Cookies as hero product for dessert: the story of FES Cafe
In this photo essay, we feature highlights from the FES flagship café in Lodhi Art District, and founder insights.
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Thanks to factors like international travel, social media, and appetite for novel experiences, Indians’ interest in western desserts has been on a steady rise. A number of ‘foodpreneurs’ have jumped into the fray, and investors are taking interest in this sector as well.
“I have been looking at desserts for the longest time. And I have realised that locally and internationally, some of the longest lines are always outside the dessert parlour,” Vidur Mayor, Founder and CEO of FES Café, tells YourStory.
In this photo essay, we feature highlights from FES cafes in Lodhi Art District and Green Park. The Lodhi Art District cafe is its sixth store in the Delhi-NCR region, and is also the flagship cafe. While there are many coffee-first cafes in India, FES is cookie-first.
“We have always believed India’s dessert culture is far bigger than the formats available to consumers. With FES, the vision is never just to sell cookies, but to build a category-defining habit around them. The Lodhi flagship store is our biggest step towards that vision”, Mayor says.
Indians have an appetite for sweets embedded in the culture. “When people want to celebrate, there is always meethai. If you are having a bad day, a pick-me-up is always a dessert.,” he observes.
But the western segment in India is generally limited to cakes and pastries. “Cookies here are generally something that comes out of a packet, not the truly freshly-baked cookies that customers have seen globally. And we feel the cookie is an absolutely versatile dessert,” he says.
“People of all ages love cookies, particularly Gen Z. There are so many flavours that you can play around with, and the textures are so exciting,” he observes.
FES wants to bring the freshly baked cookie culture to India. “Cookies are gooey, chunky, and can have a lot of flavour palettes,” he says.
“A lot of younger generation consumers are moving away from packaged products, they understand what lies in them. They prefer things that are freshly baked. They like knowing the story behind it and how it is made,” explains Rini Joshi, Chief Marketing Officer, FES Cafe.
“We want to bring the same dessert culture that people see abroad to India. We want to change the way they look at indulgence,” she adds.
“With this flagship, we want to build more than a café. We want to create a world consumers can step into repeatedly, one that feels warm, social, nostalgic, and alive. The idea is to make cookies part of culture, not just consumption,” Joshi affirms.
While FES began as a zero-waste café called For Earth's Sake, it has now pivoted to For Everything Sweet. The emotion of sharing as well as understanding the story of the brand are important.
“We are basically building India's first cookie-forward culture-led omnichannel brand for cookies. We focus closely on our communities, and get regular feedback from them,” explains Mayor, whose earlier stints were at Vodafone and Oyo Rooms.
“We have different IPs like Dessert of the Month. We also experiment with flavours that Indians have not yet explored,” he adds. Examples include the mango crumble pie, caramel crunch cookie, and broken tiramisu cookie.
“We created a cookie recently called hazelnut baby. It has a baby croissant on top. We try to give customers the best experience visually and in terms of taste and flavour. Everything is freshly baked,” Mayor says.
Everything on the menu is made in-house at the FES central kitchen in Gurgaon. “We want to make sure people know that they are not having something that was frozen,” he says.
“Once we develop a product, we have a very strong base of regulars with whom we do a round of tasting. These regulars are at our cafes almost six days a week,” Joshi explains.
FES cafes have a healthy repeat rate. “At a brand level, we have a repeat rate of anywhere between 55% to 60%,” she adds. Some outlets even have a repeat rate of 65% month on month.
When these regulars come in, the baristas know their orders. “We see them every day, so they have even become our friends now,” Joshi says.
Examples of such tested products include matcha cookies. They are now one of the top sellers at FES. The idea of Dessert of the Month was also started with an idea to get customer feedback.
The dirty tiramisu cookie was actually featured as a Dessert of the Month. “Six months later, when people kept asking for it, we decided to bring it back on the menu,” Mayor recalls.
“The Indian palate is very different. Not everybody enjoys a particular international chocolate. Many of us have grown up on Cadbury. So we have to find the right balance of flavours in our cookies,” he describes.
The company experiments as well with new flavours to find out which ones succeed in the market. “We made a cookie with white chocolate, pistachio and cashew. We were not sure if it would work, but people really ended up liking it,” he says.
“We also made our own banana pudding. We were somewhat apprehensive whether people would like it – but they really enjoyed that as well,” he adds.
The cookie category is still being built in India. “Indians never really looked at the cookie as a standalone dessert. But I think over the last one year, we have been able to lead with the idea of having cookie as a dessert on its own,” Mayor says with pride.
Interestingly, cookies are also emerging as part of breakfast routines for some consumers. “I have seen runners coming to the café after a run, and enjoying a cookie,” he says.
For vegans, FES has a vegan cookie that has been made using coconut milk. In addition to desserts, FES has a savoury menu, and a good coffee brew.
“We do feel that cookies and coffee go hand in hand, literally – perhaps more so than with tea. For our coffee, we use medium dark roast beans sourced from Chikkamagaluru and Nilgiri areas,” Mayor says.
The cafes are open from morning till midnight, with some open even till 3 am and frequented by the pub crowd. “We also see a lot of people who come in post-dinner for cookies. They line up in their pajamas and night suits,” Joshi observes.
“It is beautiful to see how FES cafes have become a regular third space for a lot of people. And that is what we wanted to do – build a third space where coffee, community and cookies come together,” Mayor says.
“Our focus is on building a cookie brand that brings the right kind of flavours for the Indian market. This includes keeping our cookies eggless, because most Indian sweets do not have eggs in them,” he adds.
FES has ten types of cookies on the menu, with many more lined up depending on focus group inputs. Some people have asked for Nutella cookies, while the biscoff cookie was launched a couple of months ago based on customer request.
Around 80% of the offerings are the established popular cookies, while 20% are experimental. “We also made a kunafa cookie. But we would prefer to build trends rather than follow trends,” Mayor says.
FES has built an engaging narrative around a character called the Cookie Dealer, with a pet dog. “We wanted to build the story around how the Cookie Dealer has created the best recipes. And this flagship café happens to be the Cookie Dealer's house,” Joshi explains.
Such a story helps create a sense of curiosity, humour, and a feeling of belonging. “We want people to come of their homes and offices, hang out, and have fun away from their screens,” she adds.
The flagship store is in three levels, designed like a New York city home with a loft. The ‘lab’ is in the top floor, the counter is in the ground floor, and the living room is in the first floor.
“Hidden references, visual cues, and small storytelling moments are tucked into corners and shelves throughout the flagship store. It is designed as a space of discovery that encourages consumers to keep exploring and uncover something new with every visit,” Joshi explains.
Each neighbourhood in Delhi is unique with varying consumer behaviours and preferences. “For example, diplomat neighbourhoods are different from student neighbourhoods. Expanding to new cities will involve understanding the neighbourhoods of each city,” Mayor explains.
FES Cafe has received investment from serial entrepreneur Aakash Anand and his venture studio Wolfpack Labs. This will help fund future growth in Delhi-NCR and other cities.
“Overall, we feel that cookies are the future of desserts. It is very versatile – you can use it for celebrations, it travels well, and is easy to share. That is why FES is doubling down on cookies as a hero product,” Mayor signs off.
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Vidur Mayor and Rini Joshi
(All photographs taken by Madanmohan Rao on location at FES cafes in New Delhi.)