Brands
La Chérie expands to Mumbai with a taste of everyday indulgence
MUMBAI: La Chérie is a premium dessert brand celebrated for its artisanal cheesecakes, exceptional craftsmanship, and honest baking philosophy. Known for creations like the airy Japanese Cheesecake, indulgent New York Cheesecake, decadent San Sebastian Burnt Cheesecake, and charming Mini Bento Cheesecake Boxes, the brand has won over dessert lovers with its commitment to using only the finest ingredients, without preservatives, bulking agents, compound chocolate, gelatin, or agar-agar. Because you deserve a little indulgence. Everyday.
Founded in 2020 by Supriya Konduskar and co-founder Abhijeet Konduskar, La Chérie began as a home kitchen passion project during the COVID-19 lockdown. Over the past four years, it has grown into a nationally recognised name, admired for its quality, craftsmanship, and personal touch, reflecting how women entrepreneurs are redefining India’s F&B landscape.
La Chérie, which has built a loyal following and “ruled” the dessert scene in Pune, is now planning to bring its handcrafted creations to Mumbai. The expansion will allow the brand to connect with the city’s discerning dessert lovers and offer them the La Chérie experience, fresh, authentic, and made with love.Currently, these indulgent creations are also available for online ordering on Swiggy and Zomato.
“We’ve built a loyal community in Pune, and now we’re ready to share our cheesecakes with Mumbai,” says Supriya. “This expansion is more than a milestone, it’s a celebration of women who dare to dream, create, and lead.”
Co-Founder Abhijeet Konduskar added, “Our growth has always been guided by quality and the trust we’ve earned from our customers. This store will allow them to experience the heart of La Chérie, authentic flavours, meticulous artistry, and the warmth we stand for.”
Brands
Samsung certifies 1,000 Maharashtra students in AI and coding
The South Korean electronics giant marks its first large-scale skilling push in the state, with women making up nearly half the national programme’s enrolment
PUNE: Samsung has put 1,000 students in Maharashtra through a certified training programme in artificial intelligence and coding, the largest such drive the South Korean electronics company has run in the state and a signal that corporate India’s skilling ambitions are moving well beyond the boardroom brochure.
The certifications were awarded under Samsung Innovation Campus (SIC), the company’s flagship corporate social responsibility programme, which launched in India in 2022 with the stated aim of democratising access to future-technology education. The 1,000 graduates were drawn from four institutions: 127 from Savitribai Phule Pune University, 373 from Pimpri Chinchwad University, 250 from D.Y. Patil University’s Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology and 250 from Anjuman-I-Islam’s Kalsekar Technical Campus. All completed training in either AI or coding and programming, the two disciplines Samsung has identified as the critical pillars of the digital economy.
The programme does not stop at technical training. Soft-skills development and career-readiness modules are baked into the curriculum, a deliberate attempt to close the gap between what universities teach and what employers actually want.
“India’s digital growth story will ultimately be shaped by the quality of its talent pipeline,” said Shubham Mukherjee, head of CSR and corporate communications at Samsung Southwest Asia. “As technologies like AI move from the periphery to the core of industries, skilling must evolve from basic training to building real-world capability. This milestone in Maharashtra reflects how industry and academia can come together to create a future-ready workforce that is both globally competitive and locally relevant.”
The Maharashtra drive sits within a rapidly scaling national effort. Samsung Innovation Campus trained 20,000 young people across India in 2025, hitting its stated target for the year. Women account for 48 per cent of national enrolments, a figure the company cites as evidence of its push for an inclusive technology ecosystem. The programme is implemented in partnership with the Electronics Sector Skills Council of India and the Telecom Sector Skill Council.
Samsung, which is marking 30 years in India this year, runs SIC alongside two other initiatives, Samsung Solve for Tomorrow and Samsung DOST, as part of a broader effort to build what it calls a generation of innovators with both the technical depth and the problem-solving mindset to thrive in a fast-moving digital world.
A thousand certified students is a tidy headline. Whether they find jobs that match their new skills is the harder question, and the one that will ultimately determine whether corporate skilling programmes like this one are genuine pipelines or well-photographed gestures.
