Two decades ago, Monginis forayed into the North African markets by setting up a factory in Cairo. There it runs 20 cake and sweetmeat shops and parcels out packaged cakes to neighbours such as Libya and Sudan

Not only in India

Two decades ago, Monginis forayed into the North African markets by setting up a factory in Cairo. There it runs 20 cake and sweetmeat shops and parcels out packaged cakes to neighbours such as Libya and Sudan. The only difference is that the Cairo factory, along with cakes and pastries, also caters to the local taste buds with mithai, which is a typical concoction of some desi and some Egyptian ingredients and flavours.

“This constituted about 25 per cent of the sales,” Khorakiwala says, “of the Rs60 crore sales in Cairo last year.” The Cairo business continues to grow by 18-20 per cent each year as in India. The Monginis brand also caters to the UK with limited varieties of packaged foods such as khari and rusk toasts and is now looking at expanding to other European countries.

Started as a catering service in Mumbai’s Fort area in the early 20th century by the Monginis, two Italian brothers, for the city’s pre-Independence European population, it was acquired in the 1960s by the Khorakiwala family, which also ran the popular Akbarally’s departmental stores in Mumbai and became Monginis Foods Limited. In 1971, the company adopted the franchise model, with a stated emphasis on localised production for local tastes and thus began its growth.

While the company continues to increase its own chain of shops, it also has a large number of institutional franchisees such as the Indian Railways, malls and call centres. Products are also sold to Pantaloon, the Aditya Birla group, Wipro, Citi Group Services, TCS, hospitals and many more.

Run by the brothers Zoher and Kumail Khorakiwala, Monginis is now looking at the healthcare segment as well. It has started marketing sugar and salt-free products as well. “This segment has been growing fast the last few years,” says Kumail, the joint managing director, “generating 5 per cent revenue of our total turnover.” But the company is going to sweeten up its presence with a slew of multi-flavoured chocolates and cookies soon. “These will be moderately priced and absolutely affordable,” says Zoher.

In the packaged cakes segment, which has a shelf life of 30 to 60 days, Monginis commands an almost 30 per cent market share, though Britannia gives it some competition. “With the launch of chocolates and cookies with a 90-day shelf life,” says Shanta Ketkar, a Monginis Cake Shop franchisee, “we expect our turnover to double or even triple in the next two years.”

(This is reproduced from Business India magazine. It was first published in our issue dated November 15, 2009)