Shrey Aggarwal completed his Engineering Degree at Carnegie Mellon University and a diploma in business management from Stanford University in the US.
Shrey started The Belgian Waffle Co. in June 2015 with a vision to be a waffle brand recognized across India, known for its dessert offerings.
Today The Belgian Waffle Co has more than 180 outlets across 45+ cities in India and with a global footprint in Nepal and Dubai. Excerpts from an email interview:
What led you to start The Belgian Waffle Co.?
While in Manila, I discovered the ease and comfort of quick-service kiosks that used to serve fresh waffles at almost every public place.
Their tantalising aroma would prompt me to get one, even if I wasn’t feeling hungry.
This made me realise the immense potential of such an idea in India where the foodie palate runs deep.
Combined with the concept designed by us to make waffles a mess-free experience helped give BWC the boost it needed to take off.
What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?
The biggest challenge as an entrepreneur has to be – finding manpower.
Finding and recruiting loyal and committed employees who truly buy into their vision and can maintain the level of hospitality, service, and quality that they associate with their brand is always the biggest challenge.
“We are learning every day. This industry will always tend to have its share of challenges when it comes to maintaining the right service standards, quality, recruiting the right personnel, but so far we have managed to survive,”
How competitive is this market?
There is definitely a lot of competition in the Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) industry with more brands coming in and more local entrepreneur venturing.
However, it is still an unorganized industry and I feel there is a lot of scope. With the size of our market and audience, there will always be room for variety and new offerings that provide quality and consistency.
How many outlets are you planning to open in the near future in India?
As a team, we have been able to keep up with the fast pace that we are growing with.
Our current turn over in terms of revenue sales is around 25,000 waffles every day and by next year, we hope to see it double as we plan to add 15 outlets every month.
Any suggestion for upcoming brands in the QSR segment?
Keep it simple. Make the entire operation as process oriented and simple as possible and drive SOP’s (Standard Operating Procedures) down to the lowest level.
Make sure the model is designed to be uncomplicated and easy to replicate right from its conception and make all decisions on purchasing, recipes, ingredients and partnerships by considering the implications on scale.
