asn�t it just over a month ago that Caf� Coffee Day (CCD) inaugurated its 150th outlet in Vasant Vihar, Delhi? How time flies. The chain�s total is up to 153 already, spread over 38 cities. Where its closest rival, Barista, has chosen to slow down its expansion - at least for now - and consolidate instead, CCD plans to have 200 caf�s by the end of 2004. It also plans to begin expanding abroad.

CCD claims to have pioneered the coffee pub culture in India when it opened the first caf� at Brigade Road, Bangalore, in November, 1996 (Qwiky�s Coffee was launched in 1999 and Barista came in 2000). VG Siddhartha, chairman, Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Company, brought the idea home from Singapore where he saw youngsters at a restaurant surfing the net and having beer. Conceptualised originally as an Internet caf�, CCD caught on as a primarily coffee-drinking hangout. ... more