience to each of our guests.
It’s been 5 years since the launch of RCH. How has the response been? How do you plan to celebrate the 5th anniversary?
Roastery Coffee has received an overwhelming amount of love in every city that we have opened. We knew that we would be able to make a mark but the love that we keep on being showered with motivates us to deliver our best every single day.
We have been celebrating our 5th anniversary for a couple of weeks now in every city. We opened two more cafés in Lucknow and Jaipur taking the total to 5 cafés in 5 different cities.
We treated our guests in all our 5 cafés to coffee on the house. We collaborated with the street children for handmade thank-you cards for our regulars.
We also hosted brewing workshops, one of which was conducted by me. We are very happy to see the participation and the growing love for coffee.
How do you plan to capitalise on the growing interest of Indians in coffee?
The growing interest in coffee is good news for so many of us. Especially the farmers who are hopeful for the first time in a long time.
We have always been one of the largest producers of coffee. Incidentally, we have also been one of the largest exporters of coffee. Lately, the demand for Indian coffee among Indians has been rising. The young coffee brands offer fair if not premium prices for the crops. The farmers are happy.
Which b2b tie-ups do you have?
We offer beans to other cafés across India that love our coffee and want to brew Roastery Coffee.
What plans do you have for the RCH?
It’s my dream to put Indian coffee on the global map. It is one of the world’s best shade-grown coffees. Our coffees have complex flavours which appeal to coffee lovers worldwide. I dream of the day when coffee drinkers across India will be drinking specialty coffee in their homes.
I plan to build more Cafés in many different cities and towns. Why restrict good coffee to cities and metros alone! We are always working on delivering a better experience – both in our products and our cafés. With respect to products, we work very hard every year to include one new estate. We are also working on developing newer coffee products that are convenient and novel. We have several new products which will be introduced shortly. We have been working on them for the past two years.
Kindly tell us about your expansion plans.
As far as expansion is concerned, I have modest targets for the next five years – two new outlets each every year. I am not eyeing big metro cities for that expansion at all. I am targeting small cities which are culturally rich. We want to go into those cities where coffee culture is not penetrated yet so that we can be torchbearers of coffee education in those markets.
asmita.mukherjee@saffronsynergies.in
asmitamukherjeehbiz@gmail.com
