BANGALORE: The world’s leading roaster of Espresso coffee ’illycaffee’ plans to open ‘Perfect Italian Coffee Cafes’ globally with the monicker ‘Espressamente’.

To this effect, they have already signed an agreement with the Suntory group in Japan through the franchisee route for starting 100 cafés there by end of 2008. The company has also set up a ‘flagship’ ‘Espressamente’ café in Paris which is owned and operated by them, and is considering setting up such flagship cafes in other places around the world, with India a probable destination for one such café revealed illycaffee’s coffee culture and university director Roberto Morelli on the sidelines of a press conference in Bangalore to announce the commencement of The Universita del Caffe (University of Coffee) at the India Extension Center in Bangalore.

Included in illycaffee’s global plans are 5-10 cafes in India this year, with the figure doubling by next year. The coffee major is looking for franchisees in India with whom they can work.

illycaffee had global revenues of about a quarter of a billion euros for 2005, of which 52% share came from the home country. Roberto is happy about the fact that the share of revenues from home is shrinking while the overall company revenues are growing, and India is one of the countries that are definitely on his company’s roadmap. India also happens to be the only Asian country from which illycaffee sources Arabica coffee.

An agreement with the Indian Coffee Board is also being discussed. illycaffee will provide promotional materials including content for spreading the use of Coffee in India.

In Italy illycaffee spends around € 1 million towards promotional and marketing activities.