Puttaraj AG, President of Coffee Day Xpress, CCD’s kiosk chain, has been assigned an additional mandate of handling the international business for the organisation. He currently oversees the functioning of the 900+ outlets of Xpress. K Ramakrishnan, President-Marketing, Café Coffee Day, says, “The company currently has 19 international cafes in Vienna and the Czech Republic. We are continuously looking to expand in the international market as well.”

Presently, in India, around 20 new outlets of Coffee Day Xpress are being opened up every month. Ramakrishnan shares plans on expanding their network. “Expansion is a continuous story at CCD. We are currently at 1,408 outlets. We want to touch a number of 2,000 cafes by end 2014. Our current cafes include 45 lounges.”

Puttaraj AG, President of Coffee Day Xpress

Earlier this year, CCD, which had mainly resorted to in-store advertising and word-of-mouth, also came out with promotions for its new offerings across various media channels. While refusing to divulge information on A&P budgets, Ramakrishnan says, “We came out with outdoor and radio promotions to popularise our new menu. We did it city by city as the launch happened. By October this year, we were present in the top 10 cities. Hence, we went the print route and released ads in The Times of India across the country. As we spread our presence and new menu further, we are open to any medium as long as it serves the purpose of increasing affinity to CCD and talking about our new offerings.”

An MBA in Marketing from Kuvempu Vishwavidyanilaya, Puttaraj has over 15 years’ experience beginning his career with a short stint at Sterling Holiday Resorts. He joined Coffee Day at the time of its inception in 1996 as Marketing Manager for the Fresh ‘n’ Ground division. After a 4-year period, he assumed the post of Marketing Manager for Café Coffee Day. In 2001, he moved up to head Marketing and Product Development for the beverages division. In 2006, he assumed the role of Business Head and thereafter, President of the Coffee Day Xpress chain in 2008 where he is currently responsible for managing the business from end-to-end, strategising the business plan, handling the day-to-day functions of the division, innovations, etc.