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.

Global Demand for Ah!thentic Taste Creates Opportunities for Marco's Pizza

America's hunger for Ah!thentic Italian pizza flavor has made Marco's Pizza the fastest-growing pizza franchise in the United States. Now Marco's is rapidly expanding internationally to meet growing demand in other countries.

"Our international expansion is taking off, with deals pending in Saudi Arabia, Africa and Asia. We're really beefing up our infrastructure and support systems to keep stride with all the growth," said Cameron Cummins, Marco's vice president of franchise development.

Marco's ambitious international expansion plans are creating opportunities for franchisees. In India alone, Marco's Pizza multi-unit franchise owner and area developer DJ Patel is pursuing plans to open 400 locations in the country of 1.25 billion people.

Marco's Pizza and international markets are a perfect match, and the number of franchises is expected to grow quickly, just as it has in the United States, where Marco's is approaching its target of having 1,000 stores by the end of 2016. The pace of growth in the U.S. is exceeding projections by 40%, putting the company on track to achieve its goal of becoming the country's fourth-largest pizza chain.

Saudi Arabia, one of the world's wealthiest countries, has a population of 28.7 million people. Africa has a population of 1.1 billion, and across Asia there is a population of 4.4 billion people. Around the world, middle-class populations are growing, and their newly earned disposable income is creating opportunities for U.S. restaurant chains.

These new consumers have a taste for foods beyond their native fare and are especially attracted to American quick-service restaurants, according to industry analyst Technomic Inc.

Upward mobility is occurring in the middle classes "from Indonesia to Turkey to South Africa to Mexico," Technomic said in a report on international markets.

Marco's international franchisees are part of a huge trend. Within five years, the global franchise industry will be worth $5 trillion, said Beth Solomon, president of strategic initiatives and industry relations for the International Franchise Association.

American quick-service franchises have a real advantage in many countries where consumers are eager to embrace American brands and customs. American brands are highly respected in many countries and represent safe, superior and healthy food, she says.

"These quick-service American brands give people in these countries a chance to taste it, feel it, see it, walk into the store," she said. "They can experience American culture in a very direct way." 

Asrapport Dining Signs Franchise Agreement with Taco Bell Corp.

Asrapport Dining Co., Ltd  announced  that it has signed a franchise agreement with Taco Bell Corp. for restaurant openings in Japan.

Asrapport Dining is a publicly traded holding company which operates a food service franchise business with 429 restaurants throughout Japan including Japanese style “Izakaya” pub and barbecue restaurants. In signing this agreement, Asrapport Dining will become a franchisee of one of the largest global quick service restaurant (QSR) brands to operate “Taco Bell” restaurants in Japan.

“Our main business realm is dinner time pub style restaurants. We seek to increase the competitive strength of our portfolio and grow the number of our restaurants that frequented by customers throughout the entire day,” said Shusaku Higaki, Asrapport Dining CEO. “We believe that 'Taco Bell' holds strong growth potential and will enable us to create a new QSR category by cultivating the strong latent demand for Mexican inspired foods within Japan.”

Taco Bell Corp., a member of the Yum! Brands, Inc., currently operates more than 6,000 restaurants globally, and seeks to increase its restaurant numbers by 2,000 and 1,300 inside and outside of the United States by 2022 and 2023 respectively. They will cultivate market opportunities outside the U.S. to create a new growth model for Taco Bell and to fortify its global presence. Their global expansion strategy is focused upon Europe (UK, Poland), Asia (Korea, Japan and Thailand), Latin America (Chile, Peru) and India.

“We look forward to growing Taco Bell, which is one of the largest QSR chains in U.S. and globally, as part of their global expansion strategy. Furthermore, this development is an integral part of our own growth strategy,” said Higaki.

Mahindra First Choice Wheels expands footprints in Delhi NCR

Mahindra First Choice Wheels Ltd. (MFCWL) today inaugurated two new authorized dealerships- Guru Kripa Motors and Auto Rehman in Delhi-NCR region. Both outlets were inaugurated by Yatin Chadha, Senior Vice President, Retail Business, Mahindra First Choice Wheels Ltd.

“Delhi NCR is a strategic market for Mahindra First Choice Wheels and I am sure that our association with Guru Kripa Motors and Auto Rehman will help us popularise the MFCWL brand further. At Mahindra First Choice Wheels Limited, we are witnessing a transformational change in the way we operate. With a vision to create a used car ecosystem, we are enhancing and leveraging our physical and online presence and are best positioned in the auto industry to deliver a “Brick and Click” synergy interface for a unique customer experience in our rapidly growing franchisee network across India,” said Chadha.

