Au Bon Pain on expansion mode; to open 55 cafes in 18 mths

RP-Sanjiv Goenka group's cafe bakery chain Au Bon Pain is embarking on a major expansion drive, planning to open 55 cafes across the country over the next 18 months.
"We had announced expansion last year, but we later decided to focus on meeting customers' expectations first. We now we are ready for a take-off," Au Bon Pain founder Avarna Jain said here today.
Jain is the daughter of RP-Sanjiv Goenka group chairman Sanjiv Goenka.
At present, it has 20 outlets in Bengaluru, four in NCR and three in Kolkata.
Hyderabad and Chennai will feature in the expansion drive besides adding to existing outlets in Kolkata and the Delhi region, Jain said, adding, Ballygunge, New Alipore and Alipore will have new Au Bon Pain cafe restaurants.

The chain with turnover of Rs 17 crore has now realigned its strategy like localising menus and leveraging the franchisee route to expand.
The company is aiming an increased turnover of Rs 24 crore by the end of the current fiscal.
"We are already localising the menus, on Bengali New Year we have introduced baked chicken wings, cucumber lemonade, sparkling nutty espresso and a few more," Jain said.