“We make food that we like to eat ourselves”
KAINAZ MESSMAN 38, Founder, Theobroma, Mumbai
Growing up in a “sweet smelling home with chocolates, cakes and desserts being made daily” offered Kainaz Messman the first push into the world of baking. In 2004, while she was working for the Oberoi Group of Hotels, her family urged her to start a business and she launched Theobroma with her signature brownies, and an initial investment of `1 crore. “It was opened as a dessert destination but it swiftly evolved over the years to serve sandwiches and savouries. But at heart, we are a place for cakes and desserts,” she says.
“We use good ingredients. We keep things simple and we make things well. Everything we sell we make ourselves,” says Messman. Despite 25 stores and operations spreading to Delhi, everything is made under her guidance. The idea is to sell fresh and so the products are delivered to each outlet once or twice a day. “Our products have a short shelf life and we are proud of it, we add no chemicals or preservatives,” she says.
While she couriers brownies and chocolates to Theobroma lovers across the country, she opened her first store in Delhi when she decided to expand operations. “Delhi was our biggest market and that is how we decided to open there first when we looked to expand beyond our home city,” she says.
The brand couriers around a hundred boxes per week and Kolkata and Bengaluru are their biggest markets.