With these new additions, company’s footprint in the region has reached to 33 dealerships, which it further plans to expand this number to 40 outlets by year end. MFCWL now has a network of 157 dealerships in North India.

“We are delighted to be associated with Mahindra First Choice Wheels, the leader in the Indian used car market. With its strong value proposition of trust, credibility and exceptional service, MFCWL is well poised to tap into the exponential growth in this market. The company’s consistent focus on innovative products and services is also sure to find favour with customers here,” said Deepak Shahani, Dealer Principle, Guru Kripa Motors.

Auto Rehman will offer customers a range of services including car finance, insurance, fitment of car accessories and assistance with paperwork and documentation.

Mumbai’s ‘Let’s Talk’ opens first centre in Chandigarh

After opening 35 Centres in Mumbai, Let’s Talk, a premier organization specializing in communicative English, opened its first centre at Chandigarh albeit in franchise mode in collaboration with Captive Edu World.

Aakash Kadam, Founder Director who was present on the occasion told that “Chandigarh would act as a first step for expansion in North, the region where we will soon have major presence”. Chandigarh is a window to states like Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Once we are established in Chandigarh, then we would fan out to neighbouring states.

When asked how different, Let’s Talk would be from several institutions operating in Chandigarh, Aakash Kadam said that “our USP would be the sandwiched training programme that not only includes English language training but also developes one’s overall personality through grooming, etiquette training etc.

It is a holistic programme for imparting communicative English and on development of winning images of people. He said till date Let’s Talk has trained 1,50,000 people including high flying executives of MNCs, aspiring actors, students and even housewives. He said that Let’s Talk would bring in whiff of fresh air into the Image Makeover communicative English industry.

Anil Chalana of Captive Edu World added that with the intervention of technology, we would ensure that the quality of instruction in Chandigarh is at a par with the one given to Bollywood stars and other high profile people of Mumbai.

Marks & Spencer to launch online in India

Marks & Spencer is close to signing a deal with Indian etailer Myntra.com, which would see the British retailer selling online in the country for the first time.

The deal with India’s largest ecommerce platform would be just the second market where M&S sells through a third party website. It started selling on China’s Tmall in December 2012.

The two companies have reportedly finalised the terms of the partnership and the final agreement is expected to be signed soon.

An M&S spokeswoman said: “Whilst we always look at new opportunities, we would never comment on rumour or speculation on our future business plans.”

M&S is believed to have had talks with various e-commerce companies in India including Myntra, Jabong, Snapdeal and Amazon.

Speaking about its partnership with Tmall M&S said teaming up with the platform enabled it to benefit from its “scale, infrastructure and local insight” as well as extending its brand reach and better understanding how the local customer shops online in a “complex market.”

The retailer currently operates in 54 retail territories across the globe.

M&S operates in India with franchise partner Reliance Industries. The company runs 46 M&S shops and plans to double the number in the next two years.

India to get fitter under the gravitational pull of AntiGravity

AntiGravity, US-based fitness and entertainment brand is looking forward to foray in India through franchise route. The brand has entered into a joint venture with Biorhythm India to open studios in the country. The target is to have around 100 franchisees within the first year of its operations. Within a span of two weeks, around 13 franchisees have already signed up with the brand.

Jignesh Raval, Chairman, Biorhythm India says, “There is a huge potential for yoga in India. Presently it is a $0.17 billion market and is expected to reach $1.18 billion by 2017.” Christopher Harrison, the Founder of AntiGravity is in India to train the first batch of trainers. The trained people will set up franchise outlets under the brand name of AntiGravity. As the artistic creator of the brand, Harrison has conceived and produced over 400 entertainment productions.  In 2009 his was the only non-singing group invited to perform with the A-list celebrities at the Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama.

Talking about the opportunity that lies in store for the individual yoga and fitness enthusiasts and the corporate, Raval adds, "We have kept the franchise costs low, enabling one to break even with enrolling just 50 students.”

AntiGravity was established in 1991. It has its headquarters and fitness training centre in midtown Manhattan. The AntiGravity Theatre and National Aerial Performance Training Centre is based in Orlando, Florida.  The team maintains a roster of over 80 physical entertainers and hundreds of certified AntiGravity fitness instructors around the globe.