Malnad Remembers Siddhartha, The ‘Coffee King’ Who Created Jobs

The 58-year-old was one of the biggest entrepreneurs from Karnataka’s Malnad region.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

The death of Coffee Day founder VG Siddhartha as confirmed by Mangaluru police on Wednesday, 31 August, morning has left many in shock. His body was found at 6:30am around 9 km away from the spot he had reportedly jumped off to the Netravati river more than 24 hours after am multi-department rescue operations began.

The 58-year-old was one of the biggest entrepreneurs from Karnataka’s Malnad region, creating jobs for close to 50,000 people including those from his home district.

Siddhartha hailed from Chikkamagaluru district, the central part of Karnataka also known as Malnad, which is famed for its scenic hills, waterfalls, coffee estates and other plantations. The son of a coffee estate owner, Siddhartha’s family has been in the coffee growing business for 130 years.

Known as the coffee king of India, Siddhartha launched the first Café Coffee Day outlet in 1996 in Bangalore. Since then, the Coffee Day group has expanded massively, with the hospitality chain including two seven-star hotels. Siddhartha also has other business interests ranging from furniture sector to IT to wealth management.

Jairam G Kimmane, a successful businessman from the region, said, “We are distant relatives and know him from 1985. He had established himself in a very big way. We all know him as a man of dignity and accountability. He has given a lot of jobs to people, especially for our people in that region. He is a prudent businessman who has been successful in managing such big plantations and build such a big brand.”

Halappa Gowda, a resident of his village and a long-time acquaintance, said, “He has given jobs to thousands of people employed in Hassan, Chikkamagaluru, Shivamogga, Coorg (districts forming Maland). Many people have gathered today listening to the news. We are all worried about the situation. Even before him, his father used to manage acres of coffee plantations.

“He took over and has managed in the last few decades. He was a gem of a person. Very friendly and acted very humble with us.”

BS Arun, a former president of Shivamogga District Chamber of Commerce, said that he had very “good vision and very few people have come up like this over the years”.

“Nobody ever dreamt like him. At that moment, coffee was selling at a very high price, but he thought of retailing and building a brand. While there would be many investing in real estate or tourism but nobody like this who invests in coffee and software business. He was a good motivator and provided employment to a lot of people,” Arun told TNM.

While Siddhartha commanded admiration from legacy businessman and people remember him as a job creator, a bunch of new-age entrepreneurs look up to him as inspiration.

Yashwanth Nag Mocherla, Founder of The ThickShake Factory, a budding Quick Service Restaurant chain, said, “First of all for me and as well as hundreds of entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs he was an inspiration for the entire country.”

He added, “He wanted to build the Starbucks of India and even when they have now entered India, till today they are no match. And at the end of the day, he still one of the four largest coffee exporters of the world. I kept my business plan for shakes what CCD was for coffee. Since then and even today, we look up to CCD for inspiration just to understand the market potential like every new city we go to. The kind of business that he has built over the last 25 years is phenomenal and don’t forget that he is still among the top four coffee exporter.”

(With inputs from Prajwal Bhat. This was first published on The News Minute and has been republished with permission.)