As a foodie haven, Delhi has a number of noteworthy cafes and bakeries, but only a few are able to sustain themselves and expand to other locations. Honey & Dough is one such bakery renowned for its scrumptious baked goodies. Starting with just one outlet in Defence Colony in 2016, this French-inspired patisserie now has eight outlets across Delhi-NCR with the latest one having opened in Janakpuri. On the occasion of the successful new branch launch, founders Aavika and Utsav Chhawchharia join The Daily Guardian for a chat. Excerpts:
Q. Why did you choose this location for your new outlet?
A. Our most recent café opened in Janakpuri in West Delhi. We felt there are a lot of good cafe options in South Delhi but very few in West and North Delhi. Hence, we decided to open our new outlets in this area as we noticed the demand and the need. Next, we will be venturing into Noida in DLF Mall of India. We could not have asked for a better location as the Mall of India enjoys the maximum footfall of all the malls there.
Q. How do you decide your locations for expansion?
A. We feel our concept and offerings are suitable to a wide audience. When we see a gap in places where customers are looking for a neighborhood café serving everyday comfort food with a cool café vibe, we look for a space in that area. There are other important factors which help us decide this too, apart from the location, such as the size of the outlets, our competitor’s presence in that particular vicinity, rentals, our target audience, among others.
Q. Which is your most popular branch?
A. We are scattered in different locations and each of our outlets is well-loved! So, it’s very difficult to pick one. Our Malviya Nagar, Janakpuri, and Hargobind Enclave outlets are located in residential neighborhoods where local residents enjoy meeting their friends and family. Our One Horizon Centre and Cyber Park locations serve corporate employees working at these locations. Other popular outlets are the ones in Pacific Mall in Subhash Nagar, Dwarka, and Ambience Mall in Vasant Kunj.
Q. Are you eventually looking to expand pan-India?
A. We already have presence in Delhi and Gurugram and will be moving into Noida, Faridabad, and Ghaziabad soon. We plan to have 15-20 outlets in Delhi-NCR before expanding to other parts of the country. We are getting franchise enquiries daily, but we are just waiting for the right time and right people to be associated with, for our pan-India expansion. We hope to open outlets in Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata in the next few years.
Q. Have you faced challenges in pan-India expansion?How have you overcome them?
A.Challenges are an integral part of setting up any store— whether in Delhi or at a pan-India level. We have to have our full set up in place including the kitchen, manpower, space, and we need to be associated with a local person to manage operations on the ground. All this is in the pipeline for year 2022. We are also yet to capitalize on a lot of opportunities in Delhi. As we belong to a non-hospitality background, we have dedicated our initial years to understanding the integrities of the market. Now it’s just a matter of time before we announce our entry into new places.
Q. How do you stand apart from your competitors?
A. I don’t think there are many multi outlet café chains that can be called direct competitors to us. Perhaps, you could compare Café Delhi Heights, L’Opera etc. to us, but each brand has a different menu and are known for different products. Apart from our signature café comfort food and good artisanal coffees, we are particularly popular for our customised and beautifully designed gift hampers and cakes.Q. Which are you most popular offerings and why?
A. There are actually lots of popular items on our menu. In every category there is a favorite. People love our lasagnes, burrito bowls and pastas. In the bakery section, our jaggery teacake and flourless almond cakes are very popular because almond cake is gluten free made with almond flour. Our croissants too are popular as they are authentic in flavour and delightfully flaky. Our gifting hampers are especially loved by one and all. They start from the range of Rs 500 and go up till Rs 3,500. There is huge variety in the gifting hamper offerings as well as in the kinds of packaging for them. We also make a lot of customised cakes like pull-me-up cakes, piñata cakes and others. For this festive season, we are also doing chocolate houses as gifting items, which are very unique and difficult to find elsewhere in Delhi.
The interviewer pens lifestyle articles for various publications and her blog www.nooranandchawla.com. She can be reached on nooranand@gmail.com.