Kahini Chakraborty – Mumbai
Mumbai-based Thomson & Thomson, a 14 year old company engaged in manufacturing and supplying commercial kitchen solutions, is aggressively investing in technological advancements in its products.
The company has started importing products such as ice cubers, dishwashers, combi ovens and food processors. Ashok Shetty, managing director, Thomson & Thomson, informed, “We have recently specialised in supplying bakery deck ovens, and are developing convection ovens, sandwich grillers, dough kneaders and refrigeration solution products. We are also working on supplying walk-in refrigeration (cold rooms), as very few companies are into this space like Celfrost and Blue Star.”
The company has seen a business growth of 25-30 per cent in 2015. It has also started supplying Rational Live Cooking (RCL) products. “Presently, we have started working with many restaurant chains like Kailash Parbhat, Spencer outlets, Ginger Hotels, SK Restaurants in Borivali, Mumbai. We recently bagged a huge order from SEBI through a tender process.”
Opining on the demand and supply dynamics of the market, Shetty said, “Initially owners would buy imported equipments as there were very few Indian companies supplying such commercial kitchen equipment products. But now the market has grown and many companies have been developing and supplying products. This sector is unorganised as the equipment supplied is not in standard formats. Based on the equipment size you generally design the kitchen, but when it comes to Indians they design the kitchen first and then give it to the supplier to fix the equipments which could vary in sizes. Hence each project becomes different, and this is a main reason why we cannot go in for mass production.”