PVR Cinemas/Costa Coffee
A movie over
a coffee
Arunima Mishra
n a recent development, Indias first
I multiplex chain PVR Cinemas and
British Coffeehouse Companys Cos-
ta Coffee have joined hands to offer
gourmet coffee and other beverages to
visitors at PVR theatres.
The idea to offer gourmet coffee came
from consumer feedback that PVR Cin-
emas studied for the past five years.
Pramod Arora, group president & CEO,
PVR Ltd, says, We decided we would
be focusing on the eatables. Till now,
everything was in-house and gourmet
coffee was missing at PVR Cinemas. We
had many options to choose from, but
Costa Coffee emerged as the strongest
brand. Consumers want coffee from
Asia, besides India. Adds Unni, We and Jalandhar.
are not chasing quantity rather we want Costa has made some changes in its
offerings to suit the format. While there
quality. The multiplex channel is still
dominated by popcorn. We spent are three sizes in the beverages catego-
has double-layered cups that dont let around three months to understand ry across our regular stores, we have on-
you feel the heat.
But why did Costa choose PVR Cin-
emas? Santhosh Unni, CEO, Costa Cof-
this culture.
The last three to four years have
seen the number of multiplexes grow
ly one size at the PVR Cinemas. Multi-
ple sizes will lead to confusion, as view-
ers will have only a 10-minute break
fee, India, says, We are present in IT in leaps and bounds. Some quick num- during a movie to choose from, says
Parks, malls, high-streets, airports and bers. BIG Cinemas has 248 screens, Unni. The pricing strategy is quite sim-
hospitality centres. ple one
However, after the THE IDEA TO OFFER GOURMET COFFEE CAME FROM CONSUMER FEEDBACK price
2011 ICC World THAT PVR CINEMAS STUDIED FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS point for
Cup and the Indi- hot bever-
an Premier League season-4, we PVR Cinemas has 148, Essel Groups ages (hot coffee costs `50) and one price
thought this is the right time to focus Fun Cinemas 140, and Cinemax India point for cold beverages (`60 for an ice
on this format. has 105 screens. PVR Cinemas is also tea/cold coffee and `90 for a fruit cool-
Costa Coffee is locked in a serious looking at quick expansion. We will er, a premium-end product). The pric-
battle for market share with global mar- come up with 54 screens this year. Of ing for a Costa beverage will be 20 per
ket leader Starbucks in a number of these, four will be operational in cent less than its regular stores. Next in
fast-growing markets, including Chi- Udaipur by mid-June. Next in the line line are more combo offers, which we