American novelist Louis Bromfield once said, “The bread table is the king of the table, and everything else is only the one that surrounds the king.”
Bread is an integral part of an everyday diet and is the most widely-eaten food in the world.
Seeing the lack of stomach-friendly bread in the Indian market, Suchali Jain, who is from a finance background, opened the doors to her entrepreneurial journey and set up Suchali’s Artisan Bakehouse in New Delhi in 2018, for Rs 20 lakh. Capital imposed
In conversation with BK, Mithali Singh, who leads brand communication and business operations at Suchali’s artisan bakehouse and is also a friend of Suchali, says,
“Suchali’s trip to Europe brought a big change in her life. She experienced a passion during the trip about the authentic flavors of bread in the French tradition and the experience of the baker’s art, and she reinvented the tradition and artisan in the bakehouse To create. First she started, after which I joined her. “
Mithali has been part of the startup ecosystem and worked for a venture capital firm for five years before joining with Suchali.
At Suchali’s Artisan Bakehouse, the idea is to bring the best bread and processions from abroad to India. Mithali claims that the bakehouse has been profitable every month and aims to reach Rs 6 crore this financial year. Suchali’s Artisan Bakehouse generated a turnover of Rs 4 crore in FY 19-20.
Providing fresh bread
According to some reports the Indian bakery market touched a value of $ 7.22 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach $ 12 billion by 2024 with a CAGR of 9.3 percent during 2019-2024.
India is primarily an average quality white bread-eating country and is very sensitive to baked goods. However, with increasing disposable incomes among the youth, metro cities in India are moving rapidly from average consumables towards specialized or premium products, which can be understood by looking at the market dominance of brands like BreadTalk and Theobrom.
Suchali’s Artisan Bakehouse, says Mithali, is a specialty bakery that naturally produces croissants, New York-style bagels, a range of croissants and tea cakes, which are easy to stomach, this is the base bread that provides health Known for profit.
From the day the dough is kneaded, it takes four days to prepare, while on the other hand it takes four days to make a croissant, while it takes three days to make a special croissant of bread.
The business follows an omnichannel sales model and a unified approach to not rely on imports.
Says Mithali, “Some of the USPs we have built our business model on are naturally (niche products), freshly cooked bread, transparency and product innovation.”
COVID-19 Effect
Within two years of its inception, the COVID-19 epidemic halted Suchali’s business operations for about a month.
Talking about the challenges posed by the epidemic, Mithali says,
“It was a difficult situation because we were not widely present in online sales. We were only relying on our B2B partnerships and in-store sales. However, COVID-19 opened more doors for us and we started considering online sales channels. ‘
Suchali’s Artisan Bakehouse went online through its website in mid-April and the company claims to have received good feedback from its customers.
Challenges and competition
Mithali says that the Food and Beverages (F&B) sector has always been a very lucrative and high-margin business. In contrast, the bakery business operates on a very smooth margin and being bootstrapped means that there is almost no room for error in the operation of the business.
Mithali says,
“The ongoing epidemic has given rise to new challenges. There is a need to make a new change in the dietary habits of consumers. ”
Suchali’s Artisan Bakehouse has also noted a lack of good talent and workforce, which Mithali says is probably because training institutes are not well equipped to provide proper training to young aspiring bakers.
Another challenge is the weather in India which causes the material to deteriorate, making it difficult to cook.
Product extension
Mithali says Suchali’s Artisan Bakehouse aims to offer a variety of products, in addition to focusing on increasing the nutritional value of baked products, including croissants, bagels, and other fresh goods on a daily basis Products are offered.
With a larger unit, the company is also aiming to enter the modern merchandise business soon to become more accessible to consumers.
Early next year, Suchali’s Artisan Bakehouse plans to start operations in Mumbai which is a large bakery market for which it is looking for funding.
Started in small setup, this company is growing slowly. It now has a 6,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and employs 30 people.
Mithali says that Suchali’s Artisan Bakehouse has tied up with one of the country’s leading coffee chains for its bakery items and has also collaborated with various restaurant chains. It has a standalone outlet in Cyber City in Gurugram and eight partnership stores in Delhi / NCR.