Chocolate Room to Raise Rs 100 cr

THE CHOCOLATE Room has successfully completed its 10 years of operation. On its 10th anniversary, the company is looking to raise INR 100 crore to fund its expansion. The company which has 235 outlets across the country is planning to double its footprint to 500 outlets by 2020 according to Vikas Panjabi, Co-founder and MD, The Chocolate Room.

“After opening our first outlet in 2007, we started expansion by opening outlets in tier II and tier III cities. Now, our major openings will be in bigger cities as well as in Asia & Middle East,” said Panjabi.

Elaborating on expansion Panjabi said, “We will be launching our first chocolate factory in Ahmedabad this year with production capacity of 100 tonnes. We are also looking at opening a factory in Hyderabad at the later stages.”

Panjabi also spoke about the challenges for the company to survive in the market. He said, “There has been tough competition with so many international brands like CCD, Starbucks, Costas & other local cafe chains in the market. However, there has been a great support from the internal team and franchises. We have designed our stores in such a way that we can deliver maximum products as per customer expectations & choice.”

At present, 35 per cent of the company’s sales come from selling chocolates to the corporates. Speaking about the specialities, Panjabi concluded, “The Chocolate Room stores are fashioned with unique interiors. We are the only one cafe serving over 250 items. Besides that we also have corporate merchandise deals.”