After more than two decades of building and scaling fashion and retail businesses across India and international markets, Sandeep Malik has entered a new chapter — taking charge as Chief Executive Officer and Director at Drunken Monkey.
Known for its fresh smoothies, bold flavours and youthful café culture, Drunken Monkey has emerged as one of India’s fastest-growing QSR café brands. With over 43 franchise partner outlets, a recently opened location in Abu Dhabi, and plans to scale to 100 stores across India and five outlets in the UAE, the brand is now preparing for its next phase of structured growth. Its flagship café in Bengaluru anchors the brand’s positioning in one of India’s most competitive food markets.
Malik’s appointment signals a strategic shift for the brand — one that blends entrepreneurial energy with seasoned retail execution.
From Fashion Floors to Food Counters
A retail veteran with 25+ years of experience, Malik brings deep expertise in P&L management, brand launches, omnichannel operations, and large-scale retail execution. His career spans leadership roles across fashion, footwear and lifestyle retail, where he has consistently demonstrated the ability to scale businesses while building high-performance teams.
Most recently, Malik spent nearly 12 years at Bestseller India, where he led emerging brands and Select business portfolios. During this period, he played a pivotal role in launching Vero Moda Girl from concept to market in under six months, expanding it to 200+ shop-in-shop points of sale within a year, and driving strong profitability across brands such as Jack & Jones Junior and SELECTED. His earlier roles also included managing ₹550+ crore P&Ls, overseeing 1,200+ retail doors, and expanding exclusive brand store networks at scale.
Beyond Bestseller, Malik’s career includes leadership stints at Raymond Apparels, Reebok, Mahindra Retail, Sharaf Retail (Middle East), and LTC International, Dubai, giving him rare cross-market exposure spanning India, the Middle East and global brand ecosystems.
At Drunken Monkey, Sandeep Malik’s role is focused on building a scalable and disciplined QSR organisation rather than just accelerating store count. His priorities include strengthening the franchise model, improving unit economics, sharpening customer experience, and creating repeat-driven consumption through operational consistency and product freshness.
Drawing from his retail background, Malik believes food and beverage today requires the same rigour as modern retail — speed, process discipline, consistency across locations, and a strong emotional connect with consumers. Drunken Monkey’s youthful positioning and smoothie-led menu provide a solid base to build a national café brand, with international expansion already underway through its presence in the Middle East.
Industry observers note that Malik’s move reflects a broader trend of experienced retail leaders entering QSR to bring structure, systems, and scale-readiness to fast-growing food brands. With India’s QSR market becoming more competitive and consumer expectations rising, his blend of retail thinking and operational execution could help shape Drunken Monkey’s next phase of growth — steadily and sustainably.
