On Wednesday, Cafe Coffee Day founder V. G. Siddhartha was found dead on the banks of the Netravati river near Mangaluru.
“A lot can happen over coffee” takes us back to all the memories associated with CCD.From the meeting plans with friends to the dates with your loved ones. Anyone who has been to this Indian coffee brand surely must have not forgotten, the various types of coffees which are being served from the last 37 years with all the hard work of the Coffee King of India- V.G. Siddhartha.
In 1996 in Bangalore, Cafe Coffee Day became the largest coffee shop chain in a decade. VG Siddhartha, who founded this revolution, became the undisputed coffee king of India.
He was born to a coffee plantation owner in Chikkamagaluru district of Karnataka, Siddhartha had his association with the coffee business since he was young. He obtained a post-graduate degree in economics from St. Aloysius College in Mangalore and is married to the daughter of former Karnataka Chief Minister and former External Minister SM Krishna.
In 1993, he set up a coffee trading company called Amalgamate Bean Company (ABC) with an annual turnover of over Rs 60 million and over the years it increased to over Rs 25 billion.
Siddhartha had 200 exclusive retail outlets selling his brand of Coffee Day powder all over South India. ABC is India’s largest exporter of green coffee. Siddhartha left behind a heartbreaking letter addressed to his CCD family.
In a letter addressed to his staff before his death, he said that he failed to create the right profitable business model despite his best efforts. Siddhartha said in the letter, “I would like to say I gave it my all. I am very sorry to let down all the people that put their trust in me. I fought for a long time but today I gave up as I could not take any more pressure from one of the private equity partners forcing me to buy back shares, a transaction I had partially completed six months ago by borrowing a large sum of money from a friend.”
The Coffee King said that he has “failed as an entrepreneur” which we as a nation would never find easy to believe.
