Arby's look towards India as the next growth market

Arby's, the second largest quick service restaurant sandwich chain in U.S. is looking to capture the palette-share of global food lovers. 

India is a focus country for Arby's, which has been serving innovative meat recipes for the past 50 years and is now 3,400 restaurants strong chain.

Founded in 1964, Arby's is the first nationally franchised sandwich restaurant brand with nearly 3,400 restaurants worldwide. 

The Arby's brand purpose is to "inspire smiles through delicious experiences." Arby's delivers on its purpose by celebrating the art of Meatcraft™ with a variety of high-quality proteins and innovative, crave-able sides, such as Curly Fries and Jamocha shakes.

 Arby's Fast Crafted™ restaurant services feature a unique blend of quick-serve speed combined with the quality and made-for-you care of fast casual. Arby's Restaurant Group, Inc. is the franchisor of the Arby's Brand and is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.

Arby's is looking to develop the Indian market through Master Franchise.

Berkshire Hathaway's QSR Chain Dairy Queen Seeks Partner For India Foray

US based ice cream and QSR chain, Dairy Queen is looking for a partner to foray into the Indian QSR market. The unit of Berkshire Hathaway’s is planning to open its burger chain in the country.

The company was said to be in talks with Reliance Retail Limited for launching its dairy business in the country, however the deal did not consummate.

Owned by Warren Buffet’s Berkshire, Dairy Queen has over 6000 restaurants in the United States, Canada and 18 other countries.

To start with, the Minneapolis based chain would be looking at opening 100 burger stores in the space dominated by McDonalds in the organized sector having a lion’s share of 75%. The unorganized sector accounts for 40% sales of the total INR 1 Bn market.

This would be its second attempt after its 2011 effort for the foray.

Dairy Queen joins other player including Burger King, Fat Burger Carl's Jr, Wendy's and Johnny Rockets that are seeking to gain a share of the country's QSR market pegged at INR 55 Bn in 2013.

Berkshire had acquired International Dairy Queen Inc. for $585 Mn in cash and stock in 1997.

The Indian QSR business has been one of the active sectors attracting a lot of PE/VC attention. Be it early stage or the ones in their growth phase.

Burger King to open 12 outlets in India over three months

American fast food chain Burger King will open 12 outlets in India over the next two-three months, six each in Delhi and Mumbai. According to people familiar with the burger chain’s plans, the brand will roll out its first outlet in the capital in less than a month at a prominent mall in South Delhi, followed by the rest in the National Capital Region (NCR) and Mumbai. With an investment of up to Rs.2-2.5 crore per outlet, Burger King is eyeing other potential locations like Pune, Chennai and Bangalore. To be sure, Burger King is launching in Asia’s third largest economy where a spurt in disposable incomes has led to a rise in out-of-home food consumption, pushing chains such as Domino’s, McDonald’s and KFC to expand. Burger King has spent the last six to eight months working on its menu that will result in some India-specific modifications in dressings for Indian consumers. The company will start with its vegetarian and chicken burgers, and subsequently add lamb burgers to its menu. 

American premium burger chain Carl's Jr set to enter India

Come April, Indians will have the choice to taste charbroiled burgers by Carl's Jr - a brand that has been endorsed by the likes of Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian and Padma Lakshmi.

California-based premium burger chain, Carl’s Jr, which is known for its signature line of charbroiled thick burgers and is among the top 10 quick service restaurants chains globally, is set to enter India, with the first outlet to be opened here by April next year.

The American fast-food chain has already signed a franchisee agreement with city-based Cybiz BrightStar Restaurants Pvt Ltd, owned by CybizCorp. Over the next five years, there would be at least 100 Carl’s Jr outlets in India, said Sam Chopra, group chairman and founder of CybizCorp The chain targets to open about 1,000 outlets across India over 10-15 years.

Carl’s Jr joins the race with the world’s second largest burger chain Burger King, which had formed a joint venture with private equity fund Everstone Capital last year to develop its presence in India and plans to open the first outlet soon.

Besides, its rival, Fatburger has already opened its first outlet in Gurgaon, near Delhi recently.

“It is a burger that is delivered in just three minutes after the order is placed. And, we deliver it fresh. Nothing is prepared before hand,” said Chopra, adding that he would, for the first couple of years, focus on the northern market. The chain would spend about $25 million (about Rs 150 crore) in the first five years in developing a presence in India.

