How Yahvi Mariwala Reinvigorated Mumbai’s Iconic Nandan Coffee

At 9:00 AM on a Saturday, Mumbai’s historic Fort district remains quietly peaceful before street vendors emerge. Meanwhile, Nandan Coffee already buzzes with a packed house and long customer queues. Outside, stylish content creators utilize the establishment’s striking forest green and glass storefront as a popular backdrop for social media videos.

Though active for more than three decades, Nandan Coffee experienced its most significant growth surge recently. This upward trajectory occurred because co-founder Yahvi Mariwala, 30, shifted away from investment banking and real estate. She had explored those fields during 2016 internships after completing her political science degree at Emory University.

Initially, Mariwala focused entirely on equestrian sports during her youth. She split her schooling weeks between Mumbai and Bengaluru to train at the nation’s premier riding academy. Her passion for riding led her to spend months training in Pollachi and packing equestrian gear for every family vacation.

A pivotal moment occurred during her gap year at her father Shyam’s corporate office. Mariwala overheard a strategy meeting centered on reviving Nandan Coffee through digital marketing. After she critiqued the current strategy, her father challenged her to take over the responsibility herself.

Dressed in coffee-toned attire, Mariwala discusses her corporate journey with genuine enthusiasm for ongoing discovery. Her conversational approach and social media presence indicate she is educating herself alongside her audience. Her research revealed that the coffee enterprise unified her personal core values.

Mariwala discovered that premium coffee served as a natural extension of existing family practices. These baseline standards included sustainable organic farming, fenceless estate management, and fair employee corporate metrics. Consequently, she committed fully to developing the operational footprint of the brand.

The enterprise originally began strictly as a dedicated family pastime. In the early 1990s, her grandfather Hansraj purchased a 40-acre plantation named Nandanvan in Kodaikanal. The estate remains unfenced to ensure local wildlife like elephants and bison migrate safely along traditional routes.

Hansraj worked as a biochemist within Bombay Oil Industries, a major family enterprise dealing in edible oils and spice chemicals. The conglomerate split among family members in the 1990s, spawning Marico, the famous manufacturer of Saffola and Parachute oils. Hansraj also managed a health capsule business utilizing primrose oil.

The Kodaikanal property was initially intended purely as a recreational family retreat. The estate did not cultivate any coffee at the time of purchase. However, coffee plants naturally migrated to the property from neighboring plantations as the family introduced more indigenous flora.

The founding generation maintained exceptionally high culinary standards at the estate. Evenings hosted by Mariwala’s grandparents featured meals sourced entirely from their private vegetable gardens and fresh orchard juices. Her grandmother, Hansa, roasted the migrated coffee over open flames for guests, sparking deeper varietal research.

Family records depict Hansraj as a technically minded enthusiast who investigated unique interests thoroughly. He mastered tent pegging, a rare historic cavalry sport involving extracting ground pegs with lances while riding. This equestrian passion influenced successive generations, leading Shyam to polo and Yahvi to competitive showjumping.

In the early 2000s, Hansraj collaborated with premier coffee taster Sunalini Menon, the head of Bengaluru’s Coffeelab advisory. Menon recalls being deeply impressed by Nandanvan’s strictly organic practices during her initial visit. She identified two exceptional coffee varieties flourishing across the high-altitude estate.

Menon noted that Selection 795 yielded rich notes of chocolate, caramel, and roasted nut. Meanwhile, Selection 9 offered a bright, progressive assortment of citrus and berry flavors. These profiles confirmed the commercial potential of the family’s boutique agricultural output.

Following three years of development with Menon, Hansraj launched modest commercial sales that Shyam eventually scaled. The brand managed small-scale corporate distribution, family sharing, and select international exports. True consumer expansion materialized once Yahvi assumed operational control alongside her father.

While Shyam manages plantation cultivation, Yahvi oversees roastery operations and the entire consumer-facing pipeline. This collaborative framework allowed the brand to scale up efficiently. It bridged the gap between traditional agricultural production and modern specialty beverage retail markets.

CRACKING THE CAFÉ CODE

Mariwala launched Nandan into mainstream public view via a 2017 pop-up at Mumbai’s Mahalaxmi Racecourse. Brand momentum accelerated in 2021 after launching an experiential coffee counter inside The White Crow bookshop at Jio World Drive. Subsequent retail footprints expanded through strategically placed kiosks within Bombay Shirt Company outlets.

The grand milestone arrived in 2024 when Nandan launched its standalone flagship café in Mumbai’s Fort district. The team transformed a previously neglected commercial space that housed a travel agency for decades. This permanent location solidified their presence within the premium specialty coffee scene.

While Yahvi serves as the primary public face on digital platforms, the entire family drives corporate operations. Her mother Farida, an interior designer, engineered the bright, open café layout around centralized brewing island bars. Farida also curated the interior for the brand’s new Bengaluru flagship location.

The main Mumbai café features a custom light installation by Faizan Khatri replicating Nandanvan’s geographical contours. Furthermore, Yahvi’s younger sister, Parthivi, channels market research expertise from Amsterdam into executive business decisions. This collaborative structure keeps the multi-generational corporate framework highly unified.

The family’s presence reflects a deep lineage within Mumbai’s historic commodity trade networks. In 1872, family ancestors Vasanji Morarji and Kanji Morarji relocated from Kutch to establish a cotton brokerage. They later operated as highly successful commission agents within the bustling 19th and 20th century port city.

The historical business managed spice shipments arriving from Kerala to distribute across diverse domestic markets. This historical link to pepper trading inspired the family surname, derived from the Gujarati word ‘mari’. Today, the café honors this lineage through a specialized pepper-infused scrambled egg menu item.

Reflecting on this extensive multi-generational journey provides Mariwala with substantial executive confidence. She credits her family history with fostering a corporate mindset focused on overcoming complex operational hurdles. Knowing her grandfather secured organic certifications decades ago inspires her to pursue limitless business growth.

History of Nandanvan Estate

The foundations of Nandan Coffee trace back to the pristine hills of Kodaikanal, where the family patriarch established an eco-friendly sanctuary. By prioritizing an unfenced design, the estate preserved ancient wildlife corridors while cultivating premium Arabica coffee under a natural forest canopy. This commitment to biodiversity laid the groundwork for the brand’s modern corporate identity, which blends historical agricultural preservation with contemporary urban café culture.

FAQs

What is Nandan Coffee?

Nandan Coffee is a specialty Indian coffee brand that sources its beans from an organic, family-owned 40-acre estate named Nandanvan located in Kodaikanal. The business transitioned from a private family hobby into a prominent retail café network.

Who founded Nandan Coffee?

The estate was originally acquired by biochemist Hansraj Mariwala in the early 1990s. Today, the modern café brand is co-founded and managed by his granddaughter, Yahvi Mariwala, alongside her father, Shyam Mariwala.

Where are Nandan Coffee’s physical cafes located?

Nandan Coffee opened its permanent flagship café within the historic Fort district of Mumbai in 2024. The brand successfully expanded its retail footprint by launching a second flagship location in Bengaluru in April.

What makes the Nandanvan coffee estate unique?

The estate operates completely organically and is deliberately unfenced to allow local bison and elephants to follow their natural migration pathways. The plantation primarily cultivates two premium varietals known as Selection 795 and Selection 9.