Indian Coffee House is a restaurant chain in India, run by a series of worker co-operative societies. It has strong presence across India with nearly 400 coffee houses. It has been a hub for Communist and Socialist movements for generations. Thus it has played a very important role in the politics of India.
History
Coffee had been grown in India by Indians since the 16th century. However, the concept of coffee houses began to gain a little popularity in the 18th century in Madras and Calcutta. However, as part of the racial discrimination policy of the British rulers, Indians were not allowed into these coffee houses, which were mainly Europeans-only establishments. During the late 1890s, the idea of an "Indian Coffee House" chain was formed.
The India Coffee House chain was started by the Coffee Cess Committee, the first outlet – then named ‘India Coffee House’ – opened in Churchgate, Bombay in 1936, and was operated by the Indian Coffee Board. In the course of the 1940s there were nearly 50 Coffee Houses all over British India. Post partition, Pakistan inherited the branches of Indian Coffee Houses in its major cities and continued the coffee house legacy as a social place in fostering intellectual discussions.
In India, due to a change in the policy in the mid-1950s, the Coffee Board decided to close down the Coffee Houses. Encouraged by the communist leader A. K. Gopalan (AKG), the workers of the Coffee Board began a movement and compelled the Coffee Board to agree to hand over the outlets to the workers who then formed Indian Coffee Workers' Co-operatives and renamed the network as Indian Coffee House. A co-operative began in Bangalore on 19 August 1957, and one was established in Delhi on 27 December 1957. Later Bellary and Madras Societies were separated from their mother societies.. Malviya Marg Karam Chand Chowk Branch, Jabalpur serves as the head office of ICWCS. In October 2018, Indian Coffee House opened its 8th branch of Jabalpur.
Management
There are 13 co-operative societies in the country to run the coffee houses. These societies are governed by managing committees elected from the employees. The societies affiliated under All India Coffee Workers' Co- operative Societies Federation formed 17 December 1960.
Branches
Kerala
There are two societies in Kerala. India Coffee Board Workers' Co-operative Society Ltd. No.4227, Thrissur: Established on 10 February 1958.The first Indian Coffee House opened at Thrissur on 8 March 1958. It was also the fourth ICH in the country. The society have more than 50 branches across Thrissur, Ernakulam, Idukki, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram.
Advocate T. K. Krishnan, a Communist Leader of Thrissur and N. S. Parameswaran Pillai, the State Secretary of the India Coffee Board Labour Union and a thrown-out employee of ICH were the founders of ICHs in Kerala.
Indian Coffee Workers' Co-operative Society Ltd. No. 4317, Kannur: Established on 2 July 1958. The first Indian Coffee House started on 7 August 1958 in Thalasserry. The society have more than 25 branches across Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode, Malappuram and Palakkad districts.
There is also a book about the ICH movement, in Malayalam - Coffee Housinte Katha or History of Coffee House by N. S. Parameswaran Pillai under the pen name, Nadakkal Parameswaran Pillai (Published by Current Books, Thrissur). This is the only published written history of ICH movement in any language. The book won the Abudhabi Shakthi Award as the best autobiography in 2007.
Coffee House outlets in Kerala are noted for their extensive use of beetroot in their dishes.
West Bengal
The Indian Coffee House has several branches in Kolkata, including the College Street branch, Central Avenue branch, Medical College Kolkata branch and Jadavpur branch. These are favourite hang-out places among the students and youth, although one can see several old-timers frequenting the coffee houses on a regular basis.
Coffee House at College Street
The most famous Coffee House branch in Kolkata is the one at the College Street, also known as the "Coffee House at College Street". Though popularly known as College Street Coffee house, this branch is actually on Bankim Chatterjee Street.