CKE Restaurant Holdings, the parent company of Carl’s Jr, had already invested $1.5 million in India in consumer research, product development and tasting trials during the past three years, Chopra said.

“We target ticket size at Rs 400. We’ll not offer beef in India, and for the first time in Carl’s Jr history, vegetarian burger, with six varieties, will be introduced. Over the next few years, we may also look at taking vegetarian burgers to other countries,” Chopra said, adding that Carl’s Jr will not target the mass market. Sales of Rs 2.5 lakh a day an outlet would make the venture viable, he said.

Chopra believes that the time is right for a ‘premium burger quick-service restaurant’ such as Carl’s Jr to enter India. “As we are witnessing a burger revolution in our country, a parallel phenomenon that was witnessed in the pizzas and pasta category a decade back,” he added.

Besides India, Carl’s Jr has recently entered new markets like Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, New Zealand and the Bahamas.

Over the past decade and a half, a handful of quick-service restaurants have made a beeline for India, including McDonald's, Yum Brands - the owner of restaurants such as Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell- and Subway.

Domino’s Aims To Target Tier II, III Cities For Expansion

Strengthening its presence in tier II and III cities, Domino’s Pizza has opened two restaurants one each in Gorakhpur and Udaipur.In the last one year, Domino’s Pizza has aggressively strengthened its presence in cities including Bhiwadi (Rajasthan), Korba (Chhattisgarh), Rajahmundry (AP), Aligarh (UP), Hoshiarpur (Punjab), Belgaum (Karnataka), Dharamshala (HP) and Rangpo (Sikkim).

Commenting on the expansion, Ajay Kaul, CEO, Jubilant FoodWorks Limited said: “We are extremely happy to be expanding our footprint on way to achieving our ambition of being in the vicinity of every pizza lover in the country. We would like to thank all our loyal customers, whose love and loyalty for the brand has been our constant motivation in this success journey and we are confident that we will become the restaurant of choice for all pizza lovers.”

While, Harneet Singh Rajpal, Senior Vice-President-Marketing, Domino’s Pizza India said, “Every restaurant that we launch in a new city brings us closer to our consumers and helps us deliver the best of our products and services to them. Over the last decade, we have been the fastest growing food service company in India and have successfully pioneered innovative concepts and products for the Indian taste palette. I would like to thank all our consumers who have shown immense love and support for us and our brand. I hope new restaurants help all the pizza lovers here to celebrate their moments of happiness and create wonderful memories with their loved ones.” 

Jubilant FoodWorks Limited is part of Jubilant Bhartia group and one of India’s largest food service companies, with a network of 795 Domino’s Pizza restaurants across 166 cities.

Malaysian brand Marrybrown to expand food outlets in India

Sensing a growing demand for fried chicken, burgers in tier 2 and 3 cities Malaysian quick service restaurant chain Marrybrown will be expanding its foot print in southern India, said a top official.

Marrybrown will also be adding more dishes to its menu card mid-September, he said.

"We are seeing growth in smaller towns like Rajapalayam, Dindugul and other places in Tamil Nadu. We would like to leverage the first mover advantage by opening outlets in smaller towns in the southern states," Ajith, director, MGM Entertainments Pvt Ltd, the master franchisee for Marrybrown in India.

According to him, the chain is also open to have its outlets in hotels located in second or third tier towns.

"By the end of this fiscal we would like to increase our number of outlets to 75 from the current 48 (44 in Tamil Nadu, two each in Bangalore and Kochi). The expansion will be through a mix of owned and franchisee outlets. For every five franchisee outlets we will have an owned one," he added.

He said the investment needed in smaller towns is not high unlike what is needed to set up an outlet in major cities.

"People are aware of global brands in smaller towns. A major competitor brand is becoming generic in those markets," he added.

According to Ajith, the Marrybrown chain in India is not stuck to fried chicken and burgers but also offers flavoured rice and even biryani to cater to the local palate.

"We offer equal number of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes," Ajith said.

Speaking of the new launches, Ajith said the chain would added Muncheez (fried chicken with masala powder to the sprinkled separately), egg burger, corn cheese burger and corn cheese nuggets.

