JSM Corporation may bid for Daily Bread

JSM Corporation, a Mumbai-based company which runs a clutch of restaurants and quick service outlets across various cuisines and formats, is understood to be looking to bid for Daily Bread, the gourmet bakery chain owned by India’s largest publicly-owned food company - Britannia Industries.  

The PremjiInvest-backed JSM Corporation is exploring this option as part of its strategy to widen its offerings in India and which will add to its repertoire of offerings ranging from the cult - Hard Rock Cafe to Japanese restaurant Shiro and a handful of other offerings.

While the spokesperson for JSM Corporation could not be reached immediately for comments, Britannia Industries had earlier stated they routinely keep evaluating various opportunities of rationalising/restructuring its business including various divisions.  

Britannia Industries had acquired a majority stake in Daily Bread from a group of investors during mid-2006 and gained full control by 2009.

In addition to a handful of standalone stores, Daily Bread has presence in institutional and modern trade, supplying a range of bakery products to the likes of Cafe Coffee Day, Dominos and KFC.

JSM was started through a partnership between noted restaurateurs Jay Singh, Sanjay Mahtani and Roshini Sanah Jaiswal during 2004, and has since grown in strength and stature.  

In addition to Hard Rock Cafe and Shiro, the JSM portfolio includes California Pizza Kitchen, Trader Vic’s and Pinkberry among others.

JSM Corp is understood to have close to 25 outlets across various international and local brands, and aims to scale up its topline of about Rs 200 crore by about five times in five years.

At the end of 2012,  PremjiInvest, the private equity arm of Azim Premji, had acquired a 22 per cent stake in JSM with an investment of $25 million. The founders together hold 60 per cent in JSM, while the remaining stake is held by other individuals.

According to a recent report from Technopak, the restaurant market is estimated at approximately $ 48 billion in 2013, and is projected to grow to $92 billion by 2020.