Monginis seeks franchisees

Monginis, a Mumbai based leading bakery chain, is all set to open 50 new outlets via the franchise route by the end of 2010. The company also plans to double its retail distribution from the current retail network of 15,000 stores across the country.

As told to Abha Garyali of Franchise India Holdings Limited (FIHL) by Virendra Ghole, Marketing Head, Monginis, “We have set a target of adding 50 more shops by the end of this year, to our current number of 558 shops in 38 cities.” Presently the company has their outlets in New Mumbai, Panvel, Pune, Satara, Goa, Nashik, Kolkata and many other cities. Ghole added, “All the cities where we are present today are growing and as per our understanding can take a few more shops. For example, we are planning 30 more outlets in and around Mumbai.”

Monginis is in the process of finding suitable manufacturing franchisees for their expansion in states like Kanpur, Lucknow, Raipur, Chennai and Bangalore. The retail franchisees can be appointed only after the manufacturing is commissioned. Regarding the issues of investment Ghole informed, “The franchisee has to pay a refundable deposit of Rs one lakh and a franchisee fee of Rs 50,000. Besides this the franchisee has to invest in doing up the interiors and also in counters, equipments, as per the specifications laid down by the company. Therefore the approximate investment comes to around Rs six to eight lakh.”

Apart from opening these outlets, Monginis also plans to add a segment of health foods like ‘0% Sugar Cookies’ in different flavours like coconut, jeera, chocolate chips and shrewsbury. The company has also started a concept called ‘Gift-A-Cake Online’. Ghole said, “We are trying to reach out to NRIs, who want to send cakes to their near and dear ones in India.”