Anand Mahindra, Prakash Padukone and Kris Gopalakrishnan in a single frame at Bengaluru coffee shop

Anand Mahindra, Prakash Padukone and Kris Gopalakrishnan at Araku Coffee in Bengaluru. (Image credit: @Manoj Kumar/Twitter)

A famous café in Bengaluru recently played host to a group of VVIP guests, including Mahindra Group Chairperson Anand Mahindra, Infosys Co-Founder Kris Gopalakrishnan, badminton icon Prakash Padukone and his wife Ujjala Padukone.

They all gathered at the Araku Coffee outlet in the city, to celebrate its second anniversary. Also present at the venue were Satish Reddy, the chairperson of Dr Reddy's Laboratories, and commentator Charu Sharma.

Anand Mahindra, Gopalakrishnan and Reddy serve on the board of directors of  Araku Global Holdings, the company runs that runs the café.

Gratitude. That’s the only word to say. 20 yrs of work by @naandi_india expressed in this magical place @arakucoffeein had all Trustees @anandmahindra @kris_sg @satishkreddy & Maganti Prasad show up along with Jorge Zapata, NYC based Architect & the legend @padukoneprakash too.+ pic.twitter.com/bfnxGR0eLn

— Manoj Kumar (@manoj_naandi) March 19, 2023

Together with the non-profit Naandi Foundation, the company introduced to the world coffee grown in Andhra Pradesh's Araku region and handpicked by adivasi farmers.

Araku coffee is available in nine countries. In Paris, there is a flagship store that opened even before the Bengaluru café.

The Bengaluru outlet opened in 2021, and on its second anniversary, there's much to celebrate.

"Gratitude," wrote the Manoj Kumar, the CEO of Araku's partner foundation. "The only word to say. 20 years of work by Naandi India expressed in this magical place."

Gopalakrishnan also had a message to share on the occasion.

"Happy second anniversary for the Araku Coffee restaurant," he tweeted. "Congrats to the entire team. (This is the) beginning of a journey to transform coffee, food, agriculture and more important the lives of thousands of tribal farmers."