Tata Consumer Products to convert ‘Tata Cha’ business into Indian Hotels Company

Indian Hotels Company Limited, Tata’s hospitality business, operates a range of luxury, premium and mid-range hotels across the country under brands such as Taj, Selections, Vivanta and Ginger. With the pandemic disrupting hospitality and restaurant businesses last year, IHCL launched the Qmin app for home delivery of food from its restaurants and later expanded the brand to introduce the lifestyle gourmet store concept Qmin Shop.

Cumin Shop was designed as a cafe to serve bread, handcrafted cheese and patisserie items, among other gourmet products. Tata Cha will now be part of the Cumin brand. Currently, Tata Cha has 12 stores in Bangalore that serve beverages (tea, coffee, coolers), snacks and merchandise. Tata Consumer Products, in its release, said the business is a good strategic fit for IHCL, and can be synergized with the Cumin brand.

“This is in line with our strategy to streamline and simplify our operations. While this is a relatively small venture in its current form, the exit from Tata Cha will enable us to focus on our core FMCG business,” said Sunil D’Souza, MD and CEO, Tata Consumer Products.

In September quarter earnings last week, Tata Consumer Products Ltd reported a 14% growth in the beverages business in India, while the food business volume grew 16% year-on-year. In an interview to Mint, D’Souza, however, said that the company will focus on expanding its coffee chain Starbucks. He said, in the last quarter, it opened 14 stores and the pace of store opening will increase further.