The Coffee Board of India on Monday opened its renovated cafe, India Coffee House (ICH), located on its premises in the city. It also added a new ‘sitting on the veranda and sipping the cuppa’ kind of experience to it.
Your favourite dosa, idli, and vade, sandwich, cutlet, bread toast, and coffee, existing staff members, and old charm of the Coffee Board cafe will continue, while an additional fast food menu has been introduced, in association with a social enterprise Mitti Cafe, to attract the younger generation.
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. The veranda has been assigned to accommodate 20 more chairs.
Coffee Board CEO and secretary K.G. Jagadeesha said: “Even after renovation, the classic, existing menu will remain untouched while a new menu has been introduced in collaboration Mitti Cafe.”
Rajesh Agrawal, Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and 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.’‘
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. 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 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 currently reduced to 11 – one in Bengaluru, five in Delhi, four in Kolkata, and one in Tirumala.
Barista training
Coffee Board will soon start a course in professional barista training for youngsters who have completed class XII and want to start cafes.
“Our aim is to promote coffee entrepreneurship as well as increase coffee consumption across the country. The board is exploring introducing a franchisee model for entrepreneurs who can start India Coffee House outlets in their respective cities and towns,’‘ said Dr. Jagadeesha.
The new India Coffee House would also work as an incubation hub for aspiring coffee entrepreneurs. Coffee Board, as a tradition, supplies only pure filter coffee, and the new menu has been curated by Mitti café, which is run by specially-abled personnel, who will introduce a specialty segment of coffee.