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23-08-2010
Sakal Times, Pune
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02-08-2010
Sunday Mid Day - 1st Aug 2010
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02-08-2010
Hindustan times Mint- 10th July 2010
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30-07-2010
Time Out Mumbai
Magazine - Dolce Vita Olive Oil
Chenab Impex introduces Dolce Vita
olive oil, produced from the first
cold-pressing of Italian olives. It
boasts of a rich olive-green colour,
thin consistency (for effective
coating and cooking), subtle
sweetness and a peppery aftertaste.
The extra virgin olive oil is best
enjoyed drizzled on salads or on
cooked dishes.
Available at all major
supermarkets including Hypercity,
Malad (4007-8400), Reliance Fresh,
Dadar (2415-5017) and Nature’s
Basket, Haji Ali (2352-6775). Place
your order online at sales@chenabimpex.com.
Rs 100 for 100ml.
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08-07-2010
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21-06-2010
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10-06-2010
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09-06-2010
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28-04-2010
Gourmet foods flying off shelves in
India
PV Narasimha Rao was a scholarly Brahmin
from Andhra Pradesh as removed from
exotic coldcuts as chalk from cheese.
But along with a slew of import
restrictions that were revoked as part
of the landmark economic reforms during
his stint as prime minister were those
on food products. Nearly two decades
later, that policy change has helped
usher in an era of unparalleled culinary
variety in Indian retail stores.
In the early 1990s, when India faced a
severe balance-of-payment crisis, it
would have been impossible to fathom the
kind of food that is being bought today
in some pockets. At New Delhi’s Le
Marche chain, you can buy Godiva
chocolates that will set you back by Rs
4,300 for 235 gm. At Mumbai’s Godrej
Nature’s Basket chain, if you bought a
kg of Iberico ham, you will be billed Rs
9,000. In Chennai, the capital of a
state where political parties routinely
come to power promising rice for Re 1
per kg, the Nuts and Spices chain
retails Darjeeling White Tea for Rs
15,000 a kg.
An increasing number of Indians seem to
be cooking up a gourmet storm in their
kitchens and this passion for fine food,
variously hailed as a mark of refinement
and reviled as a sign of gluttony and
snobbery, is translating into brisk
business for a number of retailers and
importers, all of whom seem to be on an
expansion course. On an average, players
in this elite segment report a 30-35%
year-on-year growth, and all of them
agree on one thing: that the market is
hugely underserved.
The range of products demanded by
well-heeled Indians and expats living
here has also grown immensely.
Any gourmet store worth its Foie Gras
must stock cheese sourced from at least
seven countries. Oils, sauces, cereals,
concentrates, honeys, syrups, nuts,
olives, spices, spreads, truffles,
vinegars must all come from different
countries and all kinds of varieties and
qualities must also be available. A
standard gourmet store has about 5,000
stock keeping units, or SKUs. Two brands
of olive oils or two varieties of the
same brand will both count for two SKUs.
Apart from a few organised chains, a
large number of grocers in prosperous
neighbourhoods are also now stocking
gourmet items.
Le Marche, which opened its first outlet
in 2005, has seven stores today.
Everytime a new mall opens in the
Delhi-NCR region, the developer wants a
Le Marche store, says Mini Yadav, who
runs and owns the store along with her
husband. Franchisee enquiries are
pouring in from neighbouring states but
she is not interested. “A lot of care
goes into opening a store. When you are
retailing fine foods, everything from
the lighting, layout and training of
staff becomes critical. We cannot expand
too soon,” Yadav says. Her revenues have
grown from Rs 20 crore in 2007 to Rs 40
crore now, and she wants to take it up
to Rs 100 crore in the next few years.
Sure enough, Yadav is now in the process
of identifying new locations.
Le Marche is reputed for its fresh meat
and seafood as well as its range of
coldcuts, cheese, pasta, oils and
sauces. The chain has more than 400
suppliers. With the kind of clientele it
enjoys, the chain can’t afford to get
anything wrong, or not have supplies.
Godrej Nature’s Basket started in 2005
as a chain selling premium fresh
vegetables, fruit, herbs and organic
produce. Two years later, it changed
course and reinvented itself as
“world-class gourmet retailer selling
authentic world food”.
