Theobroma is a bakery and patisserie chain that has grown from one store in Mumbai to about 225 outlets across more than 30 cities. In 2025 the investment firm ChrysCapital acquired 90% of the shares for ₹2,410 crore.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Legal name | Theobroma Foods Private Limited |
| Year founded | 2004 |
| Headquarters | Mumbai (Maharashtra) |
| Founder | Kainaz Messman Harchandrai and Tina Wykes (sisters) |
| CEO | Rishi Gour |
| Revenue | ₹574.5 crore (FY2025, year ended March 2025), net profit of ₹22.5 crore. FY2024 was ₹451.6 crore, FY2020 was ₹107.7 crore |
| Number of stores | About 225 stores in more than 30 cities (as of the 2025 acquisition reports). Almost all company-operated |
| Capital | ChrysCapital acquired 90% for ₹2,410 crore (2025). The founding family retains 10%; ICICI Venture exited completely |
The sisters Kainaz Messman Harchandrai and Tina Wykes founded it in 2004 as a small bakery in Mumbai. Revenue grew from ₹107.7 crore in FY2020 to ₹451.6 crore in FY2024 and ₹574.5 crore in FY2025, with net income of ₹22.5 crore secured in FY2025. That is roughly 5.3 times in five years.
Western-style confectionery is a category that has grown in India alongside the expansion of the middle class. The habit of cutting a cake for a birthday or celebration spread outward from cities and came to be used for gifting too. With a high ticket size and a high share of labor cost, it's a business that works with an urban store network.
Its stores are almost all company-owned, a way of keeping quality consistent. This is the opposite design from a format that grows numbers through franchising.
In ChrysCapital's acquisition, ICICI Venture, which had held about 42%, exited entirely. The founding family retains 10%. The acquisition price of ₹2,410 crore is about 4.2 times FY2025 revenue, a high multiple for a restaurant or retail deal in India.
Once an investment firm gets involved, the next question becomes scaling up or going public. How to reconcile the policy of maintaining quality through company ownership with pressure to grow store count becomes the focus.
It carries brownies, cakes, croissants, bread, sandwiches, and cookies. Chocolate brownies in particular are its signature item. The company name Theobroma comes from cacao's scientific name, Theobroma cacao.
As a partner for selling Japanese confectionery and baking technology or ingredients, it meets the conditions of growing and well-funded. Frozen dough, chocolate, and confectionery materials are all candidates for consideration. Since it's mostly company-owned, once a spec is set it can be rolled out across all stores at once, which also makes things easier to move forward.
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