As a new year resolution - I decided to start doing something I had been planning to do for a while - start a blog! I thought the best topic would be to talk about how we started - that would be the perfect start.
Having studied in New York with a degree in Finance and Accounting, the "normal" path would be to join a bank/PE Fund (should have probably done that considering all the start ups are chasing them). Alas, I applied and didn't get one hence trudged my way back to New Delhi. At that time I thought my life was over - not everything goes according to plan. But when I reached back and stumbled on coffee, I realised - not everything is as bad as it initially seems.
After exploring several projects in Delhi since I was keen to start something new, I decided to re-look at a project my dad had considered 25 years ago - to introduce India to imported freshly roasted coffees. My dad and me always bickered over coffee - having been exposed to some hole in the wall cafes and done all nighters on some drip coffees in college, I felt I knew a little about it. He on the other hand thought I knew nothing and promised to make me try my first real espresso on our next travel.
So, we went to the hub of espresso - Italy and I have to admit - I had a pretty solid espresso (a blend of 7 coffees). That was it - we did no more research or market surveys to check if anyone else would like it or want it - we liked it and were sure there would be others in India who would so we decided to import coffees from Italy. We started with our first import and served in our first cafe of a friend - where the response was quite good which was encouraging.
In our subsequent lot of coffee, we discovered that the process of import took some time. We realised that the time between the "roast date" and "consumption date" led to change in flavour if the gap was too long. Freshness is important.
About the Author: Krittivas Dalmia
Krittivas is the founder of Kaffa Cerrado and a coffee enthusiast. He enjoys reading on current affairs, writing (what do you guys think?) and traveling!