Jul 6, 2022

D2C bakery brand Baker’s Dozen raises $5 million in funding from Fireside Ventures SECTIONS ETtech Rate Story ETtech Aditi Handa and Sneh Jain, founders, Baker's Dozen Direct-to-consumer ( D2C ) bakery brand Baker’s Dozen said it has raised $5 million in funding - a mix of debt and equity - led by Fireside Ventures. The company declined to disclose the valuation. The startup plans to use the money to invest in R&D, hire C-suite level executives, market the brand, expand its distribution network, upgrade the company’s technology, which includes demand forecasting, and expand its bakery capacity to meet the rising demand. Baker’s Dozen cofounder Sneh Jain told ET that the company has seen its sales grow 5 times to Rs 30 crore in FY22 as the company made significant headway online through e-commerce marketplaces such as Amazon and BigBasket, and also through quick c-ommerce companies such as Swiggy . "There was no real national brand especially if you talk about bread and cakes at a higher quality and premium level," said Jain. "You have your and the Modern Breads at the mass level. On the other hand, you only have a local artisan bakery. So, you will have somebody in your area but not beyond that. That is where we felt the gap.” “Our decision to invest in Baker's Dozen is backed by our fund thesis of looking for innovative white spaces within the overall D2C products space,” said Prayag Mohanty, principal, Fireside Ventures. “They bring the packaged version of artisanal bakery products, which is addressing a huge market, backed by technology innovations around processing and packaging.” The company was founded in 2013 by Jain and his wife Aditi Handa, who is the head baker at Baker’s Dozen. The startup produces sourdough bread, cakes, cookies, and crackers from its factory near Ahmedabad in Gujarat. Discover the stories of your interest “I would like to break our journey into two parts - the first part is from 2013 to 2019 when it was about understanding the consumer and expanding our product portfolio. We added cakes, cookies, crackers and built the distribution network,” said Jain. “In the last two years, we scaled with new products and technology.” Jain said the reason behind the 5-times growth was the changes Baker’s Dozen brought to its packaging using a technology called modified atmosphere packaging. It involves altering the atmosphere inside the packet to ensure extended shelf life. It is a common practice in baking across Europe, and Baker’s Dozen is the first to implement the technology in India, claims Jain. This move increased the shelf life of its products from 1-3 days to 2-3 months. Read More News on