Ben's Cookies, the premium cookie brand from Oxford, England, opened its first store in Gurugram (Gurugram), India, at Ambience Mall in June 2026. The operator is DS Group, a major Indian food conglomerate, which is bringing the UK's freshly baked cookie culture to India's affluent urban centers under a master franchise agreement spanning more than ten years. Why has a foreign dessert brand built around "chunks, not chips" chosen a premium NCR (National Capital Region) mall right now? This is a move that Japanese food, restaurant, and franchise professionals considering store openings in India, local partner selection, and premium food pricing should not overlook.
Ben's Cookies opened its first Gurugram store inside Ambience Mall, using a "bakery-first" store format that bakes throughout the day in an in-store oven. This is not the brand's first entry into India; it had already opened its first store in New Delhi, so this Gurugram location is not "India's first" but rather "a first for the city of Gurugram." Getting this distinction wrong leads to a misreading of the store-opening strategy discussed below.
DS Group, the operating partner, has become Ben's Cookies' exclusive franchisee through DS Retail India, and has set a target of opening 8 to 10 stores within the current fiscal year. In the short term, it plans to concentrate 6 to 7 stores in Delhi and Mumbai between June and July, and in the medium term, expand to high-growth cities such as Bengaluru, Kolkata, Pune, Chennai, and Hyderabad.
Ben's Cookies is a brand created by food writer Helge Rubinstein, who opened the first store at Oxford's Covered Market in 1984. Its defining feature is mixing chunks of Belgian chocolate, rather than chopped chocolate chips, into the dough. Using fresh butter and eggs and baking in an oven at the store — this "freshly baked, ingredient-focused" approach draws a clear line between it and mass-produced packaged sweets.
So why Gurugram? Gurugram is an emerging business city near Delhi where multinational corporate offices are concentrated, and Ambience Mall is a premium commercial facility within it that draws in international brands. Arjun Gehlot, a director of Ambience Group, which operates the mall, explains that bringing in Ben's Cookies "fits with our policy of delivering the best international concepts to our visitors." In other words, for a foreign dessert brand, Gurugram is a showcase location that combines "affluent foot traffic" with "a venue that gathers international brands."
As far as can be confirmed from public information, Ben's Cookies' prices in India start at around 325 rupees per cookie (roughly the mid-$3 range) and gift packs start at around 1,500 rupees. This pricing targets corporate gifting, impulse purchases, and the "mass premium" (affordable luxury) segment.
As market context, several reports cite India's cookie market at around $1.3 billion as of 2024, expanding to around $2.3 billion by 2033. In addition to physical stores, the brand is reported to be planning to work with delivery and quick commerce services such as Swiggy and Zomato. The investment amount for the store openings itself has not been disclosed, so we will not speculate on unverified figures.
Sanskriti Gupta, who leads Ben's Cookies' India business, positions this entry as a move "to fill the structural gap between mass-produced packaged snacks and premium in-store baked goods" (paraphrased). The view is that while India's cheap packaged biscuit market is huge, the premium "freshly baked" tier above it has been underserved.
A representative of the brand emphasizes the "bakery-first" format, which places an actual oven in store, and the use of real chocolate chunks and fresh butter, as points of difference from other packaged sweets (paraphrased). In product development, alongside staples like milk chocolate chunk and macadamia and white chocolate, the brand has also prepared egg-free items to match India's strongly vegetarian-leaning food culture (paraphrased).
The mall's reaction is also favorable, with Ambience Group viewing Ben's Cookies as a store opening consistent with its policy of attracting international brands. This reflects a picture in which commercial facilities, too, welcome rising demand for premium desserts as a reason for visitors to come.
This is the heart of the article. Ben's Cookies' move offers a repeatable "template" for Japanese companies looking to bring a food brand into India.
First, the model of appointing a major local FMCG company as master franchisee. Rather than building its own multi-store network, Ben's Cookies entrusted more than ten years of exclusive operation to DS Group, a food conglomerate. In India, business practices, regulations, and logistics are fragmented state by state, making it heavy for a foreign company to run site negotiations, cold chain, and hiring on its own. If Japanese wagashi, Western confectionery, or bakery brands are targeting India, the first lesson is to design "who will run operations" before "opening a store yourself."
Second, a location strategy that uses a premium mall as the first showcase. India's first store was in New Delhi, followed by Ambience Mall in Gurugram — both venues with heavy affluent foot traffic where international brands line up. For premium-tier food, "where you sell" defines brand perception itself. If a Japanese brand gets lost among discount shelves locally, its quality and story will not come through. In the launch phase, rather than chasing store count, an approach that uses a handful of symbolic stores to let customers experience "why it is premium" tends to work.
Third, product design that targets the "gap" between mass-produced sweets and handmade premium confectionery. Ben's Cookies is targeting the underserved tier sitting above the huge packaged snack market. The "freshly baked," "ingredient-focused," and "meticulous craftsmanship" qualities of Japanese food are assets that can strike directly at this gap. That said, localization is essential, just as Ben's Cookies immediately prepared egg-free items. Japanese brands should build in vegetarian options, adjustments to sweetness and texture for Indian tastes, and optimization for gift demand (weddings, festivals, corporate gifting) from day one of their entry plan.
Ben's Cookies' entry can be read as a sign that foreign companies are starting to commit seriously to India's "freshly baked premium dessert" tier. Cookie and bakery competitors are already increasing in Delhi and Mumbai, connecting to the related theme of a "cookie war in Delhi." If large domestic players like DS Group continue taking on the operation of foreign brands, the ecosystem for premium baked goods — pulling in local commercial facilities, delivery networks, and gift commerce — will keep gaining depth. For Japanese food brands, whether they can secure a "local partner" and a "symbolic location" before competition intensifies will determine how much room remains to enter.
Store: Ben's Cookies Gurugram (inside Ambience Mall). Operated by DS Retail India (DS Group). Products include the signature chocolate chunk range plus egg-free items and gift packs, with delivery partnerships (Swiggy, Zomato, etc.) also planned. Prices start at around 325 rupees per cookie and around 1,500 rupees for gift packs. Going forward, the plan is 8 to 10 stores this fiscal year centered on Delhi and Mumbai, expanding in the medium term to Bengaluru, Kolkata, Pune, Chennai, and Hyderabad.
Ben's Cookies, from Oxford, England, has opened its first store in the city of Gurugram — and behind this single fact lies a repeatable entry pattern for foreign dessert brands: "entrust operations to a major local FMCG company under a master franchise," "use a premium mall as a showcase," and "target the underserved premium tier above mass-produced sweets while localizing." For Japanese companies looking to grow a food brand in India, the first question to ask is not "which product to launch" but "who to start with, and where." Ben's Cookies' opening move teaches us that order.
No. The brand's entry into India itself came first in New Delhi; the Gurugram store is positioned as "the first store for the city of Gurugram."
DS Group (DS Retail India), an Indian food conglomerate, operates it under a master franchise agreement spanning more than ten years.
It is a slogan expressing the brand's method and philosophy of mixing chocolate "chunks" into the dough rather than chopped chocolate chips.
[Sources]
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