21/09/2025
The Theobroma story: Sisters behind ₹3,500 crore bakery eye India’s largest cash exit.
Bakery chain Theobroma is reportedly in the final stages of being acquired at a staggering valuation of ₹3,500 crore. If Theobroma’s proposed deal achieves its target valuation, it could surpass previous records and potentially set a new benchmark for cash exits by founders in India.
Theobroma, today a bakery chain with 225 outlets across India, started as a one-room enterprise by sisters Kainaz Messman Harchandrai and Tina Messman Wykes 20 years ago.
In her 2020 book “The Theobroma Story: Baking a Dream,” Kainaz revealed that the idea of starting her own bakery came after she sustained a back injury while working as a pastry chef at the Oberoi Udaivilas.
Kainaz had the necessary experience for the ‘kitchen’ part of her bakery - she trained at Le Cordon Bleu in London before joining the Oberoi. Moreover, the two sisters had also grown up helping their mother in her small, home-run baking business. The necessary capital of ₹1 crore to launch the business was provided by their father.
“The four of us thought starting a cafe would be more of the same, on a slightly bigger scale but not much different from what we were already doing from home. We didn’t have a business growth plan or any real plan,” Kainaz revealed in her book.
Their first outlet opened on Dussehra 2004 in Mumbai’s Colaba area. The name “Theobroma” was suggested by a friend after the two sisters struggled to name their business.
Theobroma is derived from the Greek words ‘theos’ (god) and ‘broma’ (food). It translates to ‘food of the gods’.