Reliance Brands signed an agreement with UK-based Pret A Manger, a sandwich and coffee chain

 

Reliance Brands announced a strategic partnership with global fresh food & organic coffee chain to launch and build the brand in India.

Reliance Brands Ltd will bring the UK-based fresh food and organic coffee chain Pret A Manger to India, marking a foray into food & beverage retail space.

Pano Christou, CEO, Pret A Manger said: “Two decades ago, we opened Pret’s first shop in Asia and it’s been an inspiration for all of us to bring our freshly made food and 100% organic coffee to new cities across the continent. We’re looking forward to working with them on what is our most ambitious global franchise partnership to date.

With this long-term master franchise partnership, RBL will open the food chain across the country starting with major cities and travel hubs.

Pret A Manger, French for ‘ready to eat', first opened in London in 1986. Over 35 years later, the brand currently has 550 shops globally across 9 markets including the UK, US, Europe, and Asia, offering organic coffee, sandwiches, salads and wraps freshly made each day.

“Our partnership with Pret is rooted in the strong growth potential of both Pret as a brand as also of the food & beverage industry in India. RBL closely follows the pulse of Indian consumers and there is an increased consciousness of what we eat – rapidly making Food the new Fashion. Indians, like their global counterparts, are seeking Fresh and Organic ingredient-led dining experiences which has been synonymous with Pret’s core offering. Couple that with the high recall the brand enjoys in the country, it’s undoubtedly a recipe for success.”.

As India’s largest luxury to premium retailer, RBL has over 14 years nurtured and grown global brands in the country. RBL’s portfolio comprises Armani Exchange, Bally, Bottega Veneta, Brooks Brothers, Burberry, Canali, Coach, Diesel, Dune, Emporio Armani, Ermenegildo Zegna, G-Star Raw, Gas, Giorgio Armani, Hamleys, Hugo Boss, Hunkemoller, Jimmy Choo, Kate Spade New York, Manish Malhotra, Michael Kors, Mothercare and Muji.

Bebe an American women fashion brand enters India, Myntra gets the master distribution rights.

 

The San Francisco-based fashion marquee brand will cater to the mass premium segment and is set to offer an extensive range of apparel across categories for women in India, particularly targeting the urban and fashion forward group, spread across the country's metros and tier 1 cities.

As part of the licensing agreement, Myntra will assist bebe with wholesale distribution through a network of independent third-party franchise partners and distributors.

 

Flipkart group firm Myntra Jabong has been granted the master distribution and management rights for US-based women's fashion brand 'bebe', according to a statement.

''This association will eventually help bebe to establish a customer base in India,'' said Manohar Kamath, CXO and Chief - House of Brands, Flipkart Group.

Reliance Retail to launch 7-Eleven stores in India

Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL), the country’s largest retailer with over 12,800 active stores, is all set to enter the fast-growing convenience store segment after it struck a crucial franchisee deal with American major 7-Eleven, Inc (SEI).

Days after 7-Eleven’s franchise deal with Future Retail (FRL) fell through, RRVL grabbed the master franchisee for the Dallas-based convenience brand for the India market, paving the way for its foray into the space.

RRVL has already formed a wholly-owned subsidiary - 7-India Convenience Retail - and will be inaugurating the first 7-Eleven store at Mumbai’s Andheri East on Saturday.

According to sources, in line with the emerging trend in the country, the upcoming stores will be larger (at 200 square feet) than the convenience stores usually found at gas stations. With its initial plan to launch back-to-back stores in the Greater Mumbai region, RRVL has the blueprint ready to rapidly expand into other crucial markets, like the National Capital Region (NCR) and Bengaluru, among others.

Isha Ambani, director, RRVL, said in a statement, “At Reliance, we pride ourselves in offering the best to our customers and we are proud to bring 7-Eleven, the globally trusted convenience store, to India. 7-Eleven is among the most iconic global brands in the convenience retail landscape. The new pathways we build together with SEI will offer Indian customers greater convenience and choices within their own neighbourhoods.”

With this deal, 7-Eleven is the latest addition to RRVL’s dozen-odd retail chain brands - including Reliance Fresh, Reliance Trends, and Hamleys that it had acquired in 2019.

Founded in 1927 in Dallas as a small grocery store, 7-Eleven got its current brand name in 1946, when its hours of operation were extended to 7 am and 11 pm. Since then, it has expanded to 77,000 stores, with presence in five continents and 18 countries.

The 7-Eleven stores aim to provide shoppers with a unique style of convenience, offering a range of beverages, snacks and delicacies specifically curated to appeal to local tastes, along with refill of daily essentials, having affordability and hygiene at its very core, it added. RRVL is a subsidiary of RIL and holding company of all the retail companies under the RIL Group.

