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Mumbai artisan bakery chain The Baker’s Dozen opens outlet in Oshiwara
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Thursday, 17 April, 2014, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Akshay Kalbag, Mumbai
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fiogf49gjkf0d The Baker’s Dozen, Mimansa Industries Pvt Ltd’s artisan bakery, recently opened an outlet in Oshiwara, a western suburb of Mumbai. Its menu, which comprises 25 varieties of artisan breads, also includes gourmet sandwiches, ragi crackers and coffee.
Sneh Jain, the company’s director, was tight-lipped about the regulations the sector has to adhere to, but threw light on his venture and the prevalent and future trends in the Indian artisan bakery segment.
When quizzed about the size of the artisan bakery market in the country, he said, “To be frank, we have never really looked at that. However, we do know that it is large enough, and is currently expanding.”
“The unique selling proposition (USP) of The Baker’s Dozen is that it is led by the baker who displays the passion behind her love for bread and the craft of baking. This helps maintain the origin and authenticity of our offerings,” Jain added.
“Our head baker, Aditi Handa, mastered the art of bread baking at the International Culinary Institute (formerly known as the French Culinary Institute) in New York, which is one of the finest institutes in the world,” he said.
Handa, who is Jain’s spouse, bakes over a hundred varieties of internationally-popular breads without any preservatives, chemicals or emulsifiers at The Baker’s Dozen, which started operations in January 2013.
“Since its inception, we have received an amazing response from the media and a group of loyal customers who place orders (from The Baker’s Dozen four outlets) on a daily basis,” informed Jain.
“As far as the health quotient is concerned, three slices of any variant of our bread gives roughly as much protein as a bowl of dal. And given that we do not use any pre-mixes, customers have accepted that our offerings are healthy,” he added.
The chain has identified five or ten more locations across Mumbai with potential to open outlets, but Jain did not divulge the exact number or locations. However, he stated that The Baker’s Dozen was not looking at expanding beyond Mumbai.
Jain added, “We do cater to a few business-to-business (B2B) customers who pick up breads for their eateries or catering establishments on a daily basis from the chain.” However, he did not name his clients.
He stated that he was not sure about the per capita consumption of artisan bakery products in India vis-a-vis their per capita consumption overseas, because artisan bakery was still a new segment to most Indians.
Now, an array of products, including sourdough breads and products made from rye flour (which has to be imported) are hitting the shelves. Jain primarily attributed the growth of the sector to the increased awareness about bakery products and artisan bread.
“The other factors on which the artisan bakery sector’s growth depends are higher disposable incomes and the number of well-travelled middle-class and upper-class individuals demands products they see overseas,” he added.
“And of course, one cannot rule out the fact that awareness about the health benefits of artisan products has increased,” Jain said. He added, “The biggest challenge we faced was to conduct several product trials, before Indians warmed up to the concept.”
“This can be overcome by product sampling and demonstrations. We are currently in the process of market shaping, wherein by creating awareness about the products, we are, in fact, trying to create the market,” Jain stated.
“In comparison to the artisan bakery sector in overseas (particularly in Europe, from where most of The Baker’s Dozen’s offerings originate), the Indian artisan bakery sector is nascent. Consumption is at a small level, and we still have a lot to learn,” he added.
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