![salman-khan--bccl](https://img.etimg.com/thumb/msid-103913992,width-300,height-225,imgsize-54600,resizemode-75/salman-khan-bccl.jpg)
The new chain – Food Square – will compete with RP Sanjiv Goenka-owned Nature's Basket and Reliance Freshpik.
“We are farmer-entrepreneurs-founders ourselves, running large-scale aquaponics and sustainable soil-based farms in different parts of Maharashtra for more than five years,” said Mayank Gupta, managing director and cofounder of Food Square.
He added that the current valuation of the Indian gourmet food market at $1.3 billion with an annual compounded growth rate of 20% “makes it a promising arena”.
Salman Khan had bought the Linking Road property for nearly Rs 120 crore a decade ago to build a commercial premise.
Future Retail had leased the space in 2017 for five years at a monthly rental of Rs 80 lakh, which was renewed last year for Rs 90 lakh. The 4-floor 25,000 sq ft space, frequented by Bollywood celebrities and CXOs and known for imported high-end gourmet products, was vacated a few months ago due to non-payment of dues.
Food Square will replicate most of the product range and services that Food Hall had and has partnered a host of brands for the high-end store. For instance, it has tied up with Versace for its collection of cutleries, live stations by Entisi Chocolate, and Italian food at Oliveology.
Four years ago, Gupta and Lalit Jhawar started LandCraft Agro to grow exotic vegetables and has been a vendor to several retailers including FoodHall and Nature's Basket.
Its new retail venture has secured investment of $3.6 million from Masaba Gupta, Mukul Agrawal, Purple Style Labs, Sanket Parekh (Pidilite family), Rahul Kalyan (SMIFS), and Harminder Sahni, among others.
While artisanal and gourmet food earns high margins, most retailers struggle to break even due to inefficient supply chain of fresh produce and high rentals.
LandCraft, however, pointed out they have been cultivating and supplying fresh produce to more than 200 supermarkets across Western and Southern India as a vendor for the past five years. This can help profitability of the retail venture, they said.
“We are scouting other premium locations and plan to open such stores across India,” Gupta said. “There is a wide gap in the market we are addressing as consumers, especially well-travelled ones, demand finest grocery and products from around the world.”
Linking Road is the most expensive retail location in Mumbai and experts said rents across most high streets have either reached or breached pre-Covid levels as new supply will remain low.
“Rental at high streets in Mumbai have gone up by 12-15% as for bigger space, brands prefer open area,” said Gautam Saraf, managing director, Mumbai and new business, at Cushman & Wakefield. “Major high streets across Mumbai such as Linking Road, Kala Ghoda, and Peddar Road have seen an influx of demand coming from national as well as international brands, particularly because of dearth of space in Grade A malls and supply constraints across high street,” he said.
(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, Budget 2024 Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.)
Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online.
(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, Budget 2024 Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.)
Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online.