Gourmet Foods

Gourmet Foods is a Pakistani food and beverage brand and retail group headquartered in Lahore. Its business grew from a small confectionery shop into a broad food operation with bakery, sweets, packaged-food and beverage activities, supported by multiple processing units and an extensive outlet network. The company was founded by Muhammad Nawaz Chattha, who opened the original shop on 10 September 1987 in Gulshan-e-Ravi, Lahore. Chattha came from Kookan Wala, a village near the Hafizabad area of Gujranwala division, and the business subsequently expanded beyond its original confectionery format. The brand's best-known activities are associated with bakery and confectionery retail. Gourmet Bakery and Gourmet Sweets form important parts of its consumer-facing offer, while Gourmet Soft Drink, including Gourmet Cola, represents its move into packaged beverages. The group operates seven processing units across Pakistan and has built a large store network, particularly in Lahore, where it has more than 100 outlets according to the cited reference material. Its Pakistani presence extends to cities and towns including Hafizabad, Dera Ismail Khan, Sargodha, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Wazirabad, Chakwal, Gujrat, Layyah, Jalalpur Jattan, Sheikhupura, Sahiwal, Bahawalpur and Yazman. The reference material also identifies international outlets in London and New York City. Gourmet Foods has operated as part of a wider business group rather than as a narrowly focused bakery chain. The group has invested in sectors including magazine publishing, furnishing and pharmaceuticals, and it reportedly holds a 12 percent stake in Silkbank. Its diversification into media became particularly visible in 2018, when it launched GNN, a news channel created through the rebranding of the previously existing Jaag TV network. The group had acquired Jaag TV, formerly known as CNBC Pakistan, in 2016 for Rs. 1.5 billion, according to the cited Wikipedia reference. The brand's market proposition is based on accessible, locally produced food and beverage products combined with a dense branded-store footprint. Its retail model allows customers to buy bakery goods, sweets, beverages and related food items through outlets carrying a common Gourmet identity, while its processing infrastructure supports distribution beyond individual shops. Publicly available reference material provides limited information about current corporate ownership, leadership beyond the founder, financial performance, formal legal structure and present international scale. Those areas therefore remain unconfirmed in this dossier.

Gourmet Foods began in Lahore in 1987. Muhammad Nawaz Chattha, who originated from Kookan Wala near the Hafizabad area of Gujranwala division, opened a small confectionery shop in Gulshan-e-Ravi on 10 September 1987. The business later expanded from its initial confectionery base into a larger food and beverage operation. Over time, Gourmet developed branded bakery and sweets activities alongside soft drinks and other food products. Its expansion included processing infrastructure and a large retail network. The cited reference describes seven processing units across Pakistan and more than 100 stores in Lahore, with additional Pakistani outlets in cities and towns across Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Islamabad-Rawalpindi area. The same source identifies international outlets in London and New York City. The company also became part of a diversified business group. Beyond food, the group invested in magazine publishing, furnishing and pharmaceuticals and held a reported 12 percent stake in Silkbank. Its most prominent non-food expansion was into television and media. In 2016, Gourmet acquired the Jaag TV network, formerly CNBC Pakistan, for a reported Rs. 1.5 billion. In 2018, it launched GNN as a rebranded version of that network. This move extended the group's activities beyond consumer food retail into national media. Available reference material does not establish a complete chronology of Gourmet's product launches, changes in ownership, executive succession, financial performance or current international operations. The documented history therefore centers on the company's 1987 founding, its expansion into bakery, sweets and beverages, its retail and processing footprint, and its later diversification into financial investment and media.

• 2018

  GNN launched

  [1]Gourmet Foodsen.wikipedia.org

  The group launched GNN as a rebranding of the previously acquired Jaag TV network.

• 2016

  Acquisition of Jaag TV

  [1]Gourmet Foodsen.wikipedia.org

  Gourmet Foods Group acquired Jaag TV, formerly CNBC Pakistan, for a reported Rs. 1.5 billion.

• 1987

  First Gourmet confectionery shop opened

  [1]Gourmet Foodsen.wikipedia.org

  Muhammad Nawaz Chattha opened a small confectionery shop in Gulshan-e-Ravi, Lahore, on 10 September 1987.

A mass-market Pakistani food and beverage brand combining bakery and sweets retail with packaged beverages, food processing and a broad multi-city outlet network.

• Bakery

  Gourmet Bakery

  Gourmet Bakery is the group's bakery retail line and one of the main expressions of the brand in its store network. The available reference identifies it as a core group business but does not provide a complete itemized catalogue of breads, cakes, pastries or other bakery products.

• Sweets and confectionery

  Gourmet Sweets

  Gourmet Sweets represents the confectionery and traditional sweets side of the business, linking the present brand with the small confectionery shop from which Gourmet originated. Specific product varieties and packaging formats are not detailed in the available source material.

• Soft drinks

  Gourmet Soft Drink

  Gourmet Soft Drink is the group's branded beverage activity. Gourmet Cola is specifically identified as one of its products. The available references do not specify the full beverage range, formulations, production dates or current distribution arrangements.

• Carbonated soft drink

  Gourmet Cola

  Gourmet Cola is a carbonated beverage sold under the Gourmet brand and is cited as part of Gourmet Soft Drink. Public reference material does not provide verified details about its launch date, pack sizes or market share.

• 2018

  Entry into television media through GNNStrategy

  Background

  Following its acquisition of Jaag TV, the group pursued diversification into news broadcasting.

  Action taken

  Gourmet launched GNN as a rebranded version of the previously existing Jaag TV network.

  Aftermath

  GNN became the group's identified media venture; the available reference does not provide further verified information about its subsequent performance or ownership.

  Source

• 2016

  Acquisition of Jaag TVM&A

  Background

  The diversified Gourmet Foods Group expanded beyond food and retail into broadcasting by acquiring the existing Jaag TV network, formerly known as CNBC Pakistan.

  Action taken

  The group purchased Jaag TV for a reported Rs. 1.5 billion.

  Aftermath

  The acquisition provided the platform that was subsequently rebranded as GNN in 2018.

  Reported acquisition price. Rs. 1.5 billion (2016)

  Source

1. 1Gourmet Foodsen.wikipedia.org