Pristine adds Super Veg Vanilla Cake Mix to veggies platter

CakeZone, the dessert brand from the House of Curefoods, has announced popular actress Palak Tiwari as its official brand ambassador for the next year. 

Palak Tiwari’s association with CakeZone comes at an exciting time, as the brand looks to deepen its connection with younger audiences who appreciate both quality and creativity in their celebrations. 

Known for her engaging persona and strong presence among Gen Z, Palak is an ideal ambassador to highlight CakeZone's commitment to innovation in the dessert space. Together, they aim to bring joy to festivities across the country, creating sweet moments that last.

“I am thrilled to be part of the CakeZone family! Their commitment to blending tradition with modernity perfectly aligns with my own values. These festive hampers are a way to share love and joy with our loved ones during this beautiful festival,” shared Tiwari.

As the festive season approaches, Cakezone extends an invitation to the community to explore its exclusive festive hampers, which have been thoughtfully crafted to enhance the spirit of celebration. The brand aims to honor the values of love, joy, and togetherness during this auspicious occasion with its curated offerings.

Ankit Nagori, Founder, Curefoods, added, “We are excited to have Palak Tiwari on board as our brand ambassador. Her vibrant personality and connection with the new generation resonate perfectly with our vision. Our festive hampers are designed to make every celebration special, and we believe that with Palak’s influence, we can inspire more people to celebrate with meaningful gifts.”

CakeZone is a cloud-kitchen dessert brand currently operating in 35 cities with more than 160 cloud kitchens and plans to expand to other important cities soon. CakeZone aspires to fill the space of being a national dessert brand, founded in 2016 in Bangalore.

Ushering in a slice of Parisian style to the fast-growing metropolis of Pune, Ladurée, the world-renowned French patisserie brand, has launched its café at The Ritz-Carlton, Pune. 

Celebrated globally for its exquisite macarons, Ladurée is set to enchant Pune with its sophisticated offerings.

The pièce de résistance will be an exclusive creation crafted especially for Pune. The new Ladurée Café boasts a stunning interior, meticulously designed to echo the refined and classic style synonymous with both Ladurée and The Ritz-Carlton. Guests can look forward to an exquisite menu that includes signature French toasts, high tea charlies, avocado toasts, salads, sandwiches, tea, coffee, and, of course, Ladurée’s signature sweet offerings including macarons, Eugenie, and pastries.

“Bringing Ladurée to Pune has been a heartfelt endeavour. We are delighted to present this iconic brand to the city, offering patrons the opportunity to savour the finest French pastries and desserts in a luxurious and captivating environment,” shared Chandni Nath Israni, Managing Director & Co-founder of CK Israni Group.

Located in the most affluent area of Pune, the new Ladurée Café promises to captivate gourmet lovers with its eclectic cuisine and luxurious ambiance.

“We at The Ritz-Carlton, Pune are proud to bring leading French patisserie brand Ladurée to the city of Pune. The Ladurée Café ties in with our brand ethos and is sure to offer an elevated experience to food connoisseurs amidst our luxurious ambience. Guests will get to experience the finest French macarons, pastries, desserts, and more” added Nishanth Vishwanath, General Manager, The Ritz-Carlton, Pune.

Brought to India in collaboration with the CK Israni Group, Ladurée aims to gradually expand its presence across other Indian cities, offering a unique blend of French culinary tradition and modern luxury.
 

Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels’ iconic bakery & confectionary brand Flurys is launching its first tearoom in Mumbai, near the Gateway of India. 

The café will feature its all-time favourite signature breakfasts including the legendary Flurys full English Breakfast, Egg Benedict, the famous Flurys Sandwiches, Rum Balls, Heritage Coupes and Sundaes, Chocolate & Strawberry Cube Pastries, Classic & Flurys Special Cocktails, and Heritage Coffees to the city’s most vibrant neighbourhood. 

This marks the opening of Flurys' 84th outlet in India.

“We are absolutely thrilled to announce the grand debut of Flurys' first tearoom outside Kolkata, set near the legendary Gateway of India. Known for five generations of fine confections, Flurys has been embedded in the hearts of Kolkatans and travellers to Kolkata.,” shared Priya Paul, Chairperson, Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels.

Since its inception in 1927 in Kolkata, Flurys has captured the hearts of many with its exceptional quality and timeless charm. 
This new Flurys tearoom in Mumbai has a seating capacity of about 100 covers, featuring both indoor and outdoor areas to cater to various dining preferences. Inside, the plush seating, ambient lighting, walls adorned with Flurys memorabilia evoke a nostalgic yet contemporary ambience. While the outdoor seating enables one to catch scenic views of the Arabian Sea dotted with boats and ships of all types.

