JOIN USA landmark destination for literature and art events in Bengaluru, Atta Galatta is not just about food for thought but also food for the tummy. When Subodh Sankar found people spending hours at his book store, he thought it would be nice to offer them something to munch on! And, since it didn’t make sense for him to bake at the book store, he set up a little workshop nearby, where he had his team bake homestyle goodies for his customers.
Soon the bakery was serving some exquisite bread that itself had built a loyal customer base. It is then that Sankar decided to take his breads to the market, marking the entry of Atta Galatta breads and bakes in the retail format.
“Slowly and organically, as baking took off, packaging and retailing looked like the natural next step. We approached some modern trade stores and got ourselves some shelf space. Soon we found a lot of takers for our high-quality bread varieties,” says founder Subodh Sankar.
Meanwhile, the company acquired Bagels and Bakes for Rs 1 crore to leverage its expansive market presence. “About three years back, we bought Bagels and Bakes, which had its own loyal customer base. It had larger market presence and we wanted to leverage that.
For about nine months, we supported both brands, but soon we consolidated the two, which gave rise to ‘Bagels and Bakes by Atta Galatta’ — as the brand is known now,” he says.
Currently, the brand has fairly extensive range of products across various categories, including sliced breads, rolls and loaves, gourmet breads, confectionaries and bread-based snacks. With a variety of options under each category, the company now offers over 50 SKUs in the market.
“While all our categories and innovations have huge takers, white sandwich bread is always a crowd-favourite. However, our garlic bread is something I’m particularly proud of. It is unlike any other in the market,” he says, adding, “Another one of our novelties — bagel chips — is one of our top-selling SKUs.”
The brand is available across 70 modern trade stores, including the likes of Big Bazaar, HyperCity and Foodhall, and 120 general stores across Bengaluru. “Growth in this business is driven by modern trade. We still have huge opportunity, as we still have to enter Aditya Birla and Reliance modern trade stores,” says Sankar. Online, the brand is already available on leading portals BigBasket and Grofers.
With a manufacturing unit in Bommasandra, Bagels and Bakes by Atta Galatta claims of superior quality in production processes. “Mass market breads are extremely perforated. We use a semi-automated process, trying to stay true to the traditional methods of making bread,” he says, adding, “Now, our focus is to maximise capacity utilisation.” The current capacity of its unit stands at 2,500 loaves of bread and 3,500 packages of rolls and loaves per shift.
Having clocked revenues of Rs 2.5 crore in the previous financial year, the company is looking at a run rate of Rs 4.5 crore this year.
“As far as funding goes, we have been self-funded and are wary of on-boarding external investors. While it is something that we are always open to discuss, we are very particular about getting the right sync,” he signs off.