Laksh Yadav is a young entrepreneur who has taken over the reins of Cocoberry India, the country’s first, largest, and most premium frozen yogurt brand. He further wishes to achieve the lowest CAPEX and operating costs for a frozen yogurt brand anywhere across the globe through continuous innovation. Before joining Cocoberry, he co-founded the Sunshine Group of Companies as well as its international subsidiary, Sunshine Agro Overseas, where he was a Director and Strategic Advisor respectively to growth initiatives. In addition to investing in promising venture efforts, Laksh has also been very active with several non-profit organizations doing their bit for society.
In Conversation With Laksh Yadav, CEO, CocoBerry
In an exclusive conversation with The Restaurant Times, Laksh Yadav, CEO of Cocoberry discusses how the yogurt brand manages to keep a loyal customer base with its niche product line.
TRT- What’s going to be your vision for the brand going forward? And how long has it been for you since you became the CEO of the company?
I think it’s my fourth year in the company right now. And the vision for the company is very strong. We are currently expanding in North India and the East India region. By the end of 2021, we’ll be opening 20 more new outlets, half of them will be company-owned, while the other half will be franchise-owned. That’s my vision for the company right now.
TRT- What cities are you targeting and how are you planning the expansion across India?
I would start with North India. We don’t go to any sort of franchise events. However, we do a proper quality check, we do a background check whether they are okay, whether they will be capable of running a franchise or not. That’s how we’re expanding right now, we’re opening four outlets in Mumbai and very soon entering the South Indian market.
TRT- How has the pandemic affected your business? What measures did you take to lessen the impact of COVID on the brand?
At first, the pandemic did hurt us but then the customers started stepping out as the lockdown ended and they came to our outlets, and it was unreal, getting the same revenue as the pre-COVID times. We thought that right now is the time that we have to expand globally. We took the opportunity and made the best out of it. We consider our product as a lifestyle product and not as just dessert. Someone who is coming to Cocoberry is not just coming for the product itself but also for the experience that we offer. It is more of a lifestyle product as someone new to frozen yogurt would not like it at first but once they develop a taste, then customers come again and again.
TRT- How do you plan to take it to more people as you grow the business? Is there any special marketing strategy that you sort of want to deploy?
There is no strategy involved as of now, but we are thinking about it. For us, the brand itself was a new concept, it is an acquired taste. So, if we do a lot of marketing, we try to reach a lot of people that want help, that can help. We want people to come to our outlets, try our products and slowly tell everyone about the product. We rely mostly on word-of-mouth marketing, and it suits us the best.
TRT- Would you be able to give some sort of stats or any idea about the current size of the market for frozen yogurt in India?
The brand started in 2011. Back then, no one even knew about the concept of frozen yogurt, so I would say that we have come a long way and the pandemic served us in a good way as people got to know about the concept of frozen yogurt more and more. A lot of global brands are trying to come to India. At its heart, Cocoberry is a homegrown brand so the pricing must be like that, and the taste has to be unique to suit the Indian taste buds. When you enter the market, you must make sure that your quality is top-notch and maintain a check on your outlet continuously. Keep a check on what kind of customers are coming in and what is their feedback. I think a lot of competitors don’t keep a check on that especially when they are new in the market.
TRT- How do you maintain high customer retention?
Cocoberry has a limited customer footfall, but the order frequency of those customers is high. That is how we are different from other brands, in the sense wherever we go, we have loyal customers who order daily and visit the store daily.
TRT- Have you seen any change in terms of the number of customers coming in because your product is healthier than others?
I have and this can be called the catalyst for our success post-COVID. This could be one of the reasons. Any marketing gimmick is always in the market but the healthier options you offer, the more customers you will get. I consider our products as a lifestyle choice and not just a dessert brand. Since people now want to opt for healthier options, our products help them find a good balance between taste and a healthy lifestyle.
TRT- What would be your message to the F&B industry and restaurateurs?
My message would be straightforward: maintain quality, just be patient, and have good backward integration of a very good supply chain. Whenever you have sorted out all these parameters, you should be good.