“Mumbai is one of the most important markets for us. We saw the immense potential - and decided to grow from two kiosks in the city, to the first-ever tearoom outside Kolkata. Flurys’ business has grown by approximately 25% since last year and has a track-record of industry-leading margins of 18%. We are planning to take Flurys to about 100 outlets by the end of H1, and then take it to 120 by the end of this financial year,” added Vijay Dewan, Managing Director, Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels.

The Baker's Dozen (TBD), India’s one of the leading artisanal bakery brand, has announced the closure of an INR 33 Crore Pre-series A Funding round. 

The investment round, spearheaded by industry heavyweights like Wipro Consumer Care - Ventures, Fireside Ventures, Mirabilis Investment Trust, and She Capital, marks a pivotal moment for TBD's future market strategies and product diversification.

This strategic investment will be channeled towards expanding TBD’s presence beyond metros, targeting growing markets in non-metro and Tier-1 cities. 

A key focus will be on enhancing the mass-premium segment of TBD’s product range, reflecting the brand’s commitment to innovation and quality. Another portion of this strategic injection has also been earmarked for robust marketing and brand-building initiatives. This includes a well-balanced blend of online and offline campaigns, aiming to fortify TBD's market position and amplify brand visibility.

With a remarkable 2X growth in ARR post its last funding, TBD is on a fast track to reshape the Indian bakery landscape. The brand sets its sights on becoming a 500 Crore profitable entity within five years, with plans to challenge the status quo in the Indian bakery industry and make headway into the Middle East market.

“As a founder of The Baker's Dozen, I am deeply humbled and energized by our latest funding round. This investment not only validates our mission to revolutionize the Indian bakery industry but also propels us towards our vision of becoming a global leader in artisanal bakery. Our commitment to blending traditional baking methods with modern, health-conscious innovations is at the heart of our growth strategy,” shared Aditi Handa, Co-founder & Head Chef, The Baker’s Dozen.

Sumit Keshan, Managing Partner, Wipro Consumer Care - Ventures said, “We are excited to lead this investment round in The Baker’s Dozen (TBD) and partnering with the company in its next stage of growth journey. We believe that TBD has created a strong franchise for artisanal bakery products which are greatly liked and admired by its consumers. Aditi and Sneh are highly focused on what they bring to the consumers and we are truly happy to partner with them in their journey. This is the 11th investment from our VC fund and first in the food space.”

Prayag Mohanty, Principal at Fireside Ventures pointed, “The recent funding round for The Baker's Dozen (TBD) amidst uncertain market environment reflects a strong investor belief in the brand's potential to redefine the Indian bakery industry, historically overlooked by significant capital.”

Srinivas Seshadri, Head – Investments at Mirabilis Investment Trust mentioned, “We, at Mirabilis, believe in the inexorable rise of the well-informed Indian consumer who seeks better choices personally and for the planet. TBD has shown that it is possible to build a high quality, clean label artisanal bakery offering at a national scale, while maintaining healthy unit economics. Aditi and Sneh bring in the right mix of expertise and passion to scale this up to the next level and we are delighted to partner with TBD in the next leg of growth.”

“For years, we've watched TBD's growth adventure in the artisanal bread scene with pure admiration. They've filled a gaping need in the industry, and Aditi and Sneh have been nothing short of trailblazers. TBD expertly positions itself between affordability, deliciousness, and health, crafting additive-free treats that Indian families can feel good about bringing home. Now, we're thrilled to join their journey and lend our support to their unwavering upward trajectory and their rock-solid, high-growth path,” added Anisha Singh, Founder, She Capital.

Délifrance is renowned for a century of French bakery expertise is set to enter India through Bahri Hospitality and Cuisines Pvt Ltd, a division of the Bahri Group.

The inaugural outlet is slated for South Delhi's Defence Colony. Bahri Hospitality holds the exclusive master franchise for Délifrance nationwide, with plans for potential sub-franchising.

Délifrance outlets are planned to operate across three distinct formats: Bistro, Bakery & Coffee Shop, and Express Delivery outlets.

The Bistro will offer an exclusive menu featuring viennoiseries, patisseries, hot dishes, and beverages, while the other formats will focus primarily on bakeries and patisseries.

“We are very excited to launch Délifrance in India. There is a huge potential in the bakery segment and this alliance with Délifrance will allow us to contribute in bringing the authentic taste of French bakery delicacies to the Indian subcontinent across many different channels.” said  Hemant Bahri, Founder and Managing Director of the Bahri Group.

Bahri Hospitality aims to expand the brand's presence by catering to Indian consumers through various channels, offering specially curated hampers and a blend of French bakery classics infused with local flavors. Importing French classic bakery goods from Délifrance, the group has established a central production unit in Delhi to create additional local bakes using French bakery techniques and high-quality ingredients.

