Mumbai | New Delhi: LandCraft Retail has leased a commercial property owned by actor Salman Khan on Linking Road in Mumbai at a rental of Rs. 1 crore per month to open a new gourmet store, replacing Food Hall owned by debt-ridden Future Group. The new chain – Food Square –will compete with RP Sanjiv Goenka-owned Nature's Basket and Reliance Freshpik.

“We are farmer-entrepreneurs-founders ourselves, running large-scale aquaponics and sustainable soil-based farms in different parts of Maharashtra for more than five years,” said Mayank Gupta, managing director and co-founder of Food Square.

He added that the current valuation of the Indian gourmet food market at $1.3 billion with an annual compounded growth rate of 20% “makes it a promising arena”.

Salman Khan had bought the Linking Road property for nearly Rs. 120 crores a decade ago to build a commercial premise.

Future Retail had leased the space in 2017 for five years at a monthly rental of Rs. 80 lakh, which was renewed last year for Rs. 90 lakh. The 4-floor 25,000 sq ft space, frequented by Bollywood celebrities and CXOs and known for imported high-end gourmet products, was vacated a few months ago due to non-payment of dues.

Food Square will replicate most of the product range and services that Food Hall had and has partnered a host of brands for the high-end store. For instance, it has tied up with Versace for its collection of cutleries, live stations by Entisi Chocolate, and Italian food at Oliveology.