the india coffee house chain was first 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. however, the discharged employees then took over the branches, under the leadership of the then communist leader a. k. gopalan and renamed the network as indian coffee house. the first indian coffee workers co-operative society was established in bengaluru 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 tamil nadu by the end of 1958. these coffee houses in the country are run by 13 cooperative societies, which are governed by managing committees elected from the employees. a federation of the co-operative societies is the national umbrella organisation to lead these societies.