WEDNESDAY, 28 OCTOBER 2026

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Today in Indian Retail

Retail

Trent seals Caffe Nero deal for Westside Zudio cafes

Licensing pact puts European coffee inside fashion floors after Starbucks talks collapse, lifting dwell time and basket size for shoppers.

, Retail correspondent··4 min read

Empty café counter with coffee machines and fashion racks under bright mall lights
Empty café counter with coffee machines and fashion racks under bright mall lights

Tata Group’s Trent has signed a licensing agreement with British chain Caffe Nero to open cafes inside its Westside and Zudio stores, people familiar with the matter said on 27 October. The move follows failed talks with Tata Starbucks over store format, location and brand prominence. Terms and rollout scale remain undisclosed.

Trent will host Caffe Nero outlets within its fashion and value formats, giving the London-founded chain access to an established Indian network of Westside lifestyle stores and Zudio value outlets.

On the shop floor this means longer dwell at the till and higher impulse spends on apparel once the coffee order is done. A dark-store rider or mall kirana nearby loses the quick snack run that now stays inside the Trent box.

Trent turned to Caffe Nero after Starbucks talks broke on format and control.

The pact squeezes pure-play café chains fighting for high-street rents and helps Trent differentiate against Reliance Trends and Aditya Birla formats that lack in-store F&B. Starbucks JV remains separate under Tata Consumer.

Watch the first café openings through the festive window into November and any filing on store count or capex linked to the ₹2,500 crore raise already approved for expansion.

Filed under Retail·Meera Iyer

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