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Blue Tokai is expanding fast. The specialty coffee chain plans to grow from around 240 cafés to 800 by FY30, aiming to cash in on India's booming premium coffee market. This year alone, it will open nearly 120 new outlets, expanding in major cities and entering new markets like Ahmedabad and Lucknow.
The push comes as India's café industry grows quickly. Rising incomes and changing lifestyles are driving demand. According to IMARC Group, the market will grow from $425 million in 2025 to $1.15 billion by 2034. Mordor Intelligence says India is the fastest-growing specialty coffee market in Asia-Pacific.
Competition is heating up too. Starbucks, run in India through a joint venture with Tata Consumer Products, plans to add up to 100 stores a year to its existing 500-plus outlets. Other players like Third Wave Coffee, Cafe Coffee Day and Barista are also expanding.
Blue Tokai is also in early talks with investors like TPG, Temasek and ChrysCapital to raise at least $100 million. It's considering an IPO in the next five to seven years and plans to raise ₹1.5 billion more before relying on internal funds for future growth.
The company expects revenue to cross ₹8 billion this year, up over 50% from last year. It has grown nearly sevenfold in four years. Blue Tokai will also open its first international café in Dubai and aims to turn profitable by March 2028, despite rising coffee prices and higher costs for real estate and labour.
"India is still fairly under-penetrated in terms of branded cafes," Chitharanjan said. "While it may seem from the outside that there's a lot of competition, there's still tons and tons of white space."
"The advantage of coffee is that it's a very habitual thing," he reportedly said. He added that one of the reasons that people come to the coffee chain is because they like the quality of the core beverage that it has and that's kind of what they stick to.
