Sweet Nothings

Desserts are no longer about cakes and ice creams. Entrepreneurs are introducing newer varieties and adding savoury items to their menus.

- Naandika Tripathi

The sweet tooth craves more than just desserts. That has been the learning of a bunch of business people who started with a specialised item, but have since diversified their offerings with other varieties while retaining their core focus. This is largely because of millennials who flaunt their love for waffles, pancakes, cheesecakes and churros on social media.

Vikesh Shah, for instance, discovered pancakes during a visit to Europe with friend Dev Kapadia in 2017. They founded 99 Pancakes after thier return the same year. “We’re the first to introduce mini Dutch pancakes in India, also known as poffertjes globally. I wasn’t sure if it will work in India, but I took a chance and opened our first store in Kala Ghoda, Mumbai. There were no plans to expand then,” claims Shah. Today, 99 Pancakes has 65 outlets across India.

It wasn’t smooth sailing to begin with. Customers would come asking for cakes instead of pancakes. “We then started giving free samples; word-of-mouth played an important role in attracting customers,” says Kapadia, who is country head of 99 Pancakes.

Shah also runs a 15-year-old family-owned bakery Happiness Deli, which serves cakes, pastries and pizza. Similarly, Kapadia and he plan to add savoury items to 99 Pancakes’ menu as they feel it is difficult to sustain the business only on desserts. Recently, 99 Pancakes introduced Procakes—a protein pancake with chia seeds, peanut butter, yogurt, nuts and berries.

99 Pancakes sells 8,000 dishes of pancakes every day with each box containing 12 pieces. The company’s revenues jumped from ₹3 crore in 2017-18 to ₹10 crore in 2018-19, with 50 percent of them coming from orders via online aggregators. “We’re planning to expand to Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand, and aim to have over 100 stores in two years,” says Kapadia.