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Birdy's spreading wings across India
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Saturday, 10 June, 2006, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Ketan Thakkar, Mumbai
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h green panelling and a pinewood ceiling welcomes you to not only vibrant and warm ambience but also inimitable variety of delectable cakes and pastries opening the door to unique bakery and confectionery world called 'Birdy's'
Known as a most popular chain of 'cake and savoury' shops in Mumbai, it has growing collection of seventeen franchised outlets, which are strategically spread across the city. The outlets are not only targets at the take-away market, but are also positioned as a 'hang-out' for members of the younger generation.
The Birdy's shops stock a wide range of sweet and savoury patisserie, sandwiches, desserts and an exclusive range of premium chocolates. The cakes and desserts include fresh-cream pastries, fruit-flavoured cheesecake, melt-in-your-mouth gateaux, souffles and mousses. The shops also sell flaky croissants, puffs and cornets - all filled with Indian and Continental delicacies - as well as a selection of gourmet breads.
The company has been growing at a good rate and is on a major expansion spree. Arun Pinto, Brand Manager, Birdy's, The Mars Group, told Food and Beverage News, "The business has been excellent in the past one-year or so and it has also put us in the limelight as compared to the players like Croissants. We have grown by 8 to 10 per cent this year and we hope to grow by 15 per cent in the coming year. We had 10 outlets last year, this year it has increased to 17 and we hope to have 25 outlets by next year."
"Right now we are confined to Mumbai, but in the next year or so, we are opening outlets in Pune, Bangalore and Delhi. We have planned two outlets in Pune by the end of this year and an outlet each in Delhi and Bangalore by early next year." According to Pinto, "Bakery industry is witnessing phenomenal growth. And again with the advent of globalisation, more and more players are entering the market. This has led to creation of wide product portfolio for the people to choose from."
However, he believes that with opportunities comes challenges. "With practically one new player entering the market every three months, the marketing focus is getting shifted. People nowadays are adventurous and are more than willing to try out new products in the market, which is creating a shift in brand loyalty. We have been monitoring the shift and have devised strategies to counter it. And we have been successful in pulling back our customers."
On the competition in the market he said, "We come under a premium segment We don't compete with players like Monginis and Denish. We are pitted against players like Croissants. We also face competition from local players who offer quality products at a reasonable price. But this doesn't bother us. We believe in providing excellent quality products to our customer, and I'm sure once a customer has a cake or pastry at Birdy's they would come back again."
Having a major presence in premium locations within Mumbai, finding a suitable market for its products in packed and expensive city is a big challenge, he asserted. Quality and taste are the two major factors, behind company's success in the market. "We have never compromised on the quality," he said.
The outlets are serviced from a 10,000 square foot production facility located near the Mumbai International Airport. The production facility houses state-of-the-art equipment and benchmarks its standards against the best in the world
Having one of the largest ranges of the cakes and pastries in the city, it majorly caters to the premium segment in the market, but today it is also looking at capturing the middle class segment. Pinto said, "With the growing per capita income and tendency of middle class people to experiment with different brand variety, we are devising strategies to target them as well."
In a bid to capture further market, Birdy's has been organising number of promotion campaigns. It has been organising festivals offering different variety of flavours other than its regular products. The recently organised 'Chocolate Festival' was a great success; next in line is 'European festival.'
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