Godrej Group’s executive director Tanya
Dubash says this shift was the upshot of
an internal evaluation carried out along
with consultant KSA Technopak, that
showed there was a big demand for fine
food triggered by “the opening up of the
economy, frequent travel and the media
boom”.
Dubash’s chain has eight stores in
Mumbai and encouraged by their success,
the group wants to open 12 more in two
years. It recently opened in Delhi’s
upscale Defence Colony neighbourhood,
and the chain has revenues of Rs 45
crore. Once it executes its planned
expansion in Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai
and Delhi, it should be able to clock
revenues of about Rs 150 crore,
estimates Godrej Nature’s Basket CEO
Mohit Khattar.
In the gourmet retailing business,
challenges are often local, and success
in one city doesn’t guarantee a similar
experience in another. Ahead of Godrej
Nature’s Basket’s launch in Delhi,
Khattar and his team scoured the city
for good, high-quality bread that would
meet the standards of their demanding
customers. They tried many suppliers but
weren’t satisfied, till they found Red
Moon Bakery, where Canadians David and
Anna Hambly bake a wide range of breads,
bagels, cookies, cakes and pies.
Sourcing premium vegetables are a
similar challenge. The chain has engaged
a supplier of premium fruit and
vegetables from the wholesale market at
Azadpur Mandi in Delhi. The shelves are
replenished twice a day. The mandi’s
supplies sit alongside imported produce
such as guava and dragonfruit from
Thailand, muskmelon from Japan, leeks,
asparagus and zuccini.
Godrej Nature’s Basket’s unique promise
is that customers can ask for a taste of
most items, be it cheese, coldcuts or
tea, before deciding to buy. The Defence
Colony store will soon open a wine
section, where wines from seven
countries will be stored at 14 degrees
Celsius. Well, no luck if you want to
taste the wine before opening your
wallet!
Cut to Chennai, which is today Sunil
Sanklecha’s domain. When he decided to
modernise his family’s grocery store in
the city in 1999, Sanklecha says he had
no idea of the scale of the success to
come. His Nuts and Spices chain has
grown to a 15-store franchise, a
one-storey shop has opened in Hyderabad,
and another will launch in Coimbatore
this year. His revenues have grown about
35% year-on-year for some time now. This
year, he will clock Rs 27 crore in
sales.
Sanklecha gets more than 200 franchisee
enquiries every year—even from faraway
cities such as Patna and Bhubaneswar.
But like Le Marche’s Yadav, he is averse
to taking the franchisee route.
Sure, apart from the profits, retailing
gourmet foods is also a good way to
befriend a city’s elites.
“You come on a Sunday and there will be
12 ambassadors at my store,” says Le
Marche’s Yadav. Nuts and Spices’
Sanklecha seconds that: “You name any
celebrity in Chennai, be it filmstars,
industrialists, politicians or anyone.
They are all my customers.”
Retailers rely on a range of importers
for steady supplies to their shelves.
Among them is Anil Chandok, who in 2002,
disappointed by the setbacks
in his software business and struck by
how poorly Indian food stores were
stocked, started Chenab Impex to import
fine foods. Today he is a leading
importer of olive oil and is soon
diversifying into coldcuts and cheese.
He brings more than 50 gourmet brands to
India.
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23-04-2010
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20-04-2010
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17-04-2010
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04-04-2010
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12-02-2010
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08-02-2010
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22-10-2009
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06-09-2009
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05-9-2009
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05-9-2009
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02-09-2009
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02-09-2009
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04-06-2009
Mid-Day
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03-06-2009
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05-05-2009
Prevention Magazine April 2009
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24-2-2009
1. Amedei dark chocolate – from Italy
2. Borges Spanish Marcona Almonds – from
Spain
3. Sunkist Almond Accents – from
California
4. Mariani Banana Bites – from Thailand
5. Danesi Coffee – Gold blend from Italy
6. Lune de Miel – Honey from France
7. Urbani Whole Truffles from Italy
8. Delouis Grain cider vinegar mustard –
France
9. Blue Elephant Oyster sauce – Thailand
10. Verdu Canto Pine nuts from Spain
11. Borges Garlic olive oil – Spain
12. Borges Basil flavoured olive oil -
Spain
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09-1-2009
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16-12-2008
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