Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters: Riding the Third Wave

First Place Winner in the 2026 Entrepreneurship in Emerging Markets Global Case Writing Competition.

Founded in New Delhi in 2013, Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters grew from a home-kitchen roasting experiment into India’s largest homegrown specialty coffee chain, with more than 200 outlets and INR 2.21 billion in FY2024 revenues, by combining direct farm sourcing, artisanal roasting, and consumer education at accessible price points.

With a public commitment to INR 10 billion in revenues by FY2027 (a 65%+ CAGR), company leaders Matt Chitharanjan, Namrata Asthana, and Shivam Shahi must choose their growth engine: the proven small café (500–600 square feet), profitable in 3.5 months and scalable at 80–90 outlets per year, or the new 2,000-square-foot “Origins” format—experientially richer but capital-intensive and unproven at scale.

Intensifying competition from Starbucks, domestic rival Third Wave Coffee and others, and the imminent entry of discounter Luckin Coffee make the decision urgent. Blue Tokai must weigh format economics, brand strategy, and whether their founding principle—“learn first, scale later”—remains viable under competitive pressure.

• Analyze the attractiveness of the Indian coffee market, integrating insights from the three waves of coffee culture.
• Examine the application of the principles of effectuation in the creation and evolution of a new venture, including some of the key challenges faced by such ventures, especially in the early days of their organizational life cycle.
• Assess an entrepreneurial venture’s positioning strategy and its ability to focus on a value-based strategy.
• Evaluate the growth opportunities for a mid-stage start-up.