Connectivity and coffee under the same roof
[TIMES NEWS NETWORK, 11 Feb, 2004 ]

KOLKATA: From broadband connectivity to coffee bars, it has been a busy route for the Reliance group.

It’s setting up of a nation-wide chain of retail stores offering digital entertainment and communication facilities is well known. But while you get connected to the world, you can also tuck in recipes prepared and patented by Reliance Webworld. Call this diversification in the age of convergence.

About 70 Javagreen cafes are currently in place across nine cities. These are niche areas within Reliance Webworld stores which double up as customer convenience centres, as also broadband connectivity outlets offering video conferencing and multi-player online gaming facilities, among others.

The back-end team at Javagreen developing the recipes comprises experts from the food and beverages industry. While another unit oversees the quality-control aspects, Reliance has tied up with key names in the coffee bar industry for consultation. Some of the ingredients are also being imported.

Logistics are currently dictating the production configuration. Depending on the volume of business, delicacies are either being outsourced or prepared at dedicated kitchens across India. In Kolkata, for instance, where the cafes were launched across the four Webworlds on January 27, the recipes are being outsourced under strict supervision. But in places like Bangalore, where the Webworlds are witnessing around 500 footfalls per day, kitchens have been set up.

Branded as a gourmet coffee shop, the cafes are being targeted at young as well as corporate clients on the go, with just enough time to grab a bite.

According to Reliance Webworld officials, there is tremendous synergy in the name Javagreen. Reliance’s mobile service is built on the Java platform, while Java also denotes a certain type of coffee bean. “green,” of course, signifies freshness.

Once fully launched, said Reliance officials, Javagreen will become the largest coffee chain in the country by default. This is because Reliance is brewing plans to have 250 Webworld footprints across 111 cities by the end of this fiscal. And by ’05, some 2,000 Webworlds may fan out to 600 cities.

http://infotech.indiatimes.com/articleshow/490629.cms

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