Shalby launches orthopedic, joint replacement franchise in Udaipur

 

The hospital-chain inaugurated its first orthopedic & joint replacement franchise at Udaipur in Rajasthan under Shalby Orthopedic Centre of Excellence (SOCE) on 12 September 2021.

This is Shalby Hospital Ahmedabad's first orthopedic speciality franchise hospital in India. It will offer Out Patient Department (OPD) as well as In Patient Department (IPD) services to patients. It will benefit the people of Udaipur and the region in availing world-class orthopedic treatment.

Thomas Cook India enters Jammu and Varanasi market

 

Thomas Cook, a travel firm has inaugurated its first Gold Circle Partner franchise outlet in Jammu‘s Bahu Plaza with a focus to leverage the growth potential of the region it has been on an expansion spree despite the challenges posed by the ongoing pandemic. Jammu‘s consumers will benefit from Thomas Cook India’s range of end-to-end travel solutions, including international and domestic holidays (group tours, personalized and luxury holidays, cruises, etc.), travel insurance and visa services.

“We have been observing strong and increasing travel appetite from Jammu and hence we are delighted to announce our first Gold Circle Partner franchise outlet in Jammu. We have selected Bahu Plaza given its prime location that provides us with a viable catchment across families, young working professionals and corporate travellers." It said.

The firm has also expanded its footprint in Uttar Pradesh with the launch of a new Gold Circle Partner franchise outlet in Varanasi at RathYatra Chauraha. This expansion augments Thomas Cook India‘s distribution and reach in Uttar Pradesh to seven consumer access centres, which includes one owned branch and six Gold Circle Partner (franchise) outlets–across Lucknow, Kanpur, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Prayagraj and Varanasi.

In its Holiday Readiness Report, Thomas Cook India highlighted two key insights: a significant 67% respondents are keen to travel in the next six months and a sizeable 84% prefer reputed brands—especially when travelling amid the threat of covid. The company said that it will continue to enter new markets leveraging the growing demand for trusted travel brands.

 

Reliance Retail is all set to Rope in Kirana Stores as Franchise Partners for Jio Mart.

 

The Mukesh Ambani-owned firm Reliance Retail will exit direct sale of packaged food, grocery and FMCG goods on its e-commerce platform JioMart by roping in kirana stores as franchise partners that will sell these products to consumers in their respective neighbourhoods. This marks a shift in strategy that differentiates it from other big online grocery platforms.

Reliance has also decided to shelve its B2B cash-and-carry store format, Reliance Market, which will be turned into fulfillment centres for B2B delivery of products to kiranas. The neighbourhood stores will place their orders online and get deliveries at their stores.

The kiranas will source goods from Reliance or elsewhere, said two senior industry executives aware of the plans. In the case of products ordered on JioMart and not in stock with the kiranas—which typically sell the 300-400 most popular items—Reliance Retail will supply them and the margins will be shared equally.

Also, Reliance will continue with the sale of perishables like fruits and vegetables from its stores or fulfilment centres.

In order to pilot this system, JioMart has signed in nearly 56,000 kiranas from 30 cities. Reliance Retail is looking at enrolling kiranas in more than 100 cities by April and will eventually implement this format wherever JioMart has operations.

Jubilant Food works is all set to bring US-based fast food chain Popeyes to India, neighbours!!

 

Food services company Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd (JFL) on Wednesday announced to introduce American multinational chain of fried chicken fast food restaurants 'Popeyes', to India.

The company announced to enter into an exclusive master franchise and development agreement with PLK APAC Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Restaurant Brands International Inc (RBI), said a joint statement.

It added that the pact has been signed "to develop, establish, own and operate" hundreds of Popeyes restaurants in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan in the coming years, said a joint statement.

JFL Chairman Shyam S Bhartia and Co-Chairman Hari S Bhartia said, "We are happy to announce the signing of a multi-country agreement to acquire the exclusive rights to operate and sub-license the iconic Popeyes brand in India and neighbouring countries."

He added that chicken is one of the largest and fastest-growing categories in India and is expected to grow rapidly in years to come.

Popeyes will be an exciting addition to the JFL portfolio and is expected to become one of the key drivers of growth for us in the coming years, he added.

Founded in New Orleans in 1972, Popeyes has over 45 years of history and culinary tradition.

It is one of the world's largest chicken quick service restaurants with over 3,400 restaurants in over 25 countries around the globe.

Since its acquisition by RBI, Popeyes has expanded successfully into Spain, Switzerland, China, Brazil, Sri Lanka and the Philippines in the past few years.

"Popeyes will also enter the United Kingdom and build its presence in Mexico starting in 2021, with plans to open several hundreds of restaurants across both countries," it said.

Jubilant FoodWorks, part of the Jubilant Bhartia Group, already holds the master franchise rights for two international brands Domino's Pizza and Dunkin' Donuts.

The company also launched its first homegrown brand, 'Hong's Kitchen', in Chinese cuisine segment.