Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters is brewing up a growth investment plan with their latest capital raising of $30 Million, aiming to take the global specialty coffee market by storm and bring the rich, exotic flavors of India to coffee lovers worldwide. With a mission to make specialty coffee more accessible, the company is roasting a new plan to expand its reach and bring new, innovative products to the market, all while supporting small-scale independent farmers.
“We are thrilled to have A91 Partners and White Whale Ventures join our team as we scale our business and expand our presence in specialty coffee markets worldwide,” said Shivam Shahi, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Blue Tokai.
Expanding Reach: The funds will be used to further Blue Tokai’s mission of making specialty coffee more accessible to consumers through its cafés, brewing classes, and website. The company plans to add 200 new stores in the next 3 years, taking the overall count to well over 250 cafes, and invest in its B2B arm to bring new technology for partners through its machine offerings.
Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters: New Products and Strengthening Customer Experience
Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters will also be launching a slate of new fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) products and strengthening its customer experience to support small-scale independent farmers. “In the context of the massive coffee-led QSR market opportunity, this is a compelling partnership opportunity for us,” said Abhay Pandey of A91 Partners.
“India is moving towards coffee as their beverage of choice, and we are looking forward to further building this category with Blue Tokai as the largest specialty coffee brand in the country.”
Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters: Leading the Specialty Coffee Industry
Founded in 2013, Gurgaon-based Blue Tokai Roasters is synonymous with Indian specialty coffee and is home to four roasteries and over 60 physical outlets across major Indian cities and regions, including Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Mohali, and Pune as well as international operations in Japan.
“We are excited to use this funding to continue to lead the specialty coffee industry, not just in India but globally,” said Shahi. “We want to make specialty coffee more accessible to everyone and this investment will help us do just that.”
Gurgaon-based specialty coffee company has raised the Series B funding round, led by A91 Partners, with participation from White Whale Ventures and existing investors including 8i Ventures, Grand Anicut Fund, and leading family offices. This marks the largest investment round in the Indian specialty coffee industry to date.
The company, which started roasting in 2013 with a small 1kg machine, now roasts on two 12kg and one 25kg Probat machines.
“When we started roasting in 2013, we had a small 1kg machine that had us roasting for twelve to fourteen hours straight on most nights because of how small it was. Though we have grown, in the size of our roasting machines, and the team of roasters, we continue to spend as much time, energy and resources on constantly pushing our roasting quality forward,” said a company stated in their website.
Evaluating hundreds of green bean samples by cupping them every harvest season, before making their final selections is standard procedure at Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters. The company also conducts advanced sensory trainings for their roasters, and experiments with processing methods at the farm level. These efforts are just some of the ways that the highly skilled team is constantly evolving to improve the quality of their coffee.
The company works closely with their Q-Grade certified Director of Coffee to create industry-leading procedures such as cupping every single batch that is roasted.
“Although we have a dedicated sourcing team for green beans and have invested in establishing quality roasting parameters, we know that a lot more steps still have to fall into place to brew a good cup. This is why we work closely with our Q-Grade certified Director of Coffee to create industry leading procedures such as cupping every single batch that is roasted to ensure consistent quality,” said a company states.
Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters also believes in transparency and encourages their customers to visit their roasteries in Gurgaon, Mumbai, and Bangalore to see the process of coffee making and to understand the quality of coffee.
