Restaurant India News: CYK Hospitalities Launches Matcha-Focused Café Cha & Co. in Gurgaon

Cha & Co. has been designed as a matcha-focused café, positioning the ingredient at the centre of both its menu and brand identity. The concept enters a market largely driven by coffee consumption, indicating a targeted attempt to create a niche within the evolving urban café landscape. The format integrates Japanese cultural elements with an ingredient-led approach, aligning product offerings with a specific consumption narrative.

The café has been founded by Ayushi Sharma and Amogh Sharma, with a focus on delivering a consistent matcha experience through controlled sourcing and preparation standards. The founders aim to introduce ceremonial-grade matcha to Indian consumers while maintaining uniformity in quality and presentation.

“In 2024, I found myself constantly searching for good-quality, authentic matcha experiences in India, but they were few and far between. That’s what led to Cha & Co., a space where we could bring the craft, quality, and ritual of matcha to people and make it a part of their everyday lives,” said Ayushi Sharma. “With Cha & Co., we want to bring the best matcha experience in the world to India. We do this through careful sourcing from the oldest matcha farms in Uji, Japan. Our mission is to never compromise on quality and to make every cup the best one served at Cha & Co.,” added Amogh Sharma.

CYK Hospitalities worked with the founding team across multiple stages of development, including concept creation, menu engineering, hiring, staff training, food trials, standard operating procedures, and design planning. The menu has been structured to combine a café format with Japanese and pan-Asian influences, indicating a hybrid positioning within the casual dining and café segments.

“Our goal was to build something with a genuinely distinctive identity, where the product, space, and experience all speak the same language. The menu and beverage program were developed as a cohesive narrative rather than separate elements,” said Pulkit Arora, Director and Culinary Expert, CYK Hospitalities.

Simranjeet Singh, Director, CYK Hospitalities, further added, “For a concept like this, identifying a clear market gap is essential. By placing authentic matcha at the center of both the beverage and food program, Cha & Co. establishes a strong and differentiated positioning within the café segment.”

The launch highlights a growing trend of ingredient-led concepts entering India’s café market. Operators are increasingly focusing on specialised offerings to stand out in a crowded space dominated by large coffee chains. The emphasis on sourcing, storytelling, and format innovation reflects a broader shift towards experience-driven dining, particularly in urban high-street locations.