With Focus On Hygiene, Chennai Woman Starts Cafe Chain Amid Pandemic
A hotel management professional in Chennai has launched a chain of tea and coffee cafes amid the pandemic while keeping hygiene as the selling preposition.
While launching "Namma Cafe", 24-year-old Dhamyanthi, who studied hotel management in Switzerland, is attempting to carve a niche space in between the regular tea shops and the high end coffee-tea chains with an ambitious plan to have 1,000 outlets in three years. Priced between Rs 10 and Rs 49 for their eight varieties of tea and four of coffee, Ms Dhamyanthi told NDTV she is not perturbed by the trend of businesses shutting down or reluctance among entrepreneurs to start up amid the pandemic.
"Amid the pandemic, I believe, our focus on hygiene, price point and less investment should click. We are investing Rs thirty lakh on this," she said
Her entrepreneur father and Co-founder C K Kumaravel, known for redefining salon industry and creating a brand for high-end grooming with his salon chain - Naturals - said they want 'Namma Cafe not to be a high-end outlet but rather focus on the bottom of the pyramid. He said, "The popular big coffee and tea chains are not doing big business now as the upper middle classes are still scared and the IT sector, a key source of business, still largely works from home. But customers flock regular shops and our hygiene mantra would attract them".
The daughter and father deny they are taking on unorganised tea outlets. They say their attempt to reach out to tea shops did not work as they are comfortable the way they are.
Ms Dhamyanthi says their outlets wouldn't have air-conditioning but would have a mix of standing and seating options for customers depending on the availability of space.
With a Rs six lakh franchisee fee and monthly royalty of Rs five thousand, the woman, who has been looking after one of the luxury salons over the last two years, projects a Rs three lakh turnover and a profit of Rs one lakh for investors.