Capsule coffee machine brand Map Coffee has been acquired by Indian company TATA Global Beverages, part of the TATA Group conglomerate, that also owns the Tetley tea brand, an automobile business and a chemicals division. It is perhaps best known in the Australian consumer electronics industry as Woolworths’ joint venture partner for Dick Smith stores in India.
“TATA Global Beverages, part of the Global TATA Group and owner of Tetley Tea has acquired Map Coffee in Australia,” said Map Coffee in a statement. “Since 2002, Map Coffee has established its business in the Australian food service and corporate markets.
“Map Coffee was one of the first companies to launch a capsule/pod system into the Australian electrical retail market introducing the Caffitaly System with great success in 2010.
“Map Coffee gained entry into the 2013 BRW Fast 100 and have experienced significant growth on the back of their entrance into the retail market over the last 3 years and more recently into supermarkets.”
Map Coffee currently markets a wide range of machines under its Bella, Presto, Perfecto, Capo and Luna sub-brands, as well as commercial machines. The company currently has six blends of coffee, one hot chocolate and one tea capsule for consumers to purchase. Map sells its capsules directly for roughly the same price as market leader Nespresso (65-75 cents per pod) but, unlike the ‘George Clooney brand’, Map also wholesales its capsules to retailers to sell as well.
Bringing the Tetley and Map coffee brands together is expected to unlock synergies for TATA Global Beverages’ Australian division, especially in the FMCG/mass market sector that Tetley currently inhabits, according to local managing director Sean Hallahan.
“Bringing Map-branded coffee and Tetley-branded tea together in one company is a wonderfully exciting opportunity for our employees, our customers and our consumers,” Hallahan said. “Our vision at TATA Global Beverages is to be the most admired natural beverage company in the world and I am personally excited by the tremendous plans that we have to bring that vision to life in Australia.
“The coffee and tea capsule market in particular is growing strongly and with our two great brands, Map and Tetley utilising the Caffitaly system, we plan on investing strongly in this dynamic category.”
The combination of coffee and tea brands in a capsule machine recalls the Bosch Tassimo system, which is currently marketed throughout Europe, the United States and South Korea, but not Australia. Bosch has forged partnerships with Jacobs, Milka and Twinings to offer its customers a diverse range of beverages. It is as yet unknown if Map will soon be offering a selection of Tetley tea capsules to use in its machines.