In recent years, India has been one of the countries that have experienced a sudden rise in the number of women entrepreneurs. The Indian government is reportedly bringing more policies to support female entrepreneurs in India. However, a lot of credit goes to the renowned businesswomen, who have been inspiring aspiring entrepreneurs with their journey and success. One such woman is Zonu Reddy, who is the co-founder of Spago Foods.
For the unversed, Zonu Reddy is the one, who bought one of the most famous bakery chains in the United States, Magnolia Bakery, to India. The bakery scene in India is mainly dominated by Mukesh Ambani’s Pret A Manger and Ratan Tata’s Starbucks. With the growing popularity of Magnolia Bakery in India, as per multiple market researchers, there are chances that it can surpass Pret A Manger and Starbucks.
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Apart from these two giants, there are also a series of successful brands in the bakery industry in India. However, despite all the competition, Zonu Reddy invested a huge sum of money and sweat in order to bring Magnolia Bakery to India. Here’s how she managed to do it and what the future holds for her and the famous bakery brand.
The famous businesswoman, Zonu Reddy, is the Co-founder of Spago Foods, which is involved in manufacturing food products and beverages. The company was reportedly founded to bring Magnolia Bakery to India. Well, not much information is provided about Spago Foods on the internet. However, it is reported that it was on May 10, 2018, when Spago Foods was founded and headquartered in Bengaluru. The company is headed by Zonu Reddy and her husband, Nischay Jayeshankar.
Talking about the educational background of Zonu Reddy, she completed her schooling at The International School Bangalore. She graduated from the prestigious University of Berkeley, California. The entrepreneur completed her graduation degree in Molecular and Cellular biology. Soon after graduation, Zonu started working at Zonasha Estates and Projects, where she got a lot of experience in sales and marketing.
In a candid interview with Vogue, Zonu Reddy shared how she has been interested in a series of different sectors so far in her life. While studying molecular and cell biology, there was a time when she wanted to dive deep into the complexities of the human body and get into the healthcare sector. After which, it was her family business in the real estate where she spent some time after completing her college.
It was like a crash course for Zonu Reddy in learning leadership and people skills during her time in the real estate sector. However, after exploring everything, she took inspiration from her mother, who is an exceptional chef and started investing her energy in exploring the bakery world. As of now, she is fully committed to opening more Magnolia Bakery outlets in different parts of India.
One of the most famous bakery chains in the US, Magnolia Bakery was opened for the first time in 1996 at the renowned 401 Bleecker Street. The bakery is renowned for its world-famous banana pudding and red velvet cupcakes that have revolutionised the bakery industry in the US. However, the iconic show, Sex and the City is one of the major factors behind its magnanimous rise across the world.
For the unversed, in one of the episodes of the show, Sex and the City, it was Sarah Jessica Parker’s character, ‘Carrie Bradshaw’, who was savouring a vanilla cupcake with pink vanilla buttercream, which was enough to set the popularity of Magnolia Bakery to a mammoth rise. For years, we have seen Magnolia Bakery featured in a series of movies, which has grown it into a worldwide brand.
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During her time in the US, Zonu Reddy also went to the Magnolia Bakery, and just like most people, she immediately fell in love with its products and items. In an interview with Vogue, Zonu admitted that when she was studying in the US, she used to visit Magnolia Bakery quite often, and once she heard that they were planning to enter the Indian bakery market.
Zonu Reddy further added that Magnolia Bakery was searching for a suitable partner, and it was at that moment that she decided to take her chance. Well, it wasn’t an easy task to convince Magnolia Bakery as their standards were quite high and to find pastry chefs and then train them as per their rules was a complex task. But Zonu’s persistence and hard work convinced Magnolia Bakery to enter the Indian market. She said:
"There were a lot of challenges along the way, the primary one being sourcing quality ingredients. Magnolia Bakery has set standards for each ingredient used, and our goal was to source as many of the ingredients locally as possible. With the help of Magnolia Bakery’s corporate chef from the US, we were able to identify a good mix of local and imported ingredients. Another big task was to build a team of talented pastry chefs and to train them according to Magnolia Bakery standards."
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In an interview with Vogue, Zonu Reddy admitted that she had faced many problems when starting her entrepreneurial journey in India. The famous businesswoman revealed that people used to doubt her just because of her gender and used to ask her whether her father, husband or any male person was in her project with whom they could talk. However, despite facing all the discrimination based on gender, Zonu kept on working on her dreams and succeeded in the end.
In India, the first Magnolia Bakery was opened in Bengaluru back in 2019. After this, it was opened in multiple cities, including Gurugram and Delhi/NCR. While Zonu Reddy’s commitment to making Magnolia Bakery a success in India is known to everyone, only a few know that her husband, Nischay Jayeshankar, has supported his wife.
They founded Spago Foods together and are leading the Magnolia Bakery in different parts of India. They have inspired a series of couple entrepreneurs with their success as a team. We hope in the future, we can see more lovebirds like Zonu and Nischay, who work as a team to achieve their entrepreneurial goals in their lives.
Well, we are in love with the way Zonu Reddy has convinced bakery giants, Magnolia Bakery to come to India. Isn’t it remarkable and simply inspiring? Let us know.
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