Mumbai’s legacy chain of bakery and confectionary stores, Birdy’s Bakery and Patisserie is set to embark on a rapid retail expansion journey, with plans to open around 100 stores by the end of the next fiscal year.
Founded in 1992, Birdy’s is one of Mumbai’s oldest bakery brands. Originally established as ‘Birdy’s by Taj’ and owned by the Taj Group of Hotels, it was later sold to Wah Restaurants Pvt. Ltd.
Since 2019, Birdy’s has been under the ownership of Grill Splendour Services Pvt. Ltd., a chain of gourmet bakeries and patisseries in Mumbai, led by the husband-and-wife duo Srinidhi and Vandana Rao. The company employs over 142 individuals across its stores and kitchen.
“When a brand has been around for a long time, people develop a strong sense of trust and nostalgia for it,” said Srinidhi Rao. ”However, as newer brands emerge, especially those with a strong social media presence, the older brand can start to feel dated if it doesn’t consistently innovate. So we are aiming to revitalise the brand’s energy.”
The company’s previous owner sold its kitchen to the Kishore Biyani group. However, the current owner established a new kitchen, which began operations in February 2020, located at Wadala.
The first two years after the acquisition were quite tough, primarily due to the pandemic. Despite investing in the brand, infrastructure, new shops, a new kitchen, and packaging, the challenges persisted.
The first Birdy’s location was actually a cake shop at Taj Hotel in Mumbai. At one point, there were more than 50 Birdy’s shops, but after COVID-19, the number dropped to around 15.
To revamp the brand, Grill Splendour Services spent around Rs 5-6 crores after the acquisition, investing in the kitchen, opening a few new-format stores, refurbishing old stores, purchasing refrigerated packaging, and moving to a larger office.
Following the investments, the company generated about Rs 8 crores in FY21, followed by Rs 11 crores in FY22, Rs 15 crores in FY23, and Rs 13.5 crores in FY24, which was clearly affected by the slowdown in the retail industry.
Currently, Birdy’s has around 26 stores across the city with four more stores coming up in the next 30 days, all company-owned, company-operated (COCO).
The brand is not expecting a big financial figure this year due to the closure of a few old stores for infrastructure work in Mumbai. “New shops take time to build momentum, and the cake business takes time to reach a stable level of sales. So this year, we are expecting to close at around twelve and a half crores,” said Rao.
“By FY26, we aim to become the largest bakery and patisserie chain in the Mumbai region,” he added.
