Pecans will go in for sure. Should I add some caramelised white chocolate as well? As I mulled over the endless possibilities that lay spread out in front of me, with tempting toppings such as raspberry jelly and pistachio fudge, I glanced around and saw a few others like me, happily focussed on customising and making their chocolate bar come alive with flavour profiles of their choice.
Talk about being kids at a candy store! Literally that, because we were at the ‘Make Your Own Tablet’ station at Manam Chocolate’s newly-opened experience centre in Delhi, being encouraged by its founder Chaitanya Muppala to get creative with our customisation. It was a multi-sensory and immersive experience, one which engaged all my senses as I took in the aroma of the chocolate, sprinkled the toppings of my choosing and finally, tasted the fruits of my labour. If the brand wanted me to engage with the craft chocolate experience, it did so successfully, leaving in its wake a happy customer.
In a world where retail experiences are increasingly being reduced to choices being shown on the screen and purchases made with the click of a button, brick and mortar shops have realised that the responsibility of luring the customer back into their spaces lies with them. This is where narrative storytelling, interactive participation, and multi-sensory engagement come into play – especially, in the food and beverage space.
Beyond digital
Pritha Thadani, the co-founder of Please See, a creative agency specialising in building brands through strategy, design, packaging and marketing, is of the opinion that in today’s digital world, the idea of retail has become quite focussed or narrow. “I can look through an entire aisle of clothes or footwear or cereals with one search button, versus actually walking through a store, having a conversation with someone who understands and feeling the product in my hands. There’s no serendipity left in discovery,” she says.
Her creative agency works closely with brands to create experiences, which she believes, brings the consumer back at the centre of decision-making. “The only way to do that is to really build experiences and to make you feel from your perspective,” she says. At the Parsi Dairy Farm in Mumbai, they organised a summer fiesta for the visitors, turning the store in a mini-fair-like scenario. With the premium food store Foodstories, they helped conduct a 10-seater masterclass for visitors to engage directly with the chefs on-board and create dishes using products from the store.
Building connections
Across the spectrum of F&B retail spaces, the one thing that most owners believe is that the customer is looking for an experience to call their own. “We are trying to create that ownership for those discoverers and that’s where experiences come in. Experiences also give dimensionality,” shares Muppala. At the Delhi experience centre, live feed from the cacao farms and fermentery in West Godavari and the Manam Chocolate Karkhana in Hyderabad keep the customer engaged in the origins of the chocolate and the brand’s storytelling.
Chocolate profiling workshops help deepen the visitor’s understanding of craft chocolate. Post pandemic, Muppala believes that people have realised the value of time well spent. He adds, “Now one has to give them more than just a good quality product. Also, we have the story and it’s authentic. This product has gone through a huge amount of complexity and community building to reach here. So why not sell it in creative and impressive ways?”
Gunjan Shrivastava, who launched Mumbai’s Saffron & MISHRI this year, seconds his opinion. “Whenever a customer arrives at our store, they are craving connection, context, and meaning behind every box of sweets they purchase. And honestly, what better way to give it to them than through the incredible stories attached to these mithais and passed down to us from generations?” she opines. At their Mahalaxmi Experience Centre, they have, so far, hosted eight sessions of ‘Make Your Own Memories’ workshop – a hands-on mithai-making experience for the consumer. “People might walk in thinking it is a demo, but they leave with an experience that is immersive, nourishing, and helps restore the pride and deeper appreciation for our sweets. From little children to families to corporate groups, everyone leaves the experience feeling deeply nostalgic, with a revived sense of connection with our sweets,” she adds.
At Jaipur’s Coffee Sutra, the brand often holds masterclasses at its various outlets, taking the participants through the bean-to-cup process. Participants get to smell different aroma profiles and identify flavour notes, encouraging them to understand coffee’s complexity in fun and insightful ways. Some brands engage the customer in indirect ways, with community building being the focus. So, Bombay Sweet Shop holds a monthly gathering for vinyl collectors called Vinyl Open House and conducts heritage walk tours with architect Nikhil Mahashur at its Kala Ghoda outlet, and hosts Blockbuster Sweet Shop, an intimate, ticketed movie night at its Oshiwara outpost.
Getting personal
Not every brand has the luxury of a brick-and-mortar establishment, but that does not mean they don’t have a story to tell. In fact, in their case, it becomes even more imperative to form a connection with the consumer which goes beyond selling their product. The Mumbai-based artisanal cheese house The Spotted Cow Fromagerie, for instance, may not have a store yet, but their CEO Tarini Gupta shares that it has not stopped them from reaching out and engaging with their customers – present and potential – in different ways. “Our customers form the crème of the society but there is a large market out there who are getting exposed to artisanal products and want to consume them on a regular basis. We get a large number of queries every day about our cheeses and how to use them,” she states.
Gupta believes it is really hard to grow the market for artisanal products unless there are customer activities and engagement. In order to do so, they engage in pop-ups and workshops in the stores they retail from. Recently, they collaborated with a snacking brand to conduct a salad-making workshop at a popular Delhi restaurant. “The idea is to engage with the consumer directly and to have the personal touch. Only then will your brand stand out from the rest,” she says.
The last word probably belongs to Thadani, who adds that memories are built when one uses all their senses. “Brands are almost inanimate. It is when they bring in these experiences, emotions and desires – which are sensorial – that they create memories for the consumer,” she says.