At the occasion of Délifrance team visit in Delhi to finalize preparation of the coming store opening,

“Entering the Indian subcontinent is a fantastic challenge for our brand, in its ability to connect and adapt to the local taste and flavors, based on our 100 years legacy in milling and French bakery.” said Fabrice Herlax, International Marketing and Concept Strategy Director for Franchise and Branded Solutions, Délifrance.

Délifrance plans to launch five additional outlets in Delhi/NCR by the conclusion of the 2023-24 financial year.

Over the following five years, the brand aims to expand by opening 25 to 30 Délifrance outlets in diverse formats throughout India.

Magnolia Bakery, known for whipping up delicious American-style desserts, launches its fourth location in Bengaluru and fifth in India.

The 1300 square feet store will be nestled inside the Forum Mall at Konanakunte in South Bangalore.

Since it first opened its doors on Bleecker Street in NYC’s West Village in 1996, the brand has been delighting patrons with its freshly made small-batch desserts including its world-famous banana pudding, cupcakes, cakes and cheesecakes.

First brought to India by Spago Foods in 2019, Magnolia Bakery has now expanded across Bengaluru and Hyderabad. The brand has its presence both domestically and globally with corporately-owned locations in New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles in the United States, and franchise locations in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Amman, Doha, Manila, and Istanbul overseas.

“Having been established in Bengaluru for almost four years, Magnolia Bakery has become synonymous with the city's bakery scene. With increasing demand and improving our operational efficiency, we are expanding the store to reach a wider audience and making it convenient for our loyal customers to enjoy their favourite baked treats without having to travel far,” shared Zonu Reddy, Partner at Spago Foods, Magnolia Bakery India Franchise.

The new store has 25 tables where customers can indulge in an array of delicious baked treats like signature cupcakes, cakes, pies, cheesecakes, icebox desserts, cookies, and the famous banana pudding.

At present, Magnolia Bakery has locations in Bengaluru at J.K. Plaza, Indiranagar; RMZ Ecoworld, Sarjapur; and Phoenix Market City, Mahadevapura while at Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad.

Mumbai-based bakery and patisserie chain Theobroma opens its 100^th outlet at Akshayanagar Bengaluru this week.

Theobroma started its journey in 2004 in Mumbai as a family run bakery and has successfully transitioned into a professionally managed company with ICICI Venture investing into the company in 2017.

“Just as proud as we are about achieving a landmark with our 100th store in Bengaluru, our focus remains on innovation, commitment to quality, price consciousness and authenticity in line with the ever-evolving consumer tastes and food trends,” shared Rishi Gour, CEO Theobroma by adding that this has enabled them to win the confidence and love of their guests for nearly two decades.

“We also continue to strive for more convenient access to our products through our growing outlet network in existing and new cities and multiple online channels”, he added.

Known for its wide, much sought after product range spanning multiple categories such as brownies, cakes, desserts, cookies & crackers, bread and savouries, as well as its viennoiseries, beverages and unique festive & seasonal offerings, it now operate 100 outlets spread across five cities – Mumbai, Pune, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, including new format stores like delivery-only ‘cloud’ outlets.

Their signature products are also bestsellers on third party platforms like Zomato, Swiggy and the brand has partnerships with e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and SuprDaily to retail select categories via their platforms.

American fast casual restaurant and bakery chain Au Bon Pain has been purchased by Yum Brands and 7- Eleven franchisee, Ampex Brands.

Panera Bread bought Au Bon Pain back in 2017, shortly after it was taken private by JAB Holdings and has now sold the company again to Ampex Brands that operates over 400 restaurants and convenience store in US.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the acquisition will increase Ampex’s revenue by 10% a year. Au Bon Pain has 171 locations.

“We see a solid future for both Au Bon Pain and our broader portfolio,” shared Tabbassum Mumtaz, CEO, Ampex Brands in a statement by adding that the company’s qsr brands performed extraordinarily well throughout the pandemic allowing the company to diversify and jump on a great opportunity to reposition a legacy brand.

Au Bon Pain’s US system sales fell by nearly a third last year, reported Technomic earlier. But sales had been struggling before then, too. Global system sales at the chain have declined by an average of 11% the past five years, reported Restaurant Business Online.

Ampex Brands operates Pizza Hut, KFC, Taco Bell, Long John Silver’s and 7-Eleven locations as a franchisee.

Ericka Garza, who has worked with both QSR and convenience stores, most recently with Pizza Hut as the senior franchise growth leader, will become Au Bon Pain’s brand president. Brian Bacica, who spent 18 years in food and beverage leadership roles with Disneyland, Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Parks, will be the chief operating officer. And Beth Collins will serve as Ampex Brands’ first global chief marketing officer, overseeing brand responsibilities for both Au Bon Pain and Ampex. She is a 20-year c-level marketing executive who worked with Raising Cane’s, Texas Land & Cattle and Twin Peaks.

