How is Gen Z helping coffee brands brew success down south?

In the southern states of India, coffee is more than just a beverage. It’s a way of life and livelihood. From bean to cup, coffee is deeply steeped into the region’s culture and economy, with every brew carrying its unique story.

Coffee brands craft narratives around these stories, meticulously tailoring them to match the target group’s tastes, preferences and knowledge of coffee. But it’s a highly competitive landscape where customer loyalty is key, and carving out a niche is no easy feat. That’s where Gen Z comes to their rescue.

Focusing on Gen Z audiences gives brands the advantage of tapping into a group that has grown up with coffee culture, possesses a deep understanding of the drink, and is eager to experiment with new flavours, experiences, and trends. This willingness to explore makes them an ideal target audience for brands looking to innovate and stand out.

According to industry observers, regions with a thriving coffee culture require more nuanced narratives that dig deeper into the type of beans and brewing techniques, appealing to an audience that values authenticity and expertise. It’s more challenging to build a loyal customer base in such regions, where consumers are already knowledgeable and discerning about their coffee choices. From product and messaging to every part of the marketing funnel is customised to cater to the informed yet curious Gen Z consumers.

“Gen Z & digital-first audiences’ consumption patterns are slightly different to the masses. They seek experiential and personalised products. To address the same, we are curating premium experiential products primarily sold through D2C and E-commerce with minimum or no presence in traditional trade,” explains Raja Chakraborty, CMO, Continental Coffee.

The distinction between traditional and new-age channels is critical for coffee brands, especially those with multiple and diverse products. D2C and quick commerce channels allow legacy brands like Continental Coffee to reach new and premium consumer demographics with speciality coffee variants, single-origin products and premium brewing kits. Traditional channels like general trade and modern trade stores are reserved for more tried and tested products.

Gen Z has also been central to how the cafe culture is shaping up in South India. “With a large base of Gen Z population in urban cities like Bangalore, Mysore, Hyderabad & Chennai, product offering and promotions need to be customised to their preferences. Even while designing cafes, the same has to be kept in check,” shares Rajat Agrawal, CEO, Barista Coffee.

Talking about the challenges in reaching out to Gen Z consumers and holding their attention, Agrawal shares, “The market is crowded with both global and regional brands to increase their market share. Gen Z audiences prefer quick, visually engaging content. However, it also frequently changes preferred platforms. Balancing modern trends with South India’s coffee heritage is also a challenge.”

To counter the challenges, Barista creates relatable, culturally inspired content, such as Reels on coffee traditions blended with Barista’s offerings. “We partner with regional creators for authentic engagement, run contests and polls on social platforms and gamify mobile app experiences. We also host pop-ups and live events for shareable moments,” he shares.

Further, Agrawal delves into what makes South India unique for coffee brands: “South Indians’ love for traditional filter coffee, coupled with increasing interest in premium and speciality products, makes this market distinctly different from other regions in India. Marketing strategy for the South region must celebrate authenticity, leverage local pride, and align with both traditional preferences and emerging trends in coffee consumption.”

Bharat Sethi, Founder & CEO, Rage Coffee echoes a similar insight: “South India as a market is different and more mature compared to other coffee-drinking regions in the country. Coffee is a household item here, with generations growing up drinking chicory coffee. Gen Z consumers in the region consider coffee as the go-to beverage and are open to new flavours and profiles.”

For a young brand like Rage Coffee that joined the ecosystem in 2018, carving a niche required a robust strategy: A people-first approach by building a passionate community of fans called Ragers. The Virat Kohli-backed coffee brand differentiates itself with a strong health and fitness angle, catering to function-conscious consumers.

“Our ad spends have come down significantly due to our brand pull, which we have created with an early-movers advantage and by being in the market for a long time,” shares Sethi, adding that in 2025, the brand will focus on increasing visibility, sampling and trials, and building distribution across channels.

On social media, Rage Coffee frequently runs giveaways with health-focused brands, collaborates with Gen Z influencers to increase reach and engagement and shares unique recipes that add to the consumer’s coffee experience with Rage.

Collaborations with regional influencers have been a high priority for Continental Coffee too. “We invest a lot in regional influencers and food vloggers in our digital strategy for South,” shares Chakraborty. Some of the prominent influencers the brand has worked with include Nakshathra Nagesh, Kiki Vijay Keerthi Shanthanu, Gayathrie Shankar, Anshu Reddy and Rashmi Gowda. They are popular actors, television personalities, and bloggers known for their work in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada media.

In addition to the focus on digital (e-commerce, quick commerce, OTT and content creators), TV/Cinema and OOH play a critical role in driving awareness and impact for Continental Coffee, and the brand will allocate significant ad budgets to all these platforms in 2025.

For Barista Coffee, digital takes up 65% of its ad spends, leaving 35% for traditional advertising. The brand uses programmatic platforms, social media (Instagram & Facebook), and hyperlocal ads on Swiggy/Zomato to drive engagement among urban, tech-savvy consumers. Focused BTL campaigns are used during big/festival days to build brand equity and connect with audiences. On digital, Barista focuses on impressions, CTR and conversion rates. With traditional advertising, the brand aims to build brand recall and increase footfall in cafes. Other key metrics include sales growth, loyalty program sign-ups, and positive sentiment analysis.

With Gen Z leading the charge in redefining coffee experiences, brands are recognising the immense potential in customising product lines and messaging to turn beans into profits.