Pran aims to gain a foothold in cake, pastry market

Pran, a leading food processor and exporter, has tightened its grip on the cake and pastry segment to meet growing demand for the items, mainly among urbanities.

The company signed up for cake and pastry retailing through its sister concern Banga Bakers Ltd in May last year; so far, it has opened nine outlets in Dhaka under the 'Tasty Treat' brand.

An official of Pran said they are going to open three more outlets soon to tap into the rising trend in celebrating special days like birthdays, anniversaries and other occasions with cakes and pastry items.

"Right from the start, we are getting a tremendous response from the market," Kamruzzaman Kamal, director of marketing of Pran-RFL Group, told The Daily Star in an email reply.

The Pran-RFL Group, which recorded more than $500 million in turnover through domestic sales and exports last year, said it entered the segment as it has high potential.

Kamal said Tasty Treat is gaining popularity among consumers day by day and the response encourages Pran to expand business continuously.

"We are looking for suitable space and locations to open more such outlets," he said, adding that Pran plans to open a total of 100 such shops in Dhaka and surrounding areas by the end of next year. 

The processed food conglomerate expands its business at a time when more than half a dozen firms also operate in the cake and pastry market in Bangladesh, mainly through their own outlets.

Some firms such as Coopers, Mr Baker and Kings have also expanded their operations.

Eftekhar Alam, general manager of Mr Baker Cake and Pastry Shop Ltd, said people now prefer cakes to sweets to celebrate special days and events.

“That's why we see rising demand," he said. Mr Baker currently operates 28 outlets in Dhaka. In 2003, when Alam joined the firm, Mr Baker had only two outlets and demand was low at the time. "It is good that more firms are coming. We are registering higher sales than in the past as the market expands," said the official of Mr Baker, which registers Tk 4 lakh in sales a day, up from Tk 26,000 in 2003.

"Lifestyles are changing and people love cakes and pastries more now than before."

Kamal of Pran said: “In comparison to other firms in the market, we are offering our products at 10 to 20 percent lower prices.”

Pran is now concentrating on the domestic market. "But we have plans to spread our brand in different countries through franchises." However, Alam of Mr Baker said Pran's entry would not affect its market because their target consumers are different. "We make fancy items. But it appears that Pran will make commercial items.”