CHENNAI: With the aroma of ghee wafting through the air and enticing us, a trip to the Mittai Kadai is a memorable one. Scanning the rows of treats, one must carefully choose sweets, and surrender to the inevitable fight over the last crumbly piece of this treat. Celebrations are complete without indulging in these goodies or trading boxes of snacks, especially Deepavali. From the silver-foiled kaju barfi, and sumptuous laddus, to rich flaky badusha, the options are endless.
In Chennai’s culinary tapestry, there are a mere handful of North Indian sweet shops that customers frequent and swear by. A crowd favourite on this list is Sree Gupta Bhavan (SGB), which gradually garnered its reputation of being the go-to option over the years for those with a sweet tooth, those craving savouries, and chaat lovers.
Taste-ing new waters
In 1985, an ambitious Ramesh Agarwaal embarked on a 2,000-km-long journey from Mathura to Chennai. Originally from a family that ran a sweet shop, the businessman set up his sundal cart that served jalebis, gulab jamuns, and samosas to ravenous passersby, on the streets of St Thomas Mount.
Armed with his grandmother’s secret sweet recipes, Ramesh brought a northern twist to sweets in south India and hoped to venture into the sweet business. “We started our life from the sundal vandi. During marriage functions, our father would make sweets there and from that, he wanted to start a sweets kadai and the first outlet was open on November 21, 1987, in Tambaram. He would often say ‘Don’t compromise on the quality. Quality is your life’ we learned this from him,” says Tapan Agarwaal, director of Sree Gupta Sweets.
Ramesh’s grit and drive to succeed in business was passed on to other members of the Agarwaal family. As a child, Tapan recalls curiously examining a sweet shop spilling with customers. “I would watch as that shop was always crowded and think about how they brought people inside. There is the drive to succeed, but without customer support, there wouldn’t be growth,” he says.
Cut to 2023, Sree Gupta Bhavan has 25 outlets dotting the cityscape, with over 100+ sweet varieties. “We introduced Bengali sweets, like rasagulla, here for the first time. We have the maximum variety of sweets in Chennai, which you can’t see in any other outlet or any other branch,” claims Manish Agarwaal, director. Their popular items include the buttery Baby Ghee Laddu, and their recently-introduced 15-20 varieties of the popular Turkish favourite, baklava, and chocolate-fusion sweets.
To tackle new markets and rope in new customers, the company introduced chaat onto their menu in 1994, and a restaurant in 2007. “At that time, there was not a proper North Indian restaurant, so we introduced it. We presently have a multi-cuisine restaurant that serves a few Chinese and North Indian varieties, as well as pasta and sandwiches,” says Manish.
Of patrons and possibilities
Over the years, as the world evolved, customers’ tastes too have altered and businesses are facing the ongoing challenge of catering to them. “Customers like fusion sweets. Only during festivals do they go for traditional sweets. Otherwise, the present generation wants something new. So keeping that in mind, we are launching new varieties of sweets,” he says. The health-conscious current generation also leans towards cutting back on sugar, and opt for dry fruit sweets. The drive to serve customers got them through the pandemic as well.
Just like most companies, Sree Gupta Bhavan, too, grappled with its set of challenges and roadblocks. Resorting to packaging sweets at home and in community societies, they directly delivered orders to customers amid a staff crunch. Now as the business slowly is reviving and recovering, the directors are back at the drawing board, charting new growth strategies. As Manish and Sanjay Kumar Agarwaal, managing director, share, they hope to expand their business abroad, focus on digital marketing, and launch a new brand for artisanal sweets. Soon, the crowd at Kancheepuram, too, can shop at SGB after a new outlet opens there in December.
As they inch towards their 36th anniversary, they have learned several lessons from being in the business. Addressing those interested in starting their own sweet business, Sanjay says, “The sweet business is critical and traditional. In the restaurant business, you can manage but in this line, raw material, consistency, and quality are important. After this, staff and labour are involved in the creation. Quality is important, otherwise it will be very hard to grow.” Echoing these thoughts, Manish urges youngsters to start small with franchises and then take on the sweet business world.
As frenzied crowds return to branches of Sree Gupta Bhavan, assortments of sweets, namkeen, and newly-introduced treats await them. For the many festivals long gone and the ones yet to come, Manish says, their motto of quality and hygiene will continue to infuse their growth and menu.