Mad Over Donuts...seriously

Last week, my sister called me up while returning from work, asking me to get her “Double Trouble”, a popular donut (doughnut) flavor available at the Mad Over Donuts (MOD) outlet near my office. She asked me to buy two donuts after having eaten one at the Juhu outlet the very same evening.

I have seen the MOD outlet several times while going to / returning from my office, but never in my two years have I felt the urge to even visit the orange-colored place to buy anything. You can blame it on my traditional/conservative thinking because I usually stay away from such firangi places which are frequented by the new generation of Indians these days.

Anyway, since the request for donuts had come from my little angel (who is also my life), I finally made it to the MOD outlet that evening for the first time and bought two pieces of Double Trouble. I also bought two espresso coffees which I shared along with my friend accompanying me that day and paid Rs. 185 for all the things. I guess the donuts came for about Rs. 50/- each, which I thought were quite reasonably priced.

The person serving me at the outlet informed that it was a franchisee store; which tinkled the businessman in me. Few days later, I started to research about MOD. And guess what did I find? I found that MOD is not an international brand like Dominos, Mc Donalds, or Pizza Hut, but a home grown one. This came as a real surprise to me since I always thought MOD was an up market (premium) foreign brand.

So, who are the people behind MOD – India’s first donut chain? Well, it all started when a young man named Lokesh Bharwani (probably a sindhi, suggests the surname), who was working in Singapore, thought of an opportunity to serve donuts to Indians. Lokesh roped in Kishi Arora (a beautiful chef) and took the plunge after spending one full year to research and develop the product with a team of food science specialists.

The start may have been slow, since the first MOD outlet opened its doors only in March 2008. The reason could also be that Lokesh wanted to play all his cards right and avoid failure. The gameplan worked and MOD expanded really fast. The company is now present through 35 stores across Delhi, Mumbai and Pune. According to media reports, Mirah Group (owner of Rajdhani and Falafels) was quick to spot the opportunity to invest in the craze for donuts and picked up one-third stake in MOD in 2010.

Now, comes another good piece of information. Last week, I had this guest at my place (an Indian, residing in Dubai) and he happened to visit the neighborhood MOD store yesterday with his friend. While casually chatting up with him last night, we engaged in discussing the donuts served at MOD and what he thought about them. Well, he had an interesting thing to share with me. My friend told me that MOD is costlier than Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Kreme, the international favorites for donuts. Moreover, he said that the donuts served by MOD good, but, not as soft and creamy as the ones he eats at Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Kreme in Dubai. Which means that Lokesh could be generating better profit margins than the international players. Anyway, whatever be the case, I know one thing. Lokesh is presently doing a roaring business and his MOD has a great fan following, including my little princess.

I wish him and Kishi all the luck.