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CoCo Ichibanya India — Two Stores in Six Years, Against a Reported Plan for 100 in Ten

2026.03.26

Article summary

The India entity of Curry House CoCo Ichibanya was established in June 2019 as a joint venture between Mitsui & Co. (60%) and Ichibanya (40%). It opened its first store at Cyber Hub in Gurugram in August 2020, followed by a second in the food court at Select CITYWALK in Delhi in October 2022. In April 2026, the first store was relocated to Ambience Mall in Gurugram, and the chain now runs two stores in Delhi NCR. In October 2025, a plan to expand to about 100 stores over the next ten years was reported, but that is a large gap from the track record of two stores in six years. Because CoCo Ichibanya's standard curry sauce contains pork and chicken ingredients, a vegetarian-compliant sauce using no animal-derived ingredients has been prepared for India. Paneer toppings and a naan option have also been added.

This article is based on what we could verify As of September 19, 2026 This page is compiled from the disclosures and news reports of each company that could be confirmed as of that date. Amounts in the text follow common Indian notation, with ₹1 crore (1 crore = 10 million rupees) written as 10 million rupees, and the yen figures are rough calculations at around 1.7 yen to the rupee. Store counts, funding amounts, and results at Indian companies change over short periods, so please check the latest information in primary sources such as each company's official announcements when making business decisions.

Japan's largest curry chain, "CoCo Ichibanya," operates two stores in Delhi NCR through a joint venture with Mitsui & Co. In October 2025, a plan to grow to about 100 stores in India over the next ten years was reported, but that is a large gap from the current state.

Company profile

Item	Details
Legal name	Curry House CoCo Ichibanya (Ichibanya)
Founding of the Indian subsidiary	June 2019 (joint venture established; announced July 8) / first store in August 2020
Headquarters	Delhi NCR (parent company headquartered in Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture)
Operations	A joint venture between Mitsui & Co. (60%) and Ichibanya (40%)
Number of stores	Two stores (Delhi NCR, as of April 2026)
Reported plan	About 100 stores in India over the next 10 years (reported August 2025)

Selling curry in the home of curry

Indian households cook curry every day. Without a reason to eat curry out, there's no motivation to visit a restaurant. What CoCo Ichibanya brought was a different food altogether: "Japanese-style curry rice," a thick roux poured over white rice with a choice of toppings — a format that didn't exist locally.

This differentiation works, but it also narrows the customer base. The target isn't people eating it as Indian food but people trying it as Japanese food. Placing the first store at Cyber Hub in Gurugram, a dining cluster in an office district, was a choice made to be where that customer base is.

Reworking about 40% of the menu

The biggest adaptation for India is preparing a vegetarian-compliant curry sauce with no animal-derived ingredients. CoCo Ichibanya's standard curry sauce contains pork and chicken, so as-is it cannot be served to people who avoid both beef and pork. In India, a paneer (cottage cheese) topping and the option of naan instead of rice have also been added.

Going vegetarian isn't just about removing meat. It requires rethinking the stock the roux is built on, separating cooking equipment and frying oil, and even separating staff workflows. This feeds directly into store design and operating costs.

How to read the gap between plan and results

Ichibanya and Mitsui & Co. established a joint venture in June 2019 and opened their first store at Cyber Hub in Gurugram in August 2020. In October 2022 they opened a second store in the "My Square" food court inside the Select CITYWALK mall in Delhi, and in April 2026 they moved the first store to Ambience Mall in Gurugram.

Against a pace of two stores in six years, the plan reported in October 2025 — "about 100 stores in ten years" — is a large stretch. There is the circumstance that the first store's opening coincided with the pandemic, but even accounting for that, realizing the plan will require changing the store-opening model. Whether to keep building through company-owned stores or switch to franchising is the key question.

For Japanese restaurant companies planning in India, this is a case worth considering alongside how Tata Starbucks took more than 13 years to reach 500 stores.