Chaiiwala has agreed a partnership with One Retail, the retail division of Compass Group UK and Ireland, to open cafés in hospitals, travel hubs and other non-traditional sites. The first, at Wexham Park Hospital, is the Indian street food brand’s first hospital café, and the brand is targeting 500 sites worldwide over the next ten years.
The announcement was reported on 9 November by Hospitality and Catering News and Foodservice Equipment Journal. Propel carried the same news with a headline referring to travel hubs, hospitals and other non-traditional sites. Neither report names a number of planned openings with One Retail, nor gives Chaiiwala’s current UK site count.
The partnership and the first site
The first site is at Wexham Park Hospital, part of Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, and is already open. One Retail describes itself in the reports as the retail division of Compass Group UK and Ireland. One outlet says the companies have not announced specific sites or opening dates beyond Wexham Park, and the other refers to “an extensive pipeline” of sites across the UK.
What each side said
Sohail Ali, co-founder of Chaiiwala, said: “Partnering with an operator like One Retail is a major milestone for Chaiiwala”. Andy Jones, managing director of One Retail, said: “Travel hubs are a particularly exciting area of opportunity for us”. Airports and railway stations are listed as areas being explored, alongside hospitals.
Why non-traditional sites matter to a café brand
One Retail is the retail arm of Compass Group UK and Ireland, and both reports present it as the operator that will bring the brand to sites such as hospitals, airports and railway stations. The reports describe these as non-traditional sites, in contrast with the high street units where a café brand normally opens. Neither report says how the sites will be run or on what commercial terms.
Good to know
Neither report states whether Chaiiwala’s UK sites are franchised, company-owned or run under partnership agreements, or which model will apply to the One Retail sites. This article therefore refers to Chaiiwala as a brand.
The 500-site target in context
The target of 500 sites worldwide over ten years is the only figure in the reports. Without a current site count, it is not possible to say what share of that number the UK business represents.
The next piece of information to emerge is likely to be the identity of the second One Retail site. Until the companies name one, Wexham Park remains the single confirmed example of the partnership in operation. More brands in this sector are listed in the coffee franchise listings, and the latest franchise news is on the L’Express Franchise homepage.