He said the masala powder comes from Marrybrown's headquarters in Malaysia.

"Most of the food innovations happen in Malaysian headquarters and we pick up what is suitable for our market," Ajith said.

However the Indian company's own launch was the Chicken Poppers, an idea derived from popcorn.

World's 3rd largest hamburger chain Wendy's set to enter India

The Wendy's Company (TWC), the world's third largest quick-service hamburger company, is set to enter the $50 billion Indian quick service restaurants market. The Nasdaq listed restaurant chain operator under the Wendy's brand has entered into an agreement with Sierra Nevada Restaurants Pvt Ltd (SNRPL) to develop and operate restaurants across India.

Specific details about the nature of this agreement with TWC for India foray and time frame for getting the Wendy's outlets operations in India were not been disclosed.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) listed Rollatainers, one of India's leading consumer packaging, restaurant and food services companies, owns 50% stake in SNRPL with the balance being held by International Market Management Ltd (IMM).

A wholly owned subsidiary of Rollatainers, Carnation Hospitality Pvt Ltd had recently (August 11, 2014) acquired India's second largest coffe chain (with international presence) the Barista Coffee Company Ltd from Lavazza.

A recent entrant in the food business Rollatainers, through its subsidiary Carnation, had instituted a joint venture in July this year with IMM for setting up Jamie's Italian restaurant franchise in India. Carnation had also entered into business purchase agreements with Welgrow Hotel Concepts Pvt Ltd, which owns and operates Sartoria and Kylin and with Mapple Hospitality Pvt Ltd, which owns and operates Mapple Foods.

Operating for over three decades in the consumer packaging industry and in particular, as a supplier to the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector, Rollatainers's clientele includes fast moving consumer goods companies like Amul, Britannia, Conagra Foods, Ferrero India, Lotte, Nestle, Pepsico, Perfetti Van Melle, Sahara Q Shop, Tata Global Beverages and Unilever.

It's entry into the food business, company officials had stated earlier, is a natural extension for Rollatainers into the attractive consumer food segment and also leverages its existing experience of working with international brands.

Operating over 6,500 franchise and company outlets in the United States and 29 countries globally, TWC was recently in the news when US's second largest QSR operator Burger King (with a market capitalisation of $11.5 billion) acquired Canadian doughnut-and-coffee chain Tim Hortons, which was spun-off by Wendy's back in 2005.

Lord of the Fries to enter India

Vegetarian fast food franchise, Lord of the Fries has signed an agreement that will see it open 50 stores in India within the next 10 years, if not earlier. 

Richard McDonnell of McDonnell McPhee & Associates, the company that negotiated the deal, told Franchising the first outlet will open its doors by 31 March, 2015. 

“Directors are currently in India setting up supply chains, so it is all systems go.

“It's a master franchise agreement – an Indian group from Singapore have acquired the rights, they are Indian residents from Singapore." 

He added Lord of the Fries’ Indian menu will be adapted to suit the local market. 

Canadian chain Pita Pit to open 50 stores in India

Canadian quick service restaurant chain Pita Pit will open over 50 outlets in India over next five years to expand footprint in the northern and eastern regions to being with.

"We are looking at opening 50 plus Pita Pit outlets in the country in the five next years," Pita Pit India Chairman Pramod Dhawan told PTI.
The company, which entered Indian market in November, operates three outlets in the Delhi NCR region through its master franchisee Mentor Hospitality for North & East region.
Dhawan said expansion will be through a mix of company- owned and franchised stores.
"We are looking at sub-franchisees to expand operations here. We are yet to finalise on sub-franchisees yet," he added.
For store expansion, Pita Pit will open more outlets in Delhi NCR, Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Jalandhar.
Pita Pit is yet to finalise a franchisee for West and South regions.
Founded in 1995, Pita Pit has 500 stores in countries like New Zealand, Panama, France, South Korea, Trinidad & Tobago, Brazil, UK, Australia, France and India. It is a privately held company and does not share financials.

When asked if Mentor Hospitality will look at the possibility of signing up with the Pita Pit to open stores in West and South region, Pita Pit Director Anun Dhawan said: "Once we complete expansion in the North and East region we may look at that as well. It will be interesting to look west as well but not in the immediate future."