Third Wave Coffee bets big on Gen Z footfall with Bobble and Matcha push

New Delhi: The homegrown café chain Third Wave Coffee unveiled a new line of Bubble Teas and Matcha-infused beverages, marking a diversification from its coffee-first DNA as it aggressively courts India’s thriving Gen Z and Millennial audiences.

Speaking to BestMediaInfo at an exclusive tasting event in New Delhi, Co-Founder Anirudh Sharma positioned the brand’s expansion as a strategic response to shifting consumer tastes. “When it comes to Matcha, there’s no shift; we’ve had Matcha since 2019. Bubble Tea, however, is a newer offering. We saw the Millennial and Gen Z consumer base leaning into it, and we’ve always pivoted to evolve with our customers. The idea was to elevate our offerings beyond just coffee, while staying a coffee-first brand,” he said.

On the competitive dynamics in the premium café segment, where pricing can often blur lines, Sharma pointed to accessibility and value as key differentiators, especially for younger cohorts. 

He said, “We were one of the early brands to launch our own app, which offers loyalty programs. You earn cashback with every transaction, and we also offer subscription packs for cappuccinos, which further reduce the price. The goal has always been to be accessible enough for people to enjoy our coffee daily.”

Even as matcha floods café menus nationwide, Sharma said authenticity and craft remain non-negotiables. “We work directly with farmers in Japan’s Shizuoka region and have spent time perfecting the process.”

The formal rollout of the Bubble Tea and Matcha line follows significant traction observed during the summer season. 

“During summer, we noticed consumers really loved the texture of Bubble Tea. That led to our popping boba summer launch, with nine new beverages. The positive response to that gave us confidence to develop a full-fledged Bubble Tea and Matcha range,” Sharma shared.

Crucially, Sharma underscored the central role of marketing in driving adoption among Gen Z and Millennials, who often discover F&B trends through social media and influencer ecosystems. “Marketing is everything. I can come up with a great product, but if I don’t market it, nobody will know. Marketing creates awareness, buzz, and makes the product accessible. We use both offline and online marketing across multiple channels to reach the right audience.”

The company’s expansion blueprint mirrors its consumer-first approach. Rather than a rapid sprawl, Third Wave is sharpening its focus on depth within existing markets to build stronger community presence, especially in urban clusters with dense youth populations. 

“We're present in 12 cities with 165 stores. The plan is to go deeper into existing markets rather than spreading thin. There’s massive potential in neighbourhood-level expansion. For example, Delhi has 24–25 stores now, but we believe it can support 75–100 easily. We’ve even started opening second outlets in the same neighbourhoods in Bangalore due to high demand,” Sharma noted.

While Tier 2 cities like Mohali and Mangalore are already part of the brand’s network, eastern India remains an untapped frontier.

To meet the demands of India’s ever-curious, digitally driven youth, the brand has launched a wide range of beverages, including Milk Bobbles (Taro, Thai, Vanilla), Fruit Bobbles (Peach-Grapefruit, Grapefruit-Strawberry), and Matcha Bobbles (Strawberry Matcha, Vanilla Matcha)—each crafted to cater to younger palates and after-hours café culture.

“A lot of people start with coffee in the morning for its functional caffeine kick, and may want to come back in the evening for a Matcha or a Bubble Tea. We want to give our customers varied beverage choices throughout the day,” Sharma added.