Nov 15, 2009 07:22 PM
2989 Views
Ever since it's first outlet on Brigade Road in the early'90s, I have watched the growth of this cafe chain with pride.simply because it's an example of how Indian enterprise can hold it's own with the best the world has to offer!
Travelling across the country, I make it a point to check out CCD outlets in the towns and cities I pass through, an have noticed a certain consistency in their choice of location(from good to excellent) and, of course, the magical ambience they create with their interiors.
I had learnt to expect a very high standard of service from this chain and, up until just a couple of years ago, had never been disappointed. Then came what I call "The Great Decline".standards started getting sloppy(and toilets even sloppier!).
The quality of the brews began to vary drastically between individual outlets and even in the same outlet on different days. I had to make it a point to find out who the brew master in the outlet was and ask him to make my favourite coffee "just right".and then it would come out the way it was meant to be.but then, I shouldn't have had to ask!
As for that Cappuccino-free-if-not-served-with-a-smile promise, I think most of us would come away with a free Cappuccino now-a-days if we held them to that promise. The staff seem to have'lost the plot' and take service to the customers as an incidental chore they have to preform between their loud gossiping sessions, disappearing in the back room(most outlets seem to have one!) or just walking around briskly, looking busy and preoccupied.
I console myself with the thought that this, after all is said and done, is an Indian business and must go the way of *most *Indian businesses: Great when they start off, with rapidly declining standards as the years progress.the promoters lose that driving enthusiasm, find that their hard-won laurels are quite comfortable to sit upon, and pretty soon forget what their core ideology and competencies were!
CCD seems to be headed down that road as well, but it has taken longer to do so than most other Indian business stories, and there is always hope, in the interim, that someone in that organisation will wake up and start to put things back on track.
While it lasts, let us continue to enjoy the best International coffees India has to offer!
