HOW COCO ICHIBANYA IS GROWING IN INDIA

Japanese curry chain Coco ICHIBANYA marked its entry into the Indian market in 2020 by opening its first outlet in Gurgaon.

- NUSRA

We launched our first outlet in Cyber Hub when COVID-19 was at its peak. With this launch, our initial idea was to see customer response toward Japanese cuisine, especially toward our authentic Japanese curries. However, due to the pandemic, many customers and potential consumers chose not to dine out, making it slightly more challenging for us to ascertain how they would react to our offerings,” shared Devesh Srivastava, CEO who found that there are already a number of CoCo ICHIBANYA fans, namely Japanese expatriates and some local customers, who had been eagerly awaiting to get their fix of CoCo ICHIBANYASs famous curry.

Most diners enjoyed exploring the contrast between the flavor of the Japanese sauce and the familiar Indian varieties laden with onion, tomatoes, and local spices. This is what drove us to open our second outlet, albeit two years later than planned as we wanted to wait for a favorable time after the COVID-19 peak in India,” he added.

He spilled more beans while talking to the Retailer magazine. Here are the excerpts from the interview:

What was the idea behind the launch of the brand into the Indian market?