Offering the ultimate experience, all in a cup!

Barista Sri Lanka CEO Thilina Amarasinghe - Pix by Lasantha Kumara

Sri Lanka started catching up with the franchising model with the turn of the century and with that the country saw a surge in international food and beverage franchises opening their outlets in the commercial capital. While fast food chains were the highlight a coffee franchise from India branched out its franchise to Sri Lanka in 2002 under the ‘Barista’ banner. 13 years to the business operations in Sri Lanka Barista has managed to further its operations up to 11 outlets with a goal to complete 15 by the end of 2015. 

“Barista was the first international coffee shop to open in Sri Lanka. At that time there was a gap in the market in terms of coffee house chains so it was a good opportunity and perfect timing for Barista to come in. After India, Sri Lanka currently has the most number of outlets,” Barista Sri Lanka CEO Thilina Amarasinghe stated at a recent interview.

Following are the excerpts:

Q: What is Barista Sri Lanka’s market share in the franchise? 

A: Since 2002 with the war this industry as a whole did not see a major expansion. However the post war boom in Colombo and the growing economy has allowed the chain to grow. Barista has taken advantage of the economic growth and influx of tourists and capitalised on these factors to expand its network.

Q: From where do you source your coffee beans? What makes the Barista better than any other coffee out there?

A: Barista uses a coffee blend. The green coffee comes from different continents of the world. We only select 100% Arabica coffee beans. The best beans are selected and sent to the state of the art Lavazza roasting plant in India. Coffee tastes best when it’s fresh and therefore we make it a point to use the blend within 60 days of roasting. This is definitely a contributing factor to the taste and quality of our coffee. We also ensure that we do not to carry large stocks and are constantly shipping in freshly roasted coffee to ensure high quality.

Q: What value additions does Barista bring to its customers?

A: We value what our customers say. What our customers value, is convenience, quality of food and beverage, cleanliness, and great service. We add value based on those factors. We have built a trust with customers and a loyalty base that works for us as the best testimony to our products and services.

To better serve our customers we are constantly improving these areas especially in terms of food. We have especially looked in to expanding our food offerings to suit the growing trends. Healthy food options like multi-grain breads have been added to the menu to better serve our customers. 

Q: Can you explain how the items that go on your menu are decided? Does the menu refresh periodically?

A: Once a quarter we amend or introduce a new food item to the existing menu. However the beverages that Barista has become famous for have remained and so have some of our signature accompaniments like the blueberry cheesecake, muffins and cookies. Since we are essentially a coffee shop we have tried to maintain the favourites. With food however, customers tend to get bored so we have to be constantly bringing out innovative products. In the last 12 months we have introduced the ever popular Barista sandwich range, Barista burgers, wraps and panini which have been based on customer feedback and their requirements. Before we introduce new products to the market we also do sampling at the outlets which ensures that we give customers exactly what they want.

We have also partnered with different local suppliers where we visit places like the Good Market to identify high quality suppliers. These suppliers are then given an opportunity to display and sell their products at the Barista outlets. 

Q: With other competitors catching up with the coffee culture in Sri Lanka what methods have you used to stay ahead 

of the game?

A: We focus mainly on the basics and give a true Italian experience to our customers. Our vision is to be the favourite coffee chain offering the ultimate experience. Therefore we focus on the experience itself. We also offer a generous loyalty scheme that engages our customers with the brand constantly. 

Compared to the competitors average transaction value at Barista is significantly lower while maintaining great quality. We now have combo that begins as low as Rs. 250. This has resulted in higher footfall and diversion to Barista from other similar cafes. In the first quarter of this year alone we have a 40% year on year growth, which has been the best quarter 1 performance for Barista Lanka since its inception.

Q: Why is franchising a more viable option?

A: The franchising model which is very attractive to investors has allowed us to open up outlets at key locations around the island. The return on investment for these franchisees has also been of great value which is why we encourage more and more local partners to try out our unique model.

Q: How important are your staff members to building your brand?

A: Our biggest asset is our people and we invest on them. We are soon opening a Barista training academy and we want to make sure that our staff care about what they do and the brand itself. We don’t just focus on training people on preparing food and beverages. We also give our staff free English training and other facilities.  We want to create more capable brew masters through the training academy. We are also looking at opportunities to train our staff outside of office both locally and globally. Our labour turnover is notably lower than most of the established F&B chains.

Q: What are your plans for the future?

A: We are planning on renovating some of our existing outlets and these will be location based designs. In the future you will not see stereotypical Barista outlets. What you will see is an outlet that blends in with the environment, location it is situated at and the culture of the area.

We hope to expand more to key tourist hotspots. We currently operate 11 outlets around the island and hope to expand that to 15 by the end of this year.

Q: What other businesses are you involved in?

A: Although Barista is our front end operation, our work actually makes us market leaders in the coffee bean to cup market. As official agents for Lavazza coffee in Sri Lanka, we provide everything from coffee beans, to state-of-the-art coffee brewing machines mainly to leading hotels and restaurants in Sri Lanka. With the new academy coming up we also hope to improve brew master training for hotels and restaurants staff.

Q: With growing emphasis on sustainability in the corporate world, what does Barista do in terms of CSR?

A: As our contribution to the environment which plays a huge role in the production of our key ingredient, Barista has taken a standard to change our packaging to bio-degradable and environmentally friendly material. This is an ongoing project with the Barista Sandwich range which we hope to expand to a much higher scale as well.

Apart from this we also believe in giving back to society. Last year we decided to share corporate Christmas turnover with under-privileged children. This in turn gave birth to an internal CSR team that now looks at ways in which we can make a positive contribution to our society.

Q: Final thoughts?

A: Barista is proud of our great team that works on common principles. We strongly believe that fast food does not have to be junk food, and that is why we are embracing a more wholesome approach to our menu. We function on getting the basics right. Great products at a great price; served by great people in a great environment is our bottom line. We strongly believe in our vision ‘To be the favourite café chain offering the ultimate experience, all in a cup’.