Cake house Azzato, a Golden Brand winner, is set to become the largest confectionery network in Georgia after opening three new stores in the capital city Tbilisi this year.
“This year we set ourselves the goal of trying to maximally achieve our potential. We are opening new stores this year, improving the production cycle and introducing new technologies,” said Mamuka Todua, Director of Azzato.
Azzato has been operating on the Georgian market since 2012, offering delicious cakes and desserts with distinguished designs to customers.
As of today Azzato is represented by seven stores in Georgia where customers can find a variety of confectionery products at different prices – starting from just GEL 13.
“Six years ago, when we established our company and opened the first store, Azzato was associated with premium brands working in the high-cost segment. We have maintained the same premium quality, but widened the segment in order to make our products affordable to many,” Todua said.
Made with high quality, 100% natural, European ingredients that are brought from Belgium, France and Italy, Azzato has been making a big impression on customers with its desserts and cakes.
Q. How have the sales statistics increased over the years and who (which segment) are the majority of your customers?
A. Our sales have increased sharply over the last year, which is naturally due to the expansion of the trading network and the introduction of our delivery service in 2018. Also, Azzato cakes have become more popular which led to the increase of sales in the corporate, wedding and children’s segments.
Overall, online orders have become very popular. Customers can order Azzato cakes at our website (www.azzato.ge) as well as via food delivery companies – menu.ge; Wolt; Irisee; and Glovo.
We use social networks, different events and all types of communication to keep in touch with our customers and attract new ones. Azzato has a base of loyal customers who bring in new customers as they share their own experience and recommend Azzato to others.
We also have a very exciting project we are running: we offer master classes to children and let them take home the cakes they have decorated. This makes the children as well as their parents very happy. We are teaching children how to bake and also promoting our confectionery products in this segment at the same time.
As for our customers, the latest research conducted by our company reveals that 70% of our customers are women. In total, 80% of our customers are parents. A total of 1,200 customers participated in the research and the majority of them said that they choose Azzato because of its quality and reliability.
Q. Customers can order cakes for children, weddings or different kinds of events. In which segment are you most popular?
A. The children’s segment is our most in-demand.
We are also trying to be more active in the wedding cakes’ segment and are therefore cooperating with a number of wedding planning companies. In our opinion Azzato offers the fairest prices in this segment and the most beautiful cakes. We have just participated in a wedding exhibition where Azzato cakes made a big impression.
Overall, Azzato offers about 15 sorts of desserts and 20 sorts of cakes as of today.
Q. How are Azzato cakes made? Your cakes are distinguished for their design. How do you ensure the flavour and look of Azzato cakes?
A. Our cakes are made with premium quality raw materials, the main part of which we import from the European Union.
We use the butter ‘President’, ‘Valio’, the highest quality milk products, eggs, Belgian and Italian chocolate, Danish cream and so on. We carefully select all of the brands that we use in production.
From May we are improving the production cycle and introducing new technologies. Invited foreign technologies will participate in this process.
Our customers will certainly have a corresponding reaction to Azzato’s improved taste and design that will make our cakes even more popular.
Q. How fast-growing is the Georgian market? Could you please tell us what challenges your business faces and also what positive developments are noticeable in your segment?
A. The Georgian market is growing quite well, but there is a lack of high quality manufacturing. Of course there are many confectioneries but the majority of them remain small stores that work in specific districts of the city and couldn’t manage to expand their activities.
A company’s growth is also related to its staff and unfortunately today there is a lack of qualified staff in the field of confectionery. I would wish for the market to become more developed in this direction, for more young people to become interested in confectionery and to be trained abroad. This would help the market to become more competitive and diverse overall.
Q. You mentioned the competition. How competitive is the market today and how does Azzato compete with other cake houses?
A. In general, we consider competition to be a healthy situation. We respect our competitors. But it should be noted that very few companies offer confectionery products made with natural ingredients.
We periodically examine the market and gather information about all of the players on the market. So we know what advantages or weakness we have and accordingly constantly try to improve the quality and service at Azzato.
Q. Congratulations on winning the Golden Brand award. This is the first Golden Brand win for Azzato. In your opinion, what encouraged the experts to name Azzato the number one brand in its segment in Georgia?
A. Yes, this was the first time we have been honoured to receive a Golden Brand award. We are really happy about receiving this award because it is a direct reflection of our hard work.
We are so glad that a total of about 2,000 people and 100 experts named us their favourite brand. The organisers conducted really big research, and decided on us, so we are thankful for their work.
In general, Azzato’s priority is that our cakes and desserts are not overly similar to each other, not only in terms of taste but visually too. We manage to combine delicate design with perfect taste, every time.
Along with taste and quality, our priority is the relationship we have established over the years with different companies and media outlets. You can see Azzato represented at many important events. Thanks to such activities Azzato is more than just confectionery manufacturing – it is a result of relationships and cooperation, and the unforgettable experience of highly technical cakes which create such architecture in the field that has never existed in Georgia before.
