How Mumbai's soaring rentals cost the livelihood of speech- and hearing-impaired individuals from Mirchi & Mime

After Madeira & Mime closed this March 24, Mirchi & Mime, its sister restaurant chain, whose half of the staff were speech and hearing-impaired individuals, announced its closure through their social media on July 31 over the increase in the rentals. 

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On the day of closure, the official Instagram page of Mirchi & Mime writes, "Silver lining of our closure. Whilst we are not so happy with people who led to our permanent closure, we are really happy that Good Samaritans (*Dr Reddy's Foundation*) showed up to hire all our deaf employees for their new venture. Thank you Dr Reddy's Foundation."

Founded by Raja Sekhar Reddy and Shishir Gorle in 2015, Squaremeal Foods, the parent company, had a vision to provide employment to at least 500  speech- and hearing-impaired individuals. However, this vision was hindered by the massive impact of the rental hike. 

During its peak years, until 2020, the restaurants employed 120 people with hearing impairments. Before its closure, it had 50 staff members, out of which 25 were individuals with hearing and/or visual impairments. 

'Neither could we sustain zero profits, nor could increase prices for customers'

"It was a 5-year lease agreement with a yearly increase of 7% which got over in March 2020. Brookfield Properties (the leasing company) gave us the quotation of 35% which was already difficult to meet back then because it was only leaving us with a margin of profit of 10%; however, we still continued," Raja Sekhar Reddy, the co-founder, says. 

Upon the completion of the second term of the lease, in July this year, the founders received a fresh quotation with a 35% increase, which led to its closure. "Accepting this quotation would have either meant a massive increase in the cost of items for the customers or no profits for us, and we could not continue it," Mr. Reddy says. 

Before deciding to close down, the founders explored alternative options; however, the requirements for fresh investments deterred them. "We explored other sites, however, closer to Powai so that the patrons could visit, but there is soaring prices in Mumbai and rentals have gone up," Mr. Reddy says, adding that it would have taken at least "Rs 3 crores" to start afresh at some other location and "relying on break-even or profits within months was not possible".

Staff look at the bleak future

One of the major highlights that would draw the patrons to the place was its ability to provide a livelihood to the staff in both Mirchi & Mime and Madeira & Mime, who have now been waiting to get employment. "We are in touch with the  Dr Reddy's Foundation to help them with the skill sets that might help them with the employment," the co-founder states. 

According to inside sources, all staff, including those working on digital marketing services, were informed three months before the closure. "They at least did not leave any of their staff stranded and informed well in advance," says a source in confidence.

Meanwhile, according to the head of the digital marketing company for the brand, they were charging less from the brand due to their ambition to help the needy. "While we charge Rs 1-2 lakh for a project, we were charging Rs 40,000 as we believed in their cause," the head says.

"In the highly competitive market, and in India, there are very few people who might like to think about the marginalised section of the society," the source adds, referring to Mirchi & Mime's operations and closure.