Known as one of the premier sellers of the double-decker macaron, French sweet and bakery chain Laduree is entering India by next year.

The group has signed master franchisee deal with Noida-based CK Israni Group.

Laduree will be opening in Delhi by March-April 2021, followed by Mumbai and other parts of the country.

Started by Louis Ernest Ladurée in 1862, Laduree is running over 40 restaurants and tea rooms and 107 stores in 21 countries including the US, the UK, Japan, UAE, Canada to name a few.

According the media statements, the outlet was scheduled to open this year but coronavirus pandemic has pushed plans until next year.

The group is aiming at opening 15-20 Laduree branded bakery and restaurants in various cities in the next five years.

French bakery chain Brioche Doree enters India by opening its first outlet in Delhi.

Known as the second largest bakery chain globally, Brioche Doree has partnered with HR Bakers – launched by sweets and snacks manufacturer Haldiram’s managing director Ashish Agarwal – for its first store, the company said in a statement.

“Internationally acclaimed Parisian French Bakery Brioche Doree launched its first exclusive store in India today with HR Bakers at Connaught Place, New Delhi,” said the statement.

“This marks the first time Haldiram’s has tied up with a company outside the family. With Indian consumers experimenting with a lot more international cuisine and eating out growing at a rapid pace, we believe this is the right time to venture in this space,” shared Agarwal on his first venture outside the family business.

Agarwal has signed a master franchise agreement with Brioche Doree and has invested around Rs 4-5 crore in it. The company is planning to open four more outlets in Delhi-NCR and other markets other than the newly opened Connaught Place outlet.

“The store of the brand in India has been curated in 100% vegetarian avatar,” shared Agarwal.

Haldiram’s is also planning to get more brands and enter into partnership with different brands from the world.

Brioche Doree was founded in year 1976 and it serves over 200,000 customers every day and operates over 500 restaurants.

The bakery chain has operations in the United States, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Algeria, Canada, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, United Kingdom, Germany, Argentina, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Syria, China, South Korea, Japan, UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Senegal, and Bahrain.

Pune-based Relfor Labs has launched its new venture Bakeway.com that has clubbed more than 350 bakeries and 75 home bakers from across the city on a single platform.

Deepak Nathani, the CEO of Relfor said an investment of Rs 3 crore in the venture this year can help me to venture in the national market over the course of the next two years with a total investment of over Rs 10 crore. He also mentioned plans for expanding the venture to offer snacks and party combos from bakeries.

Relfor in a statement mentioned, “Users are required to enter their preferred locality within the city and follow few quick steps to order cakes from the best bakeries and home bakers in town.”

Nathani, who invests actively in other start-ups and ideas and was also the co-founder and former COO of Cybage said online activity in the start-up space, is increasingly becoming niche. “Looking at the current e-commerce trend, consumers are more inclined towards the niche online marketplaces.”

At Bakeway, he has subsumed bakeries like Copper Chocs, Bakers Basket, WS Bakers, Cake and Cream Factory.

Known for bringing the original bakery flavours of France to India, L’Opera, the French patisserie and boulangerie, has recently opened its outlet at PVR Directors Cut Ambiance Mall in Vasant Kunj. With fittings and furniture brought in from overseas, the outlet recreates the atmosphere of France.

Kazem Samandari, the executive chairman of the L’opera chain said “We have been partners with PVR for a long time. So when PVR approached us to open an outlet for the Director's Cut we immediately agreed. The price has been kept a little high at this particular outlet considering the fact that our target audience here is people from the upper class. The lack of easily accessible French bakery products in India is the reason why we are into this business. We have got Paris to India. When people come here to eat and say 'This reminds me exactly of what I had in Paris' makes us happy and proud. What makes L'Opera stand apart from the rest of the bakery outlets is its taste, which I can assure that you won't get anywhere else. We don't use any artificial or colouring material. The price may seem higher when compared to other bakeries but there is no compromise with taste”.

L’Opera outlet can accommodate around 20 people at a time. Even the menu has been especially curated so that there are not just the pastries but sandwiches, baguettes, croissants and some of others.

L’Opera chef Amit said “French bakery products are vast when it comes to variety. So, it was not easy for me to introduce just five new items for this outlet. We initially had decided 10 items and finally came down to five. And all of these will evoke the authentic taste of bakeries available in France”.

L'Opera makes over 26 types of breads every day, some of which include baguettes, croissants, pain paysan (peasant bread), Swiss tress, macarons, quiches, verrines, teas and jams.

L'Opera has opened five outlets this year, including the one in Ambiance Mall and plans to extend to other cities as well.