Swiss chocolatier Lindt plans to open close to 20 exclusive stores in India over the next two and a half years, with its distribution partner VTC Group leading much of the rollout, VTC Managing Director Akshay Verma said.
“We are mandated to open close to 20 stores in the country in the next two-and-a-half years,” Verma said. “In our territory, north and west, we are scheduled to open 11 stores.”
VTC, which has distributed Lindt products across north and west India for five years, opened the brand’s first Indian retail store in Delhi last month. Spread across roughly 1,100 square feet, it carries more than 500 products, including Lindor chocolate balls in 17 to 18 flavours. That range is expected to grow to 25 Lindor flavours by December, in time for Christmas.
The expansion will begin in Delhi-NCR, followed by Chandigarh and Ahmedabad, subject to finding suitable locations and assessing how the early stores perform. VTC is currently evaluating two sites in Delhi and one each in Gurugram and Noida. Each outlet is expected to cover at least 100 square metres to deliver the brand’s premium retail experience.
Verma was careful not to overpromise. “Each store, when we open it, has to make commercial sense for us,” he said, adding that it is too early to put a number on store economics because larger formats would change the math.
The move into retail builds on VTC’s strength in distribution. The group serves around one lakh stores and handles products for Procter & Gamble, Cello, Fazer, Lindt and Royal Dance, managing everything from order-taking to deliveries, returns and damages. That experience, Verma said, matters for a delicate product like chocolate. “We understand India as a landscape, we understand Lindt as a brand, and we understand the logistics and infrastructure and the cold chain required to handle a sensitive product like Lindt,” he said.
Alongside retail, VTC is growing its hospitality business in Chandigarh and Delhi. It runs five concepts: Tulum, Tin Tin, Tubu, The Back Room and Tremor. Future expansion will focus on Tin Tin, The Back Room and Tremor. The segment currently earns about Rs 40 crore from three established brands, with newer concepts added over the past three months. VTC is targeting Rs 55 to 60 crore in revenue this fiscal year, with the existing business expected to grow 15 to 18 per cent.
The group plans to open seven hospitality outlets over the next year, starting with company-owned, company-operated venues, including a second The Back Room in Delhi. VTC expects store-level returns within two years, though some outlets, such as Tin Tin in Chandigarh, turned positive in their first year.
Funding will come from within. The retail and hospitality investments will be financed through the group’s balance sheet and existing financial institutions, with no external equity at this stage. “We strongly feel that the models we come out with are healthy and financially sound, and currently we have the bandwidth to self-fund them,” Verma said.
He added that VTC does not intend to expand aggressively at the cost of service and quality. The pace of rollout, he said, will depend on store performance and the availability of commercially viable locations.