The Chocolate Room to expand retail presence; to open 500 outlets by 2020

Cafe chain The Chocolate Room is looking to raise Rs 100 crore from venture capitalists this year as it eyes doubling its footprint to 500 outlets by 2020.
According to a PTI report: The company, which has 235 outlets across the country, is also planning to open stores outside India by next year through franchise route.
“We are looking at raising Rs 100 crore to fund our expansion. We will also use funds in brand marketing. We have already begun talks to raise funds,” Co- founder and CMD, The Chocolate Room, Chaitanya Kumar told PTI.
Kumar said The Chocolate Room, which reported turnover of Rs 100 crore in the previous fiscal, is eyeing up to Rs 300 crore by fiscal 2020.
Elaborating on expansion, Co-founder and MD, The Chocolate Room, Vikas Punjabi was quoted by PTI as saying: “After opening our first outlet in 2007, we started expansion by opening outlets in Tier II and Tier III cities. Now, our major openings will be in bigger cities.”
At present, 35 per cent of the company’s sales comes from selling chocolates to corporates and customers through its outlets.
The company is also launching its first chocolate factory in Ahmedabad this year with production capacity of 100 tonnes.
“We will also looking at opening factory in Hyderabad at a later stage,” Chaitanya Kumar told PTI.
Going forward, the company also intends to get into retailing chocolates through its outlets and modern trade outlets, Punjabi said.
The Chocolate Room is present across 63 cities like Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Chennai, Gurgaon, Lucknow, New Delhi, Pune, Vijayawada, Vishakhapatnam.