Binoy Sahee interacted with AbhinavMathur, CEO Kaapi Machines, an Indo-German Company based in Bengaluru. He talked about coffee production, sustainability and the rising demand of coffee.
1. Tell us about yourself and your inspiration in life.
I am originally from Lucknow but have been living in Bengaluru for last 12 years. I have travelled and lived in more than ten cities across India.
I have worked with consumer durables. I love marketing and getting to know consumer insights. Kaapi is an interesting Indo-German venture. It offers me opportunity to interact with the ever growing group of coffee lovers.
I draw inspirations and learn from business leaders. I read business books and listen to podcasts. I draw insights from people I interact with.
1. Tell us about yourself and your inspiration in life.
I am originally from Lucknow but have been living in Bengaluru for last 12 years. I have travelled and lived in more than ten cities across India.
I have worked with consumer durables. I love marketing and getting to know consumer insights. Kaapi is an interesting Indo-German venture. It offers me opportunity to interact with the ever growing group of coffee lovers.
I draw inspirations and learn from business leaders. I read business books and listen to podcasts. I draw insights from people I interact with.
2. How is the coffee industry growing in India?
In coffee, we refer to different phases of development as first waves, second waves. On a lighter note, no one wants to talk about waves.
First wave in coffee came, when it was served in offices and homes. Then people started drinking coffee at Cafes; people met over a cup of coffee.
Second wave started with Italian coffee brewing methods which means all expresso based coffee such as mocha, latte, capachino etc.
Third wave is now where coffee is the Hero. Earlier other stuffs were mixed to make coffee interesting and appealing. Now, there is less milk, more water and good quality coffee. There are healthy debates and discussions around coffee brewing, growing and processing methods etc. So people are enjoying coffee for the sake of coffee. It is an exciting time for the coffee industry.
Specialty Cafes are opening in small and big cities with coffee roasters. The number of roasters has gone up significantly in India. In last five years at least twenty five coffee roasters have come up in comparison to five to ten earlier. India is one of the largest coffee bean producers in the world and is grown in different parts of India.
In India, Cafe Coffee Day brought a major revolution on the way coffee was consumed. On the global level Starbucks has been a torch bearer of coffee culture.
There is an emerging trend of green coffee and consumers are talking about different types of coffees. So overall, the market is vibrant and growing.
We have, recently, launched home coffee equipment ‘Something’s Brewing’.
3. How is sustainability and technology shaping the cafe coffee industry?
Climate change is affecting coffee production in a major way. The production has gone down on the one hand, whereas more coffee drinkers have emerged on the other hand.
A few years back coffee crops were badly affected by floods and unprecedented heavy rains. Right now a heat wave is impacting coffee plantation in Brazil. Hence coffee companies take sustainability seriously.
Companies are introducing different intervention at various levels to address sustainability. We publish a calendar every year. Two years back, our theme was sustainability.
An entrepreneur is developing a solar based coffee roaster in the Northern part of India to reduce dependence on electricity. Tata coffees have rain water harvesting in their plantations and many others are doing similar work to implement sustainability in one way or other.
Start-ups are coming up with innovative ways to use coffee waste. There are companies making use of coffee grounds, residue after coffee is brewed, for various purposes instead of being discarded as waste. Coffee waste is good for plants.
We at, Kappi, do not use plastic cups, spoons etc. and do our bit for sustainability.
4. How is Kaapi helping cafes both new and established to serve customers better?
Being an Indo-German company, we have a exposure to global innovations happening in the coffee world. Cafes are busier but trained professionals are lacking. Every outlets wants more precision and less wastage and there comes automation.
We are launching a brand called ‘Tone’ which imitates hands of a barista but with much more accuracy.
We work with cafes in understanding their customer base who they wish to serve. Based on these parameters we suggest suitable equipment. To quote an example, we installed Modbar in Aaraku cafe. Their focus was to offer experience to customers right from coffee roaster to an interaction between a customer and a barista.
We work with different partners and bring quality and the latest equipment.
5. Home brewing market in India.
Home brewing market in not large now but expected to grow as customers want same kind of coffee experience that they usually have in cafes at home.
Secondly, we realised that consumers were missing their cup of coffee during lockdown.
Something’s Brewing was born during Pandemic.
We launched e-commerce platform on 1st Oct 2020 with fifty odd brands from across the word. This is a platform for coffee lovers who can buy equipment, coffee, share receipts and learn from experts.
One year after, we launched a retail store in Bengaluru with all coffee gears available. It is a place for learning, buying and interacting. We conduct workshops in corporations, schools to spread awareness coffee.
6. Partners you work with to get best in class products.
We launched Kaapi Machines to address the needs of cafes to get quality and latest technologies so that they can focus on retailing coffees. We partner with a number of brands all of them having different specialties. Coffee machines can broadly be divided into two parts – semi-automatic and super-automatic.
To name a few brands – La marchoko, sourced out of Florence, Italy. It is an iconic brand. The Ranchilio brand is from Milan. In the super automated range we represent WMF.
We have an interesting coffee machine brand, Ripple maker that prints on coffee; Nitro coffee maker, Brew and cold brew. We also have that which makes filter coffee and chai. We keep on innovating to address the need of coffee makers in the market.
7. Your message to potential cafe owners.
Start your cafe business with customer’s profiles and how your menu will look like? Coffee and food will draw customers and not only interiors. This will allow you to choose the right types of machines.
