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New York City-based Magnolia Bakery has launched its first Indian outlet in Bengaluru. The brand has been brought to the country by Spago Foods, a franchisee for the bakery.

Magnolia Bakery is popular for its freshly baked desserts like cupcakes, cakes, pies, cheesecakes, ice box desserts, cookies, and its signature banana pudding.

Zonu Reddy, Partner, Spago Foods, said, “We are so excited to be opening the very first Magnolia Bakery in India in Bengaluru. Now, we are able to bring the same wide variety of classic American desserts featured at Magnolia Bakery’s iconic shops in New York City to fans in India.”

Nischay Jayeshankar, Partner at Spago Foods, stated, “Bangalore proved to be a perfect fit for opening our first outlet, the city has a very well-travelled customer base, expats and a massive IT crowd that has experienced international food brands like Magnolia Bakery. We have worked very closely with the team from New York to ensure that we bring the same quality of scrumptious goodies to the Indian market.”

Steve Abrams, Chief Executive Officer, Magnolia Bakery, added, “We are excited to be bringing Magnolia Bakery’s iconic bakery experience to Bengaluru. With our newest location, we are committed to sharing the same New York City experience with guests in India, making freshly-baked desserts by hand in small batches, the live theatre of icing cakes and cupcakes and a warm, inviting customer service.”

Danone, French multinational food products giant, is leading an investment of Rs 182 crore into local yogurt maker Epigamia. This move will help the company to retain a presence in the Indian market.

Laurent Marcel, MD of Danone's venture investment arm, said, "This is a minority venture investment, so Epigamia will continue to operate independently."

Danone will be collaborating with Epigamia in areas of brand management, distribution expansion, manufacturing, quality and food safety. Though, this investment will be independent of Danone’s business in the country.

"This is a promising opportunity to partner with a modern and agile consumer brand which is attractive to millennials and positioned in a dynamic and high potential market," Marcel added.

The fresh funding will help Epigamia to execute an ambitious business plan that entails rolling out its dairy products distribution across 25 cities in India.

After two established venues in the US, and six more in progress, Classic Rock Coffee Co (CRCC), the high end classic rock music themed coffee shop, is all set to open its first outlet in India.

The coffee shop will be opening its first outlet on 16th May in Pune.

“After venturing into the F&B business, through my own company 'FoodJockeys', I was looking at bringing American F&B franchises to India. During that time, I came across Classic Rock Coffee Co, and found out that they were looking at opening various CRCC franchises around the world. I wrote to them and after various evaluations, background checks and finance checks, we became the Master Franchisee of Classic Rock Coffee Co here in India, shared, Avinash Agarwal, Master Franchisee for Classic Rock Coffee Co (India).

Located at Kalyani Nagar Pune, the coffee shop has a seating capacity of 200 people and total capacity of 400.

The group is also planning to open various CRCCs across the country, including cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

According to Agarwal, for the initial roll-out, COCO (company-owned company operated) is the most suitable model since we can control all the areas of the brand.

Wendy's, one of the world’s largest hamburger chains, is making its India debut today at Sector 29, Gurgaon.

Wendy’s franchisee in the country, Sierra Nevada Restaurants Pvt Ltd, a joint venture between International Market Management (UK) and Rollatainers Ltd (India), officially opened its first restaurant today in Sector 29 in Gurgaon.

Sierra Nevada plans to open three more outlets in Delhi/NCR during the summer months and up to 20 more in North India over the next few years.

Founded in 1969 by Dave Thomas, the Wendy's restaurant system now encompasses more than 6,500 restaurants in 29 countries and US territories.

In India, Wendy's is introducing a new menu, new restaurant designs and new approaches to customer service. Within the evolving Indian F&B sector, Wendy’s seeks to differentiate itself by offering a casual dining experience at a QSR price. "We've worked on the concept with the Wendy's team for almost two years. And we've talked to Indian consumers and discovered that what they want is real quality and distinctive, great-tasting menu choices at an affordable price. While staying true to Wendy’s values, we’re customizing the brand experience to make it relevant to 2015 India,” said Sanjay Chhabra, one of the directors of Sierra Nevada.

The Wendy's India menu includes Wendy's classics like the Baconator (with chicken not beef) as well as salads, baked potatoes, chili and the Frosty dessert. In addition, a whole new range of menu choices has been created using only superior-quality ingredients.

Wendy's has one of the widest vegetarian menus in the sector, with six new burgers including the Greek Falafel, Spinach 'n Corn and the Mushroom Cheese. For non-vegetarians, there is a wide range of chicken and mutton burgers.

“Restaurant features include a bold, contemporary design, engaging music and food served on real plates,” said Jasper Reid, another director of Sierra Nevada. “Our hope is that our restaurants will stand apart in terms of food quality, ambience and service.” 

Commenting on the Wendy's India launch, Emil Brolick, Wendy’s President and Chief Executive Officer shared, "India is a growing, dynamic market, which is attracting the attention of leading brands around the world. Key to delivering brand excellence in India is an experienced and like-minded partner. In Sierra Nevada, we have a partner with an international team, a proven operating track-record and with the highest standards of governance. Over the last two years our combined teams have developed the basis of a long-term and fruitful collaboration. We are very excited about launching Wendy’s in India with Sierra Nevada, and look forward to partnering with them to deliver ‘A Cut Above’ restaurant experience that delights our customers and earns their loyalty and trust.”