Franchisetopia

Bangalore is growing and people here are making money. When you have more disposable income than your parents, what do you buy? Donuts and ice cream!

Bangalore has The Donut Baker* shops popping up all over. They look like Dunkin' Donuts but in yellow and brown instead of pink. The donuts are fine (buy the raised donuts--the cake donuts are dried out) and not too different from what you would get in the US or Canada. The shops are bright and clean and usually adjacent to another Global Franchise Architects store like Pizza Corner or The Cream and Fudge Factory.

So it's just like home?

The biggest difference you notice is that The Donut Baker--or any American-looking, shiny franchise shop--has a VERY NERVOUS staff who try desperately to fit into the corporate plan. Smile now. SMILE.

When I went to The Cream and Fudge Factory, as I read the menu board, I was offered a laminated plain-text copy of the same menu, handed a glossy printed flier, and received suggestions from the staff about what cone I should have. Instead of the order-scoop-pay process, I had a hovering young woman waiting to take my order. I tried to get one of the fancy cones with chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla, but I was told by the hovering girl and the scooper it wasn't possible (turns out the ice cream was banana and it would remove a critical component from my Cream and Fudge Factory Experience).

After taking my order, the hoverer wrote it down on a carbon copy pad and then told the ice cream scooper/topping mixer the order and told me the price. I started to pay her but realized I needed to pay at the cash register. The girl at the cash register looks at me blankly until the hoverer repeats my order and the price (at no point were any of the written items passed on directly). I pay my 99 Rs and received a register-printed receipt. They tell me I can sit upstairs (in The Donut Baker), too. Meanwhile the scooper and two other employees go off to the side to debate the size of the brownie slice that was to be mixed in my ice cream. I wait 5-7 minutes in the ice cream parlor and then my waffle cone is proudly served in a cone holder with The Cream and Fudge Factory plastic spoons and napkins.

How many people does it take to serve a donut?

After ice cream (which was ok), we went upstairs and bought some donuts. The donut line is semi-self-serve. Someone hands you a tray and some tongs and you pick the donuts off the racks (check out the image gallery) and then you slide down to the cashier who will take your money or hand off your donuts for parcel (what we call "to go" here in India). Employees seem confused, nervous, AND VERY VERY EAGER. It's quite the vibe, since The Donut Baker had FIVE employees to eagerly serve donuts. Not mixing or baking--JUST BEING EAGER. We sat down for five minutes while they placed four donuts in a box and the box in a bag. While we waited, a sixth The Donut Baker employee walked in (and number seven was mopping the stairs outside).

The by-product of all the employees, the boredom, and the nervousness is that people may stare at you to make sure you are having The Appropriate Global Franchise Experience.







* On the site, I'm not sure which phrase is funnier "innovative high quality donuts" or "proprietary dough."