Coffee segmentation and take away and food courts

[skthewimp]

I really like the way the coffee market in India is segmented. You have a clear distinction of cafe and coffee shop. If you just want a quick tasty caffeine kick, you just go to one of the cafes (Darshini types) and for some 6-7 rupees you'll get excellent steaming and strong filter coffee. However, there is only standing room there and you can't

Comments

[mihirsaxena]

Hmmm. Interesting thoughts abt price diffrentation in takeaway and sit in coffee shops. Here probably the only place you see such price diffrentiation is in railway stations where takeaway is normal 50% of price of sitin cafes. Though i can come up with another reason for this. In india, you are talking of two totally different type of coffees and target segments - filter coffee (cheap) and Italian (expensive). Here you have pretty much only one kind of coffee so its difficult to create that price difference.

And well cheap non-Indian stuff ? Burgers etc ? They r non-Indian for sure and cheap. And you cant really put a steak in a takeaway or a darshini type place anyways. Plus the target segment is different.

Food court in a non-mall location ? Difficult. Again issue is target segment. People go to malls just to hang out and maybe have food there. If you have a food court in a random place, would be difficult to attract people to come and have food (unless its a food court in maybe place like electronic city).

[skthewimp]

fair point about the burger thing - but again thatz a "fast food". you won't really find burgers in fine dining places right?

it's not a question of indian vs non-indian. it's about trying to find a type of food thatz available easily in both fast food and fine dining forms..

[mihirsaxena]

you will find burgers in a find dining place as well ... trust me you will :) And anyway, you will not find the same exact thing in both fine dining place and fast food. Maybe with some variation.

[arvindn]

i have definitely had idli at a reasonably upscale place! even in bangalore, actually.

there are some food courts even in madras. i would have thought bangalore would be way ahead in terms of this stuff?

other than that, i mostly agree, good post.

[skthewimp]

yeah but upscale idli places i think are very far and few

very unlikely you'll find them in bangalore or madras

leads me to another point - i mean i won't be surprised to find upscale south indian places in delhi! hmmmm it's not so much to do with just the cuisine i guess...

[1pi00te005]

'Upscale' south indian places in Delhi?

Depends how you define upscale. If it means high price, yes. But the taste of Masala dosas / vadas in North India is such that I wouldn't even feed it to a stray dog!

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[anonymous]

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[sonataindica]

I don't agree with you.
1. Food courts are quite common; they are as common as malls and there are as many food courts in a city as there are malls. As for food courts outside of malls, I don't think any other city has them (Singapore, maybe, but that's it). Even in London, people tend to eat takeaway food on the go, rather than seated at a food court.
2. Idlis are available at what you call 'fine dining' places-clearly if you go to an Italian restaurant, you can't find any, but if you go to one of those ubiquitous 'multicuisine' restaurants, you can definitely order a plate of Idli for 30-35 Rs.
3. As for finding foreign food at low prices, the very idea behind pricing foreign food is to fleece people for the novelty of it; unless you are referring to muffins, pastries and bakery products which lend themselves to the takeaway format, other foreign foods like steaks/meats etc take time to make and some of the utility is in sitting and enjoying them leisurely with the right drinks, which means takeaway isn't a great idea for them.