Carl’s Jr to enter India by April 2015

Carl’s Jr, California-based, is looking at opening their first restaurant in New Delhi by the end of the first quarter of 2015. CKE Restaurants Holdings, the parent company of Carl’s Jr, recently signed a development agreement with Cybiz BrightStar Restaurants, owned by CybizCorp, to develop 100 restaurants in the initial phase. Elaborating on the same, Samir Chopra, group chairman and founder, Cybiz Corp, stated, “Carl’s Jr will be targeting the development of Tier II and III cities after it’s initial launch in the Delhi and NCR area and other Tier I cities.” He also mentioned that they are looking at expanding through a company owned company operated (COCO) model only, however, at a later stage they may venture into FOCO (Franchise Owned Company Operated).

To create a niche for themselves in the India market, Chopra believes that Carl’s Jr is not a mass appeal brand. “The brand is a premium quick service restaurant which offers partial services to customers, and is recognised for its premium products, centred on wide variety of fresh and delicious charbroiled burgers that lead the industry in taste, quality and innovation,” he stated. Based on their research, Carl Jr has also developed a vegetarian menu to be launched here, apart from their signature dishes. Talking about marketing and promotional strategies, Chopra added, “Our target audience is the young and hungry which defines more than 50 per cent population of India and this audience is engaged on different social media platforms, and hence initially we are keen on the new age social media strategies but definitely in the later run we will be following a parallel approach used successfully by Carl’s Jr globally.” burger chain

Now, Domino’s Pizza at your train seat

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has inked a deal with Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd (JFL), the parent company of Domino's Pizza, to deliver pizzas while passengers are traveling in trains.

The passengers can order pizza through a phone call or online. Initially, the delivery service is being provided at 12 stations including New Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, Alwar, Ambala, Jalandhar, Mathura, Muzzafarnagar, Pathankot, Vapi, Bharuch and Vadodara, and gradually it will be extended to more stations.

While, e-catering facility has been extended to 120 trains to start off with and more of them will also be added in the coming days. “Yes, the arrangement has been made. The passengers can order online or via a phone call and hot pizzas will be served at their seats in the train enroute,” a JFL spokesperson told.

Other than IRCTC website, the passengers can also place an order through toll-free number 1800-1034-139 or by sending an SMS to 139 giving details of their PNR and seat number.

JFL runs about 844 restaurants of Domino’s Pizza across 185 cities in India and claims to be the largest market for Domino’s Pizza worldwide, outside the USA, surpassing the UK restaurant count.