The Gourmet Studio – handcrafted edible goodies
A Bachelor’s Degree in Fashion Designing couldn’t keep Chaitali away from her love for baking. This 34-year-old Founder of The Gourmet Studio has been baking for over five years soon after she completed her diploma in Patisserie & Confectionery from ITM IHM.
When did it all begin?
The Gourmet Studio, a boutique patisserie and bakery was launched in 2011, as a gelato parlour which eventually paved its way to making desserts for a new store and brand. While Chaitali did venture out to run her own ice cream and gelato parlour, however she decided to take a back seat when she became a mum.
Being a mum did not stop her from pursuing her dreams and now she bakes from home, and operates purely as an online enterprise. Initially, she started out as the Dessert Studio which then was re-branded as The Gourmet Studio, a healthy and fresh bakery.
Initial investment & branding
“The initial investment was basic baking equipment and tools needed for honing my cooking skills. I also took a year in Confectionary and Patisserie to learn all the skills and techniques. With every passing year with word of mouth, our online pages our company started growing,” explains Chaitali.
The Gourmet Studio is a bakery that stands for health and has the highest quality products. The branding came from the core idea of this brand which is health, delicious desserts and refined taste. The word Gourmet means ‘a connoisseur of good food; a person with a discerning palate’, just like Chaitali.
She further adds, “I am a stickler for perfection that is purely comes from my passion and dedication towards baking. The people relate to this brand because it is healthy and the name resonates with the brand image as well. The Gourmet Studio uses the best ingredients to make delectable products.
Challenges faced
The biggest challenge she faces is the staff. Whenever she hires staff, they tend to be good, learn a few recipes but leave as soon as they find higher paying jobs. What the Gourmet Studio does is trains people to create recipes and great food. Now thus a new policy has been adopted to hire women from NGO’s who work hard and actually need such opportunities to grow. They are more than open to learn and Chaitali is more than happy to teach them.
Major clients
The Gourmet Studio has clients from all around, as everyone loves to eat. There are college students, home makers, television actors like Suchitra Pillai, Shweta Hardik and many more.
“The Gourmet Studio also caters events and holds baking workshops. We cater a lot of different corporate events in Mumbai as well. The Gourmet Studio is located in Juhu, opposite Mithibai College. There are online portals that help us, like Swiggy, Zomato and many more. Gourmet Studios products are just a click away. The Gourmet Studio even does home deliveries all over Mumbai. The health products and hampers have gone all around India to places like Surat, Rajasthan and more,” smiles Chaitali.
What makes The Gourmet Studio so unique?
She explains, “The USP of The Gourmet Studio, is the unique organic ingredients that are used to create the best products. We also work with reasonable pricing so you can have the best organic food at a good price. The ingredients for our products are fresh and very different compared to other brands, we are also very versatile as we have healthy treats and a full dessert menu as well.”
The Gourmet Studio transition to healthy product range
The Gourmet Studio believes in doing both healthy treats and desserts. There is a lot of palettes to satisfy and since Chaitali is passionate about her business, she started making healthy products. There is a lot of variety and that makes The Gourmet Studio very unique and open to all consumers.
Visions & inspiration for The Gourmet Studio
“My vision is to give the best quality products at affordable rates and start our services pan India by the end of the next year. My inspiration has always been Kaizan Maxim of Theobroma. I hope to have my products on shelves various different stores and grow organically yet steadily,” says Chaitali.
The response so far
The process has been arduous but fruitful, the journey has been tough, but everyone rises and The Gourmet Studio has prevailed and been Chaitali’s constant source of happiness. She has worked hard, sent deliveries even with no staff and has run this company from her house and made it what it is today.
Future plans for The Gourmet Studio
“The plan is always to grow, to have our stock in super market and maybe a retail store one day. Right now Gourmet Studio is thriving and hopefully it will continue to do so. Our products are well loved all over and thus we hope to create more exciting things for all consumers,” signs off Chaitali.
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