Restaurant India News: Blue Tokai Launches Origins Café in Mohali, Strengthens Specialty Coffee Play

Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters has launched its first exclusive Origins store in Mohali at HLP Galleria, marking a strategic entry of its experiential café format into the Tricity region. The opening represents a key milestone for the brand as well as for the region’s organised café and lifestyle retail segment.

Earlier this year, Blue Tokai moved beyond its core café-led model with the introduction of Blue Tokai Origins, a concept designed to give consumers deeper visibility into the provenance of their food and beverages. The format focuses on structured tastings, brewing-led engagement, and closer storytelling around sourcing, rather than conventional quick-service café operations.

The first Blue Tokai Origins café was launched in Gurugram, and the Mohali outlet becomes the second flagship under this concept in India. With this opening, the brand continues to test and scale its premium experiential format in emerging urban centres, positioning it as a differentiated offering within the specialty coffee segment.

Blue Tokai Origins features single-estate coffees, curated brewing methods, guided tasting sessions, and a stronger emphasis on traceability and farm-level narratives. From a hospitality industry perspective, this format reflects a shift towards experience-led consumption, where cafés act as destination spaces rather than just transactional points of sale.

The Mohali launch gives the Tricity market direct access to a nationally recognised specialty coffee brand and signals a maturing consumer base with an increasing preference for experiential dining and beverage formats. The move aligns with the region’s growing demand for lifestyle-driven retail destinations.

At a network level, Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters recently marked another milestone by opening its 203rd store in New Delhi, reinforcing its aggressive yet structured expansion strategy. Founded in 2013, the brand has expanded its presence to more than 50 cities across India.

Blue Tokai’s growth strategy focuses on Tier I and Tier II cities with high footfall potential, including high streets, residential catchments, and office-driven micro-markets. Alongside physical expansion, the brand has diversified its product mix to include ready-to-drink cold brews, home brewing equipment, and a range of light food and bakery offerings to widen consumer engagement.

As part of its long-term roadmap, Blue Tokai is working towards opening 100 stores annually and aims to reach a total network of 350 stores by 2027, underlining its intent to consolidate its position in India’s rapidly evolving specialty coffee market.