Bharat Sethi reveals the secret behind Rage Coffee’s expanding pan-India reach

Rage Coffee is a rapidly growing FMCG company that manufactures, markets, and distributes innovative coffee products globally. Being a caffeine innovation brand, Rage Coffee has always been associated with the curation of a product range that supersedes the segment in superiority and originality; it has always been ahead of the conventional curve.

Responsible for introducing the third wave of coffee to India, Rage Coffee has taken the signature premium cafe experience and brought it to customers at an affordable price at the comfort of their homes or on the go. The company’s popularity is driven by the unique marketing approach of brand storytelling that combines a journey and authenticity at the core and links it to each product in Rage’s product line. Storytelling, in combination with an omnichannel approach, has created a strong community of customers who swear by the products offered by the company. The brand has swiftly scaled up to new territories and has launched innovative plant-based coffee products since its inception in 2018.

In conversation with Adgully, Bharat Sethi, Founder & CEO, Rage Coffee, shares about how the brand has become a rage among coffee lovers, the successful omni-channel marketing approach, expanding reach pan India, and much more.

How the year has been for Rage Coffee and what are your expectations from 2023?

The year has been fantastic for us. We’ve built a really strong foothold in the offline market, we’ve grown from around 2,000 outlets at the beginning of the year to 7,500 outlets right now. We’ve gone from 100-odd hotels, restaurants, and cafes, to 1,400 HoReCa point of sales. Overall, our distribution network has expanded and we’ve launched some very innovative products in the market. Additionally, we’ve also launched advertising and marketing campaigns with Virat Kohli, we’ve worked and come up with new packaging as well and introduced new categories. Hence, from a branding and marketing perspective also we’ve expanded our horizons over the last year.

Going forward, we will continue to follow our pattern of growth and continue doing what we are.

What is the strategic distribution approach for the brand?

The strategic distribution approach is – wherever coffee is being sold, we want to be present there. We are supplying on the backend side as well, because we are manufacturers ourselves, retailing the products in retail outlets in general trade and modern trade, all channels dedicated to sales of groceries, right now. We are also tying up with multiple institutions and wholesale companies. Additionally, we’re also doing exports through importers outside of India. Hence, we are taking a multichannel approach. Wherever coffee is being sold in whichever first, we are or want to be present there.

Could you tell us about the recent tie-ups that include Keventers, Cream Stone, Nirula’s, and more, using innovative menu engineering techniques?

We are one of the only companies in India that has done menu engineering collaborations in India to that scale. We are close to about 600 outlets – about 12-odd large chains are currently using our products and also marketing that they’re using Rage, that the coffee or the end product is made using Rage Coffee. A lot of these are QSR chains, ice-cream outlets, as well as bakery brands. I think we’ll continue to come up with unique innovative collaborations, where the use of coffee and the use of flavours, which is our core strength, is highlighted by food service players. So, if any chain, joint, or cafe is willing to look at innovation around the flavours around coffee, we are very excited to work with them in building unique products and then co-promoting and co-marketing the products.

What are the key factors that are helping in generating sales for Rage Coffee?

The consolidated approach brings the perfect omnichannel balance by generating 50% sales from Rage’s website and the other 50% from sales on e-commerce platforms, including Amazon, Flipkart, D2C and other Hyperlocal channels. Rage Coffee grew by 10x amidst the pandemic, owing to their enhanced presence in the market. Other than the metro cities, the brand has expanded its reach across major Tier 2 and 3 cities – including Ahmedabad, Kochi, Dehradun, Banaras, Jaipur, Ludhiana, Indore, Nagpur, Jammu, and North East India.

What are the recent tie-ups of brand?

The recent tie-ups include Keventers, Cream Stone, Nirula’s, and more using innovative menu engineering techniques. The brand has achieved multiple quality and safety certifications by FSSAI, ISO, GMP, WHO, and FDA. The brand has swiftly scaled up to new territories since the beginning of 2022 – expanding the offline network from 190+ distributors, 5 CFAs, and 15 super stockists, covering 7,500+ offline touch-points across India with a target to expand to 10,000 touch-points by March-end this year.