Vegan cravings: Why this home baker decided to start a vegan bakery in Bengaluru

Leena Mathai always loved baking, which prompted her to take a professional baking course in Tafe in Sydney, Australia. She continued as a cake decorating artist at the renowned Sydney Baking Institute, Planet Cakes, under Paris Cutler's guidance in 2011. 

“My vegan cake journey began in transit from Sydney to Bengaluru in 2014. My husband turned vegan, and I decided to make my cakes all-vegan after my first child's birth in 2015. We decided to raise him vegan, so I had no choice but to keep his tummy happy,” Leena tells HerStory. 

While vegans were on the rise, there was hardly much available. She noticed this gap in the Indian market when she found it impossible to find vegan desserts in Bengaluru. 

Thus, she started Crave by Leena — a vegan bakery that makes cakes and desserts with gluten and sugar-free ingredients. The D2C brand delivers across Bengaluru through its website, app, and a network of seven in-house delivery staff. 

ALSO READ

[100 Emerging Women Leaders] Meet Dr Madhuri Roy, who became a doctor by studying in the light of oil lamps

Home baker to commercial baker 

“After being a home baker for a few years, I moved to a commercial kitchen in 2019 and have grown to a team of 22 members across various functions, including pastry chefs, cake artists, bakers, tech, sales, operations, and delivery,” says Leena. 

The biggest challenge while starting a vegan business was the skill shortage and the availability of plant-based substitutes for baking. In fact, with no plant-based culinary institute in India, chefs were unable to learn the cuisine formally. 

“Most bakers we were hiring had worked with commercial cake pre-mixes, which would not work for us, as there is still no plant-based pre-mixes available. Hence, we hired pastry chefs and trained them to work with alternate ingredients,” she explains. 

Additionally, the brand did a year of R&D to get the taste, aroma, and texture right, using substitutes from locally grown organic and sustainable businesses as much as possible. 

ALSO READ

[100 Emerging Women Leaders] Meet Kanika Tekriwal, who is taking the aviation industry by storm

COVID-19 impact 

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, many started making the conscious choice of reducing animal products from their diet, focussing on clean and quality foods. 

“Our business grew 3X during COVID-19. We were one of the few plant-based businesses open, delivering healthy bakes safely across Bengaluru, so they don't miss out on celebrating while staying indoors,” Leena claims. 

Several of its employees are from recognised culinary institutes, including Lavonne Academy, Bangalore Institute of Baking, and Whitecaps. Some of them have also worked with the likes of JW Marriott and The Park. 

“It was essential for us to build a core team from the hospitality industry as it would be easy for them to adapt to plant-based baking techniques and be a part of the R&D,” she shares. 

ALSO READ

Starting from their kitchens, how these mompreneurs built D2C brand Rooting Back

Numbers and growth 

While Leena looks after the kitchen, R&D, menu creation, and daily operations, her partner, Sunny Gurnani — who comes with over a decade of business and tech experience — has helped build the technology behind the brand, including marketing and business partnerships.

The brand commercially started the business in mid-2019, selling close to 100 items, with a revenue of Rs 50,000 per month. 

At present, Leena explains, the growth has been organic and phenomenal since the beginning as Crave supplied over 2,500 items per month, clocking Rs 25 lakh per month. 

“We are well on track to close over Rs 3.5 crore revenue this financial year. We are the only 100 percent plant-based bakery focusing on alternate cakes that are not readily available around. We have a range of vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free, and keto products. We are probably the only ones catering to any allergies, be it from nuts, dairy, eggs, etc.,” says Leena.

Future plans 

So far, Crave by Leena’s primary focus had been direct customers. However, it also supplies to a few fine dining restaurants, including Bohemians and Azure Group in Bengaluru. 

In a few months, the brand will start focusing on B2B partnerships and corporates. 

“We do everything in-house using quality and organic ingredients wherever possible, so our expenses are higher than the other players. However, our net margins are around 35 percent. At present, everything is invested back into improving the technology and machinery,” adds Leena. 

”For now, we will continue to be the only alternate bakery in India and focus on the best world-class quality bakes produced in Bengaluru. We aim to make plant-based cakes a new normal the way eggless cakes did in early 2000,” says Leena.

YourStory’s flagship startup-tech and leadership conference will return virtually for its 13th edition on October 25-30, 2021. Sign up for updates on TechSparks or to express your interest in partnerships and speaker opportunities here.

For more on TechSparks 2021, click here.