India's home-grown coffee retailer and cafe chain Cafe Coffee Day is mourning the untimely death of its founder VG Siddhartha. The Karnataka billionaire served as the Managing Director and Chairman of the company, which has hundreds of cafes and coffee lounges across the country. Cafe Coffee Day was one of the most popular cafe chains of India and as soon as the news of Siddhartha's death hit the interweb, thousands posted condolence messages on social media. Siddhartha had gone missing from a bridge near Mangalore in Karnataka and search operations were launched to locate him. About 36 hours after he went missing, his body was found on Wednesday after being spotted by a fisherman on the shore of the Netravati River at around 6.30 in the morning.
Cafe Coffee Day's official Twitter handle changed their masthead and profile picture to mourn Siddhartha's death and also posted a message of grief to their followers and patrons. "Today we remember the legend that inspired us all. Thank you Chairman VG Siddhartha for your vision, leadership and the great legacy," read the tweet.
Take a look:
The tweet got thousands of likes and re-tweets and hundreds of CCD patrons replied with their own condolence messages. A lot of patrons also thanked Siddhartha for making a lot happen over coffee, as promised by the brand's tagline.
Take a look at how CCD patrons reacted to news of Siddhartha's death:
Mr Siddhartha is survived by his wife Malavika Hegde and his two sons and was the son-in-law of former Chief Minister of Karnataka, S.M. Krishna.