Rameshwaram Café in Bengaluru is often seen buzzing on social media, because of the authentic and traditional South Indian flavours the quick service restaurant offers and the audience it attracts. Among celebrities it has drawn are actor Deepika Padukone and MasterChef Australia’s Gary Mehigan. Media reports say the restaurant earns around Rs.4.5 crore a month. The eatery is owned by Raghavendra Rao, the Co-founder & CEO, who is mechanical engineering graduate with over 20 years of experience in the food industry. It is co-owned by Divya Raghavendra Rao, a chartered accountant with a postgraduate degree from IIM Ahmedabad. She also holds the position of Managing Director.
The cafe which works on the franchise model has four outlets in the city. The fifth outlet in Hyderabad is set to open on January 18, 2024. The café serves 3,000 to 4,000 per outlet a day, according to Raghavendra.
“We do a lot of ground work and research before opening the café at a new place. Currently the ground work is happening for the Chennai and Dubai outlets. We are planning to open outlets in Chennai and Dubai in 2024. Once it is done, there are plans to expand Rameshwaram Café to other foreign countries like Singapore, around 2025,” reveals Raghavendra, in a brief chat with Medianews4u.com on the sidelines of Proficorn 2023.
The founders say they receive almost 15,000 to 20,000 franchise requests from across the country and abroad. They choose two from them based on several parameters.
“Though the outlets run on a franchise model, we take care of the entire operations, whether the equipment, manpower, the café design, branding. The company runs on the values and systems we have designed. Among the franchise requests that come in, we make them wait, we understand their patience level. We are not looking for investments, we are looking for the right people to partner with us. The ones who have the same level of understanding and dedication like us,” explains Divya.
While word-of-mouth has ensured the popularity of the brand in Bengaluru, it might resort to advertising as it expands to other cities.
“Currently we don’t spend much for branding activities. But as the business is expanding to other cities, we might explore newspaper and radio as mediums, and of course digital,” she notes.
Though the duo remain tight-lipped about the revenue of the brand, the split between sales at the outlets and food delivery apps is 70:30, reveals Divya.
The founders also plan to bring in custom culinary experiences of the region they are expanding to.
At Proficorn 2023, the husband-wife duo spoke about their journey as entrepreneurs and more.
“I have been in the food industry since 2003, working from local dhabas to star hotels in Chennai and Mumbai. I met Divya through a common friend, as she was a CA and I wanted to do a business analysis of the food business I was into. That later led to the launch of Rameshwaram Café,” said Raghavendra.
According to Divya, the clear understanding on what roles both of them have to play is one of the significant reasons behind the brand’s success.
“We analysed which are the areas we are good at. I was good in finance and accounts and Raghav (Raghavendra Rao) is good at operations, manpower, deciding on recipes. Hence, we decided to focus on our areas of expertise. Even today, we don’t get into each other’s focus areas,” Divya added.
On handling work disagreements, Divya said that the basis of everything is trust.
Non-negotiable Business Practices
“Before opening any outlet, we do detailed research and ground work. We onboard the staff three to four months prior and during this period they are educated on our objectives. We try to understand them and vice versa. They understand our requirements. There is no compromise on the quality of the raw products in the food we prepare. We don’t compromise on the staff salary. I tell them to take whatever salary they want, but make sure to deliver the brand’s requirements.” Raghavendra said.
“I always say that along with the financial growth, also provide them with more responsibilities. If they are able to handle anything more, then pay them more than their expectations,” Divya said.
Speaking on practices to deliver uniformity and quality, Raghavendra said “Irrespective of whichever department the workers are, we pay them the same salary. We try to identify their area of interests, the hard work they put in, we promote them to a higher position. Identifying a person’s potential is very critical for the business. If we take care of them, they will take care of us and the business. It is as simple as that.”
“We get enquiries saying that our company is valued at this amount and they are keen on taking the company shares. We are not behind money. We are here to achieve something and prove to the world the power of South Indian food and Indians. Many brands are behind the valuation game because there are so many investors and after a stage the brand is looking in for external investments. We don’t have that in our module, at the end of the day I work for my husband and he works for me,” Divya said.
Speaking on the vision for Rameshwaram Café, Raghavendra said, “We don’t want to have multiple café outlets, we restrict the numbers. We are opening outlets in Hyderabad which will be restricted to two to three. We are not in the volume game, but are focused on quality and freshness of the food.”
Feedback: [email protected]
