V G Siddhartha, the founder of the most popular coffeehouse chain, ‘Cafe Coffee Day,’ attempted suicide in 2019, shocking everyone. He was said to have gone missing mysteriously amid rising debts.
An inquiry discovered that Mysore Amalgamated Coffee Estates Ltd (MACEL), reportedly Siddhartha’s company, siphoned approximately Rs 3,535 crore from the business. Since then, the corporation has been under enormous financial hardship in order to settle all of its debts.
In the midst of speculation that CCD might not survive without its founder, his wife, Malavika Hegde, acquired leadership of the organization. In December 2020, she was appointed CEO of Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd (CDEL).
Considering the circumstances, her decision proved to be brave and courageous on her part.
Malavika Hedge has been working in the coffee business since she married VG Siddhartha. She served on the Cafe Coffee Day board as a non-executive board member and was in charge of the day-to-day operations of CCD from 2008.
Malavika preferred to face her challenges instead of turning her back, despite the fact that she had a large amount of debt to repay. Hegde’s first priority in preserving her late husband’s legacy was to pay off the company’s debt. Thousands of people’s jobs were at stake, and she needed to keep the company afloat.
Before taking over as CEO, she issued a letter to thousands of CCD staff in which she stated:
“We will work to reduce the debt to a manageable level by selling a few more investments as I am committed to the company’s future.”
Malavika has announced in another statement to all stakeholders and employees that “they were able to achieve this unbelievable feat in two years without any favors from any lender, and she will not only repay every single penny back to them but also revive Cafe Coffee Day”.
CCD had to compete with emerging market competitors who were getting more and more aggressive. CCD would not have healed as quickly if it hadn’t been for her. According to a source, Malavika assured her employees that she is enthusiastic about the continuation of CCD and that the Coffee Day Tale is “worth continuing.”
Malavika rose to the occasion and achieved the unexpected with her management techniques and tactics. CDEL was able to reduce its debt to 3,100 crores by March 2020, and to 1,731 crores by January 2021. Despite all the restrictions associated with the pandemic, the decrease was 75% in two years.
Despite the fact that many companies collapsed during the Covid-19 pandemic, CCD continued to grow. The company was able to effectively establish relationships with a number of new investors who agreed to invest funds in their business. It drew on the strength of its existing brand image in India. The business was able to persuade investors that the CCD brand was worth preserving.
CCD is making a comeback in the Indian coffee industry. Over the course of two decades, the company grew to become the country’s leading coffee-serving brand.
