Brands
Lavazza exits coffee shop business
MUMBAI: In an effort to realign and restructure its businesses globally, Turin-based, Lavazza, has announced its decision to exit from the coffee shop business in India.
Lavazza has decided to lay greater focus on its core business, which is Coffee.
Lavazza, which bought the café brand Barista in 2007, has sold the coffee shop chain with over 190 cafés to Carnation Hospitality, a company owned by Rollatainers. Coffee shops will keep providing Lavazza Coffee thanks to a long-term supply agreement between Fresh & Honest Café (FHCL) and Barista.
Lavazza CEO Antonio Baravalle said, “Changes in the market required us to relook at our commercial penetration methods and as a result, Lavazza has decided to concentrate on coffee in the region. In fact, India continues to remain an extremely important market to Lavazza’s international operations and it is strategic to the brand’s overall growth initiatives across the world. Furthermore, we will continue to develop our presence in the country through the AFH business and through the investments in the Sri City plant, our first and only production facility outside of Italy.”
In the deal, Lavazza has been assisted by Rothschild, as financial advisor, and Desai & Diwanji, as legal advisor.
Lavazza, established in Turin in 1895, has been owned by the family of the same name for four generations. The world’s seventh ranking coffee roaster, Lavazza is the retail market leader in Italy with a market share by value of over 47 per cent as per Nielsen and sales of EUR 1,340 million as of 31 December 2013. The company has five production sites, four in Italy and one abroad, and operates through associated companies and distributors in more than 90 countries. Lavazza exports 46 per cent of its production today.
Brands
MakeMyTrip partners with OpenAI to boost AI-powered travel planning
Conversational AI now guides travellers from inspiration straight to booking
GURUGRAM: MakeMyTrip, India’s leading online travel company, has teamed up with OpenAI to bring a fresh twist to AI-driven travel planning. The collaboration integrates OpenAI’s APIs into MakeMyTrip’s app, making it easier than ever for travellers to move from chatting about dream trips to booking them.
The move centres around MakeMyTrip’s Myra interface, a GenAI trip planning assistant that now handles over 50,000 conversations a day in languages ranging from English and Hindi to Tamil, Telugu and Bengali. Myra helps travellers explore options, create itineraries and book flights, hotels and extras without the usual hassle of searching and filtering.
MakeMyTrip co-founder and group CEO Rajesh Magow said, “With OpenAI, we turn curiosity into confident decisions. When travellers start their journey through conversation, MakeMyTrip becomes a seamless extension of that discovery process. AI combined with our travel data makes it possible to deliver personalised, bookable options at scale.”
OpenAI managing director- international Oliver Jay added, “MakeMyTrip is showing how AI can make travel planning feel more like a conversation than a chore. Advanced AI isn’t just about back-end efficiencies, it’s about transforming the way travellers experience and engage with the platform.”
MakeMyTrip has long invested in AI across the travel lifecycle, from inspiration and discovery to booking and post-sales support. Nearly half of Myra’s queries now come from tier-2 and smaller cities, and voice interactions are booming outside metros, making AI travel assistance more accessible than ever.
With this partnership, MakeMyTrip is not just keeping up with AI trends, it’s aiming to lead the way, turning every traveller’s whim into a smooth, bookable adventure.
