The Baker’s Dozen, Mimansa Industries Pvt Ltd’s artisan bakery, recently opened an outlet in Oshiwara, a western suburb of Mumbai. Its menu, which comprises 25 varieties of artisan breads,  ISO includes gourmet sandwiches, ragi crackers and coffee.

Sneh Jain, Director, Mimansa Industries was tight-lipped about the regulations the sector has to adhere to, but threw light on his venture and the prevalent and future trends in the Indian artisan bakery segment.

“The unique selling proposition (USP) of The Baker’s Dozen is that it is led by the baker who displays the passion behind her love for bread and the craft of baking. This helps maintain the origin and authenticity of our offerings,” Jain added.

The head baker, Aditi Handa, his spouse, mastered the art of bread baking at the International Culinary Institute (formerly known as the French Culinary Institute) in New York, bakes over a hundred varieties of internationally popular breads without any preservatives, chemicals or emulsifiers at The Baker’s Dozen, which started operations in January 2013.

The chain has identified five or ten more locations across Mumbai with potential to open outlets, however, he stated that we are not looking at expanding beyond Mumbai. We do cater to a few business-tobusiness (B2B) customers who pick up breads for their eateries or catering establishments on a daily basis from the chain. He stated that he was not sure about the per capita consumption of artisan bakery products in India vis-a-vis their per capita consumption overseas, because artisan bakery was still a new segment to most Indians. Now, an array of products, including sourdough breads and products made from rye flour (which has to be imported) are hitting the shelves. Jain primarily attributed the growth of the sector to the increased awareness about bakery products and artisan bread.