A lip-smacking affair
Cookie Man is making a mark with its array of luscious indulgences.
Purabi Naha finds out more
It
has made quality the cornerstone of all its efforts because its customers
are an extension of its family. Stored with the most exquisite-tasting
cookies, where each piece is like a piece of absolute divine, its cookies
speak for themselves. Packed with freshness, each piece makes a distinct
and classy statement in itself. This is none other than Cookie Man,
selling a diverse line of freshly baked Australian cookies in India
and doing an enviable business. Australian Foods (I) Pvt Ltd, the makers
of Cookie Man cookies, is an Indo-Australian joint venture that commenced
its business operations in India in January 2000. The lack of recognised
cookie players in India motivated Australian Foods to enter the market
and open its first store in Chennai in January 2000. Cookie Man cookies
have rapidly grown to become synonymous with international quality.
It has created its unbeatable presence by offering freshly baked Australian
cookies to the Indian customers.
Establishing
itself in the Indian cookie industr
Cookie Man chose to target India as India has a robust Rs 2,400
crore biscuit market, which is steadily growing at over eight per cent
per annum. Sandeep Sewal, Senior VP, Cookie Man India, says, “In
2000, when Cookie Man entered India, there were no recognised players
in the cookie market in India. The same holds true today and the Cookie
segment of the biscuit market is flooded with several small players
ranging from the momand- pop stores to the five-star hotel cake shops.”
He further adds, “A very clear and dominant fact is that all outlets
stocking cookies do so only to complete the range and are not businesses
focusing on cookies. Therefore, cookies are and will always be a very
small part of the respective businesses. Hence, the opportunity for
an international cookie chain focused on the cookie business.”.
It's
different!
Cookie Man is quite different from the rest of the cookies available
in the Indian market in the sense that it sells a wide variety of.
History
of Cookie Man
Australian Foods was founded by Kevin Hicks, who started by selling
freshly baked cookies door-todoor. The overwhelming response he received
encouraged him to open his first store in Melbourne in 1958. The business
proved to be extremely successful and Kevin went on to develop a patented,
proprietary oven that allowed him to bake large quantities of his home-style
cookies right in the shop, to meet the growing demand of Australian
cookie lovers. He built a successful retail formula that has seen Cookie
Man become the cookie of choice across Australia and enabled a global
expansion. delicious,
premium Australian cookies. All the cookies are made with the finest
ingredients using the secret Cookie Man Australian recipes, which have
been developed and perfected over the past 40 years. Cookie Man offers
a wide variety of scrumptious cookies that are developed at an exclusive
R&D centre in Australia.
The success
factors
Cookie Man works on the franchisee model and currently operates
outlets through franchisees in Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, New Delhi,
Gurgaon, Noida, Mumbai, Kolkata and Indore. Plans are afoot to open
outlets soon at Pune and Ahmedabad..
• Interesting
options to the customers
Ever since Cookie Man established a presence in India, it has given
Indian audiences an additional option for both snacking and gifting.
Instead of going with the traditional Indian sweets at festival time,
often, both individuals and corporates are increasingly opting to gift
Cookie Man cookies.
• Opening more outlets
“We opened our first store in Indore at Treasure Island Mall
at Tukoganj in June 2006. We are scheduled to open our store in Pune
by the end August and the store at Ahmedabad is scheduled to open shortly,”
Mr Sewal reveals.
• The proprietary oven technology
At the heart of every Cookie Man mother shop is the point-of-sale
cookie machine and the secret recipes, perfected in Australia over the
past 40 years. Mr Sewal explains, “The oven ensures that the cookies
are baked to perfection and served to customers fresh - with utmost
attention to safety and hygiene.” The recipes are a combination
of traditional secret recipes handed down over the years and new recipes
crafted by experts at the Cookie Man R&D centre in Australia.
Product
line and pricing
Cookie Man sells a diverse variety of mouthwatering cookies that
are developed at an exclusive R&D centre in Australia. With over
50 varieties of cookies available, there is.
