"Team Effort Contributes to Restaurant's Growth"

In a candid chat with Franchise India, Devika Keer, Marketing Manager, Cafe Mangii, tells us why Café Mangii stands out among other brands and also gives us a peek into the ‘World Pizza Fest’.

 Tell us something about Cafe Mangii. What makes Cafe Mangii different from brands like Pizza Hut and Domino’s?

Cafe Mangii is the brainchild of Prashant Chaudhri, a well-known food enthusiast in the hospitality industry. Owned by Mangii Cafes Pvt. Ltd. and part of the Mirah Group, Café Mangii is the first standalone restaurant in Mumbai to offer wood-fired oven pizzas with a live oven and a value-for-money menu, a premium alternative to the international pizza chains. Our Napolitana pizzas have a huge fan following which gives the restaurant an edge over other Italian eateries in the country. The response we've received for our dine-in and home delivery is simply remarkable. Besides, the authentic Italian fare, quality of service, high food standards and warm ambience makes Cafe Mangii an ideal place for people from all walks of life to enjoy a gourmet Italian meal.

What is the World Pizza Fest all about and what is the motive behind organising such a fest?

The World Pizza Fest Pizza is a celebration of exotic pizzas with flavours from around the world. We have an appetizing World Pizza menu - there's the Big Fat Greek Pizza, The Desi, with a makhani twist, the Kung Fu Hustle, Indonesian Volcano and Singapore Merlion among many others. We also have a Sweet Pizza with fresh fruits for those with a sweet tooth. Cafe Mangii rolls out innovative menus from time to time to give our patrons something unique and exciting apart from our regular offerings.

 Why is team building important? What steps do you take to build a team spirit in your Restaurant to prevent attrition rates?

It is team effort indeed that contributes to the success of a restaurant. Cafe Mangii has a large core team with immense talent. We hire dedicated people from across the country depending on their expertise and our requirement.

To sustain employees, we have team building exercises once a month where the entire team goes out and enjoys an electic mix of work and leisure. The management also takes the team out twice a year on tours, to build strong and friendly ties. We also have weekly meetings in order to address problems and petty issues at the restaurant – another approach to sustainning a strong work force. We hire efficient staff that are experienced and qualified and provide them with good packages. Employees are also given breaks at regular intervals which helps maintain a good work culture.

What aspect did Cafe Mangii consider while selecting a location?

Every restaurateur wants the best location to be successful and hence site selection is a key factor. It is extremely important to get a demographic overview of the area that one is looking at – age, income, households, etc. While selecting our location, we had to devote our time to analyze each prospective site. Several factors like accessibility, convenience, proximity, customer traffic levels, availability of parking and potential competition were taken into consideration before we could finalize the right location for setting up our restaurant.

What marketing strategies have you done to give your restaurant the limelight?

We have carried out a slew of PR, marketing and promotional activities at Café Mangii’s multiple units across Mumbai, Pune, Goa and Bangalore. We have played host to a number of celeb parties and other Page3 events and we have a loyal fan following on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Apart from this, we are constantly in touch with our patrons through seasonal promotions and festive offers introduced from time to time. Currently we have a lot of offers available at Café Mangii, Pizza Mondays, Vodafone Tuesdays, Happy Hours to name a few. We have also enhanced brand visibility with the help of other communication channels like advertising, radio and outdoor media. Our extensive list of services include in-house dining, home deliveries, customized events, private sit down dinners and outdoor catering among many others.

How dependent are you on your suppliers?

Although our furniture, interiors and ingredients for cooking are imported, we do have a lot of local suppliers. We have always maintained a good rapport with them and consider ourselves lucky to have so many distributors available in India with products of high quality and international standards.

Is social media a boon or a bane for you?

Definitely a boon, because when I joined Cafe Mangii we didn’t have much of a fan following. But now, our fans have increased tremendously with over 62,000 people following us on Facebook and Twitter. We have crossed the thousand fan mark thanks to our efforts in brand consciousness and social media marketing.

Do you provide a 24-hour service taking into consideration that Mumbai has nightlife?

Although Mumbai is a city that never sleeps, we are open only from 11.00 am to 1.30 am.

What effort is Cafe Mangii putting in to ‘Go Green’?

We are contributing to the ‘Go Green’ initiative by using recycled products. We believe in saying no to plastic and hence we provide paper bags for our take-away food.