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Building F&B brands on quality, consistency and customer trust
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Saturday, 12 September, 2026, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Our Bureau, Mumbai
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Atika Agarwal, Founder of How Sweet, believes that building a trusted and sustainable food and beverage (F&B) brand requires much more than a good product. According to her, quality, consistency, strong systems, financial discipline, employee training and a deep understanding of customers are among the key foundations of a successful F&B business.
Agarwal emphasised the need to differentiate between producing good products and simply having good intentions. She said the focus should remain on delivering quality food and a positive customer experience, while ensuring consistency across operations. She also highlighted adaptability as an important factor as consumer preferences and the wider F&B industry continue to evolve.
Looking ahead, Agarwal expects Indian consumers of bakery, desserts and café products to become more adventurous and increasingly conscious of what they consume over the next three to five years. Gourmet offerings, innovative combinations and personalised selections are likely to gain further traction, particularly for special occasions and gifting.
However, she cautioned brands against losing their core identity while pursuing emerging trends. “Trends will change, but staying loyal to the initial idea, vision, and quality remains the key factor,” she said.
Agarwal sees significant potential for artificial intelligence (AI) and technology to add value to the food and hospitality sectors, particularly in areas such as forecasting, inventory management and operations. She believes AI can help businesses make faster decisions and reduce losses.
At the same time, she maintained that human craftsmanship will remain irreplaceable in baking. Product knowledge, understanding flavour combinations and developing the distinctive character of a product are skills built through years of experience and practice.
“At How Sweet, we see technology as a way to support our staff and processes rather than replace them,” Agarwal said, adding that creativity, meticulousness and diligence remain inherently human qualities.
With competition intensifying across the bakery sector, including the emergence of new-age brands, home bakers and cloud kitchens, Agarwal said How Sweet’s experience gives it a distinct advantage.
The brand initially operated as a B2B enterprise, serving cafés and catering companies before entering the consumer market. This experience, she said, helped the company develop an understanding of professional foodservice requirements, including standards, quantities, timings and product behaviour.
The company has also spent years testing and refining its retail processes. Rather than chasing every emerging trend, How Sweet remains focused on quality and consistency, Agarwal said.
Sustainability, responsible sourcing and waste reduction are increasingly important to How Sweet’s operations. Agarwal said waste management begins with understanding market requirements, planning production and managing inventory effectively.
Responsible sourcing, she added, involves not only selecting quality ingredients but also tracking the origins of raw materials rather than simply opting for the least expensive alternatives.
Agarwal acknowledged that there is always scope to improve sustainability practices, describing it as an ongoing process rather than a one-time initiative. The company is therefore focused on building systems that improve efficiency while maintaining product consistency and quality.
How Sweet is evaluating opportunities to expand beyond Jaipur, but Agarwal said the brand is not pursuing growth purely for the sake of increasing its footprint.
Target consumer segments, market opportunities, supply chains, human resources and the ability to maintain quality will determine potential expansion markets. The company is also exploring formats beyond conventional bakery outlets.
On the product front, How Sweet continues to undertake research and development focused on new desserts, gifting products and offerings designed to address different consumer needs.
Reflecting on her entrepreneurial journey, Agarwal said resilience and patience have proved as important as creativity. She noted that the F&B industry presents challenges across people management, operations, costs and changing consumer behaviour.
She also acknowledged that not every business decision turns out to be right. As a woman entrepreneur, one of the key lessons she has learned is to trust her judgement without feeling the need to constantly prove herself. While listening to the team remains important, Agarwal believes that taking the right action ultimately matters most.
For aspiring bakers and food entrepreneurs, Agarwal stressed that a good product is only the starting point. Entrepreneurs must understand their costs, customers, operations and the systems required to deliver consistent quality. She advised entrepreneurs to test their concepts, understand their markets and pay close attention to customer feedback before making significant investments.
While the food industry may appear attractive from the outside, she said building a successful business requires considerable physical and mental effort. Entrepreneurs should therefore avoid being distracted by pressure to grow quickly or follow every trend and instead focus on their core strengths.
Over the next five years, Agarwal hopes How Sweet will emerge as a strong and recognised artisan food brand while retaining the philosophy on which it was founded. The company aims to explore new markets, formats and products, but intends to grow at a pace that allows it to preserve quality and consistency.
For Agarwal, success will not be measured by the number of stores or the size of the company. Instead, she wants How Sweet to have strong systems, loyal customers and a reputation for the thought, craftsmanship and attention invested in every product. Ultimately, she said, the ambition is for How Sweet to be recognised not merely for its desserts, but for the craftsmanship and care behind them.
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