Coffee Board of India has renovated and renewed its cafe, India Coffee House (ICH), located at its premises in Bengaluru. It has also added a ‘sitting on the veranda and sipping a cuppa’ kind of experience to it.
While your favourite dosa, idli and vade, sandwich, cutlet, bread toast and coffee, existing staff members and the old charm of the Coffee Board cafe will remain, an additional fast food menu has been introduced, in association with social enterprise Mitti Cafe, to attract the younger generation.
The ICH, set up in 1972, has been a favourite coffee joint for journalists, government officials and also the general public who visited the High Court, Vidhana Soudha and other government and private offices nearby.
Coffee Board CEO and Secretary K.G. Jagadeesha said, “Even after the renovation, the classic, existing menu will remain untouched while a new menu has been introduced in collaboration Mitti Cafe to get more youngsters to the cafe.’‘
Rajesh Agrawal, Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry said, “The idea is not to get into the market and compete with Cafe Coffee Day, Starbucks and other cafes. This cafe will only be a catalyst for coffee in the country.’‘
Redoing other ICHs
Responding to a query on when the other ICHs in the country would be renovated, Mr. Agrawal added, “Let us see how India Coffee House is doing, before we start renovating other ICHs in the country. All these are historical coffee houses and they come with a unique legacy, we can touch them only with a lot of sensitivity, fully respecting the sentiments of the staff and customers.’‘
The India Coffee House (ICH) chain was started by the Coffee Cess Committee of the Coffee Board and the first outlet was opened in Churchgate, Bombay during 1936. During the 1940s, there were nearly 50 Coffee Houses all over British India which has currently reduced to 11 — one in Bengaluru, five in Delhi, four in Kolkata and one in Tirumala.