14 June,2026 11:15 AM IST | Mumbai | Nasrin Modak Siddiqi
Rare mushrooms are available a the store. Pics/Atul Kamble
Long before algorithms dictated appetites and grocery aisles became destinations, finding a block of artisanal cheese or a bottle of small-batch olive oil in India often meant bringing it back from abroad. Then came Foodhall. Conceived by Avni Biyani in 2011, with their first store in Palladium, Lower Parel, it transformed grocery shopping into an act of discovery. Its shelves introduced urban India to imported ingredients, emerging artisanal brands, and the idea that food could carry stories of craft, provenance, and place.
Freshness is central to the experience at Foodstories
It closed in 2023 as collateral damage from Future Retail (its parent company's) larger financial collapse. However, it didn't take long for Avni and her sister Ashni to re-enter the market in 2024 with Foodstories, a hybrid of a gourmet grocery, café, food-education space, and lifestyle destination. Their focus is on imported and Indian artisanal foods, speciality cheeses, single-origin chocolate, estate coffees, curated produce, experiential retail and tastings, and storytelling around ingredients and makers, in line with what Eataly does in Italy or Whole Foods Market does in the US.
Cheese station
Ashni tells us, "Foodstories was born from a simple observation: the way people consume food has fundamentally changed. Post-pandemic, consumers became more curious, informed, and intentional. Food is no longer just about what we eat; it's about discovery, culture, travel, wellness, and connection. Today, people don't just want to buy a product. They want to know its story. Travel too has become increasingly food-led, and many of us want to recreate those experiences at home. Food has become a way of expressing identity and aspiration."
Spice library
Ashni adds, "India has an incredible food ecosystem, rich in produce, craftsmanship, and innovation, and we wanted to create a space where these stories could be discovered and shared. We launched our first store in Delhi in 2024, followed by Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Mumbai took time because we wanted to learn, evolve, and refine the concept. What you see here today is a more mature version of Foodstories, shaped by everything we've learned along the way. Mumbai also feels like a homecoming for us, and there's no better city to build a brand that is so deeply rooted in food culture."
Live atta station
At the Bandra store at Broadway, you are welcomed by the aroma of fresh bakes from That Bake Shop, led by Chef Dean Rodrigues. There's a list of fresh batch with timings mentioned on the board throughout the day. You can pick what you like and pair it with beverages from That Bev Bar, focused on hydration and caffeination. Or just order food from That Grocery Café, which brings ingredient stories from shelf to plate.
Sister Ashni (pictured above) and Avni Biyani launched Foodstories to build communities around emerging food trends and tell the India story
Curation sits at the heart of everything here. "Beyond great products and beautiful packaging, we're interested in the intention behind a brand: why it exists, who makes it, and the passion that drives it. If it's something we would serve at our own family table, it deserves a place on our shelves. Today's consumers are also more mindful about what they eat. Whether it's plant-based products, refined sugar-free alternatives, functional foods, or fresh, minimally processed ingredients, people are seeking choices that align with their lifestyles. We see freshness as the future, and that's reflected across our cheeses, dips, baked goods, and other in-house creations," she adds.
Ashni knows that compared to the Foodhall era, the biggest shift is that discovery now happens digitally. Consumers expect personalised experiences, and one-size-fits-all retail no longer works. "That's why we're building a seamless physical-and-digital ecosystem, combining experiential stores with a technology platform that enables customers to access Foodstories wherever they are," she adds.
Looking ahead, the sisters are focused on three areas: deepening their digital capabilities, creating new food categories, and continuing to build communities around emerging trends, from functional wellness and protein-rich foods to premium waters and fresh produce. "The goal is simple: to make food discovery more meaningful, accessible, and enjoyable for all," Ashni signs off.
Trending globally, a grocery rave is an experiential retail format that combines elements of a food festival, tasting event, educational workshop, and a music-driven social gathering inside a grocery store or food hall. The concept first gained traction in cities like London, New York, and Berlin, where younger consumers began treating supermarkets and speciality food stores as cultural spaces rather than purely transactional ones. Think DJs spinning between produce aisles, natural wine tastings, coffee cuppings, maker demonstrations, workshops, and sampling stations happening simultaneously.
At Foodstories, the first grocery rave happened at the Bengaluru store. The DJ was stationed at the cash counter and the focus was on discovery, with water tastings, apple pairings, hot sauce and honey workshops, matcha demonstrations, and conversations with makers unfolding across the store. There was a flavour passport that helped guests move between immersive experiences before converging around the central stage, where the evening transitioned into a lively celebration of food, culture, and community.
