There are nearly 400 coffee houses all over India, which are a part of the chain. The India Coffee House chain was started by the Coffee Board in early 1940s, during British rule. In the mid 1950s the Board closed down the Coffee Houses, due to a policy change. The thrown-out workers then took over the branches, under the leadership of the communist leader A. Gopalan and renamed the network as Ind
ian Coffee House. The first Indian Coffee Workers Co-Operative Society was founded in Bangalore on 19 August 1957. The first Indian Coffee House was opened in New Delhi on 27 October 1957. Gradually, the Indian Coffee House chain expanded across the country, with branches in Pondicherry, Thrissur, Lucknow, Nagpur, Jabalpur, Mumbai, Kolkata, Tellicherry and Pune by the end of 1958. Later Bellary and Madras (Chennai) Societies were separated from their mother societies. 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. There is also a federation of the co-operative societies as the national umbrella organisation to lead these societies.". Kerala
Kerala has the largest number of Indian Coffee Houses, approximately 51. Krishnan, a Communist Leader of Thrissur and N. 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. The first Indian Coffee House of Kerala was started in Thrissur in 1958. It was also the fourth ICH in the country. It was inaugurated by A. Gopalan on 8 March 1958.
