A trip to Balaram Mullick & Radharaman Mullick is incomplete without binging on hot, crispy phoolkopi singara that has the perfect aloo filling inside, and ending with Baked Rosogolla. This has been a personal ritual for years, but on my recent trip to the sweet shop, I tried the Narkel Singara with no aloo in it! “Eta try koro! This is our new invention, I got inspired by a tribal community, it’s made with coconut!” said a super excited Sudip Mullick, director of Balaram Mullick & Radharman Mullick, with a child-like glimmer in his eyes. “I always get excited to experiment with something and I make my father and my staff try them. If they don’t like it, we do not go ahead with it, because we need to like something ourselves before offering our guests,” said Sudip, whom we caught up with for a quick chat on focusing on retail, embracing new technologies and expansion plans. Excerpts.
We recently saw your post on social media where you posted about using electric cars for delivery. As a brand Balaram Mullick and Radharaman Mullick have been very environment conscious...
Yes! We were the first to introduce biodegradable bags in Calcutta and now we are super excited to include electric Tata Ace to our fleet, a first for Calcutta too. As a brand we are extremely committed towards the environment.
The shop was established in 1885... what prompted you to join the business?
You will not believe, our first shop was a tiny space on the road, next to a cobbler’s shop and now with the love shown to us, we have expanded so much. My role model is my father. At the age of almost 67, he works tirelessly day and night without any major entertainment in his life. His main source of satisfaction comes from his work in this business. Seeing his unwavering dedication and involvement in the business every single day, 365 days of the year, motivates me to work even harder and aim to surpass his accomplishments. I always wanted to be an industrialist. In 2003 I joined the company, I wanted the working environment more updated and posh. After studying at IHM Bhubaneswar and training at The Oberoi Grand I always wanted to do new things. My primary role is to coordinate and oversee the expansion of the company, which involves marketing, planning for production, implementing new technologies, changing packaging, and identifying new opportunities and more.
The flagship store on 3 Paddapukur Road. “Renovating our entire store and transforming it into a Balaram House over the past two years was a major achievement,” said Sudip
What inspires you?
International patisseries, the way they do up the store and present, the look and feel inspire me. Like if you see our stores we have an old-world heritage look and feel, architecture-wise. Japan’s packaging techniques and technology have been inspiring too. But if there is one person who keeps inspiring me with his personality and work, it is Shah Rukh Khan. In Chennai Express when he said “Don’t underestimate the power of… halwai”…I was the happiest. Then his shiddhat dailogue in Om Shanti Om has been inspiring! The day I got to know he had got sweets from our shop I was the happiest person. He didn’t get off the car but everyone knew he was inside it.
What is your focus for the brand?
My goal now is to take Balaram Mullick to the next level by rebranding it as a lifestyle store rather than just a sweet shop. I want to give it a more international appeal by revamping the packaging, PR, and marketing strategies to align with this new direction. By doing so, I hope to attract a wider audience and elevate Balaram Mullick’s status as a high-end brand that offers not just sweets, but a unique lifestyle experience.
What about expansion plans?
We currently have 15 stores in Calcutta, and we plan to open five more, bringing the total to 20 stores. Our growth has been slow and organic, with only 20 stores opened in the last 20 years. For the time being I want the brand to be in Calcutta only, I might make a lot of money if I am in Delhi and Mumbai but if I open there and when people come to Calcutta, they will say yeh Delhi/Mumbai mein bhi hai, so koi local dukaan leke chalo and it will lose its novelty. We definitely aim to go out of the country... in Dubai, London and so on.
Our next step is to expand our business by distributing Bengali sweets such as Baked Rosogolla and sandesh throughout India and eventually worldwide. By improving our packaging and utilising innovative technology, we aim to increase the shelf life to three months or more, thereby expanding our customer base and meeting the growing demand for our products.
I am actively seeking new packaging solutions and have engaged with various companies in Japan, from where we have bought many equipment that make work fast and perfect. By collaborating with these companies, we are committed to breaking new ground in packaging solutions. For example we have a machine that peels 50kg potatoes in three minutes, takes less than five minutes to knead that would previously take a long long time.
Our Jol Bhora is also done in the machine with the perfect filling and shape.
The main focus of our brand is to always prioritise quality while also fostering innovation, all while preserving the rich tradition of Bengali sweets, including treasuring old, lost recipes and technology that if used properly can aid this perfectly.
A glimpse of the extensive packaged snacks and savoury section. They also have a bakery section serving eggless cakes!
Does machine-made sweets or items like kachori feel different in taste?
As a brand and a person, I would never compromise the taste of anything. We never change recipes of any of our sweets.
Is there any traditional method of sweet making that the brand follows till date?
Absolutely! I want to archive or bring back forgotten recipes and methods. Example, when we make Kacha Paak, oi paak ta ekhono haate kore kather taru diye (long wooden spatula) dewa hoi. Even if the order is for 500kg we will still do it with hands. Same for Ice Cream Sandesh, it’s all hand-made.
Over the years, have you noticed any change in consumption pattern?
Mishti is an addiction. Everyone wants to have it but some people refrain due to health factor but then eventually most give in. Individual consumption might have reduced a bit but gifting has gone up by several notches. The tradition of visiting one with a packet of sweets is still on. So the demand for sweets has gone up too and every sweet store is flourishing. I am happy that everyone is doing well; I just want to do better. The competition we have in Calcutta of sweet shops is unbeatable. Traditional sweets are always a hit but we do have some customers who look for something “different”; for them we have got a lot of Western-inspired items like souffle, madeleines and so on.
Spread across 11,000sqft, the Howrah factory is where milk is processed into channa. “I call this cheese factory. We make Rosogolla, Son Papdi and Misthi Doi,” said Sudip
How do you aim to stay unique?
Every season I try to give something different. Bangalir notun er chahida kome na... they will always be open-minded to try something new. Example, our Daab Sandesh we could have done a general one but I wanted it to be as real as daab, so after a lot of experiments we made the chhana granules smoother, and made a daab jelly that we put so that when one bites into it, they feel they are having the real malai.
Then, no one in Calcutta can beat our packaging. We will have everything pre-packed and kept on the shelf and in five minutes one can pick and go out. We have started stocking up on packaged savouries of various kinds like roasted snacks, but we want to amp that up. Through delivery I want our products to reach everywhere. I have seen some ultra-modern packaging machines in Germany, which I liked. If all goes well, we will have sandesh, baked sandesh or kacha paak er sandesh with a shelf life of six months without using any preservatives! We want to start making ice cream but only Bengali flavours like Himsagar Aam, Mishti Doi, Dilkhush Sandesh and Nolen Gur.
