In the heart of Surat, Mitesh Diyora dared to dream differently, crafting Coffee King into a beloved local icon. This is a story of how a strategic vision, combined with Swiggy, ignited unparalleled growth and set a new standard for the F&B industry.
Have you ever tried something new and instantly knew — this is exactly what I’m meant to do! That is how the story of Surat’s Coffee King began. When Mitesh Diyora, the founder of Coffee King, felt the magic of brewing coffee and serving joy, he started on a journey and has only looked forward since then.
He dove deep, learned the craft and the business, understood numbers and people and opened his café in Surat. Then came Swiggy, and a partnership was formed that propelled growth to another level.
The Taste of the Future
Mitesh was looking for a job while pursuing his B.Com in Ahmedabad in 2012, and he thought a café would be a great place to find work. “I had time, and I was looking for a job. I remember thinking that cafés are always in need of staff. So, I went to the local franchise of a coffee shop chain,” says Mitesh. He was told he’d have to undergo training to be hired. He agreed — but even he could not have predicted what happened next.
“I started barista training, and within 7–10 days, I knew this would be my career. I don’t know if this happens to many people, but it happened to me,” Mitesh explained. “I liked the entire process of making coffee. But most of all, I loved the feeling of seeing people happy after serving them. They came to celebrate, or simply enjoy a quiet moment, and the idea that I could serve them joy, freshly brewed in a cup, stayed with me.”
The Grind
Mitesh was looking for a job while pursuing his B.Com in Ahmedabad in 2012, and he thought a café would be a great place to find work. “I had time, and I was looking for a job. I remember thinking that cafés are always in need of staff. So, I went to the local franchise of a coffee shop chain,” says Mitesh. He was told he’d have to undergo training to be hired. He agreed — but even he could not have predicted what happened next.
“I started barista training, and within 7–10 days, I knew this would be my career. I don’t know if this happens to many people, but it happened to me,” Mitesh explained. “I liked the entire process of making coffee. But most of all, I loved the feeling of seeing people happy after serving them. They came to celebrate, or simply enjoy a quiet moment, and the idea that I could serve them joy, freshly brewed in a cup, stayed with me.”
The Initial Grind
Deciding is one thing; committing to your goal is another. Mitesh did just that. “I wanted to learn and grow,” he explains. “Franchise cafés usually rely on centralised kitchens. I was curious about live kitchens too. So, I worked at a few cafés across Ahmedabad, each with different setups. I learned how the industry functions: supply chains, ground-level operations, staff management, even creating recipe SOPs.”
“I was managing a café in Ahmedabad when the same franchise opened in Surat — my hometown,” Mitesh recalls. “It felt like fate. I’d always dreamed of opening my own place there, and this was my chance to learn how. I transferred as manager, handling everything from licences and local permits to marketing and customer response. It was the perfect crash course in launching a café.”
But he didn’t stop there. “After that I joined Surat’s most popular café at the time. I needed to understand what people truly wanted in the city — the vibe, the culture, the little details that make them feel at home. That’s when everything clicked.”
The Beginning of the Brew
Mitesh had gained experience and, through that expertise. “I crafted a café concept The coffee trade is as intense as the brew itself – but if you get it right, the rewards are rich. I was fortunate to find mentors.”
However, there are many challenges, and Mitesh identified them in two categories. “Straightforward ones like compliance or operations just need due diligence. But other challenges, like shifting customer habits, demand nuance. Post-pandemic, cafés became places for work and meetings, not leisure. People grab coffee between appointments now.”
“Then there’s the coffee revolution itself. We’re not drinking – we’re obsessing,” claims Mitesh. “I went from bulk orders to sourcing eight to ten specialty beans. What matters is that when customers develop sophisticated tastes, you either keep up or get left behind.”
“Every recipe is my own creation, meticulously developed and kitchen-tested.
The Swiggy Filter
“Swiggy transformed our business with data,” Mitesh states. “When we partnered in late 2016, many local cafés were sceptical about delivery – but we recognised its potential. It has paid off spectacularly: in the last 18 months, our revenue has doubled. Their team transforms our numbers into actionable insights, and now Shubham’s proactive approach is proving particularly valuable in driving this data-led growth.”
Shubham Ingle, Sales Manager, joined Swiggy and started working on the Coffee King account in November 2023. “I was pumped, as Coffee King was the beginning of my portfolio,” says Shubham. “Back then, all three of Coffee King’s outlets had 200 orders per day. Fast forward 18 months, and we’ve tripled to 600 orders a day/ month . This is proof of what happens when Swiggy’s insights meet a partner who truly executes.”
Shubham explains the work put in by the Swiggy team to achieve this kind of growth. “These results didn’t happen by accident – we engineered them. We tweaked menus, rewrote descriptions, and even redesigned packaging to cut costs. Simultaneously, we deployed CBAs (Contextual Based Ads) where we identified specific search terms that actually convert. The data from the campaign revealed when to unleash flash sales for maximum impact.
Mitesh adds to this, “The most striking revelation came from analysing night operations. Though 80% of Surat’s 2,000 kitchens close by 11 pm, Swiggy’s data showed we could achieve 40% of daytime revenue by extending service until 2 am – a perfect example of how their analytics uncover hidden opportunities in our market.”
The Secret Ingredient: Bond
Both Mitesh and Shubham feel that none of this could’ve happened without a true partnership. “Honestly, credit goes to Mitesh for being relentlessly open-minded,” says Shubham. “It’s about swapping expertise, refining ideas, and driving the business forward together,” concludes Mitesh.
In a city that is famous for its diamond and textile market, Coffee King provides a warm and welcoming space to celebrate every day. It is brewed by the passion of its founder, Mitesh, and filtered by the insights of Swiggy’s Shubham Ingle and the team.
