Sassy Teaspoon Soon Planning for PAN- India Expansion

A YOUNG and seasoned entrepreneur, Rachel Goenka- CEO & Founder The Chocolate Spoon Co. is best known for her innovative delicacies and trademark desserts. Goenka, daughter of a media mogul, Viveck Goenka, wanted to be independent from her family business and start her own venture. Her motto is ‘Food is the one love you will never fall out of’.

Speaking to BW Hotelier, Goenka began by telling us about her journey, “The food industry was something that I have always had a keen passion for and I decided to turn that passion into a career. After a year of training at Le Cordon Bleu, London and Ballymaloe, Ireland, I started The Chocolate Spoon Company in 2013 with one restaurant called The Sassy Spoon.” Today the company has grown to 12 outlets across Mumbai & Pune and have three different restaurant brands, a bar concept as well as a chain of patisseries & bakeries.

According to Goenka, the food, cocktails and desserts of The Chocolate Spoon are quirky and fun. “We strive to keep our offering innovative by not just updating our menus, but foraying into new concepts and cuisines. More importantly, we are nimble and are not afraid to make tough decisions. For example, we have replaced The Sassy Spoon Banrda with the House of Mandarin as we saw a huge gap in Bandra for authentic Chinese fare,” she said.

Goenka believes that the patisserie business in India has been growing exponentially. “The kind of valuations some brands have received is a reflection of how the market has started to take smaller concepts more seriously, not just popular restaurant brands,” she said.

“I personally have plans to take my patisserie brand the Sassy Teaspoon pan-India over the next few years. The brand is about a year old and we currently have seven outlets and two central kitchens across Mumbai and Pune,” she added.

Goenka who intends to take each of her brands to new cities like Hyderabad, Bangalore and Gurgaon, advices young entrepreneurs to pursue their passion and ambitions, “there is an unparalleled satisfaction you receive when you realize you can achieve your dreams but you have to take a risk for that to happen,” she said.

As per Goenka the significant challenges over the past few months like demonitization, GST, the highway ban have directly affected the restaurant business. “There are also perennial legislative challenges like regulations, licensing, and permits. Overall, it's been an extremely demanding but very rewarding journey,” she said