Australia's pizza chain Eagle Boys seeks India expansion

Australian pizza chain Eagle Boys is rapidly expanding its base in India and  has targeted 50 outlets in India by end of 2015.  Their current outlet base of 14 outlets is spread out across six outlets in Mumbai, four in Pune, one in Chennai and three in Hyderabad. Recently, the company has opened its sixth outlet in Pune.  So far, the company has invested over Rs 50 crore in India.

Rakesh Nanda, director, Eagle Boys Pizza said, "In the coming year, keeping in line with our aggressive growth targets, the business vision is to achieve more than 100 outlets across the length and breadth of the country. We are moving into this space, with plenty of its franchisees beginning to offer in-store dining services.  We are investing in the range of Rs 50- 60 crore whilst the minimum target being looked at in terms of volumes is 50 new outlets per year. Eagle Boys looks to expand to Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Chhattisgarh and beyond."

According to Nanda, pizza is moving into new territories, taking on a role in casual family dining.   Eagle Boys selling seven-inch pizzas price ranging from Rs 49 to Rs 100, catering to all consumer segments and price points, ranging from corporates to students.

Nanda added, "Apart from the 2000 employees who will be directly on rolls with Eagle Boys, there are another 500 who will get indirect -unemployment by dint of being food suppliers and manufacturers partnering with us."

Apart from Pizza Hut and Domino's many international pizza brands are now expanding their footprint in India.Few names are  Debonairs Pizza from South Africa,  Sbarro of the US.   

Eagle Boys has 200 outlets in Australia with a  22 per cent share of the pizza market with the annual turnover of USD one billion. Apart from India, it is rapidly growing presence in Papua New Guinea and Fiji.

The Shahnaz Husain Group To set up joint venture to expand in international Market

The Shahnaz Husain Group, the undisputed leader in the premium segment in Ayurvedic beauty care in India said that it will set up joint ventures with international reputed business houses / multinational companies to expand its presence in new markets around the world.

The Group's Chairperson and Managing Director, Ms Shahnaz Husain, said that the company has received many offers for joint ventures from various national and multinational companies, but has not finalised its decision on joint venture so far and added that the company will definitely go for joint venture once offers are received with favourable terms and conditions to the company. She said that the company at present operates the largest chain of franchise ventures in India and abroad, besides selling a wide range of herbal products at counters set up in domestic and international markets.

She said that the company is exporting herbal products to 66 countries around the world, like EU, UK, USA, UAE, Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, Austria, New Zealand, Russia and a host of other countries in Asian and African sub continents and added that, "We are focusing to increase our base in EU, CIS countries and also targeting African countries."

Company Chairperson and Managing Director, Ms Shahnaz Husain, said that the company has set up targets to increase the exports base 5 to 7 times of the current level of annual exports at present, by developing new innovations and appointing distributors in unrepresented new markets, to tap the growing demands of quality herbal beauty products in the market . She said that in order to increase its market base in new areas, the company is showcasing its products in trade fairs and expositions worldwide especially in London, China, Italy, Singapore, etc., to set up new trading channels and boost exports.

Company Chairperson and Managing Director Ms. Shahnaz Husain said that company is adding new products and innovations for beauty and health care from time to time. The company has well established skin and hair care products and is continuing to add different products in different segments in the near future, as extensive R&D activities are being carried out. She said that the company is coming up with a new range of products, especially with Plant Stem Cell culture, Oil Free Acne Moisturizer with grape fruit, skin and hair care products for teenagers, hair grooming products and new anti ageing formulations. "Our therapeutic products from the Shahnaz Herbal Range, as well as premium products like Flower Power, Gold, Pearl, Diamond, Plant Stem Cells, Telomere and Black Diamond are in demand in the international market," she added.

Wendy’s Plans to Open in India with Beefless Burgers

Among the great Indian dishes today are chicken tikka masala, vegetable paneer and … veggie burgers from Wendy’s? The American fast food giant has decided to make a lucrative move to the East, selling its square patties to the throngs of Indians hungry for a quick bite.

In five years’ time, the fast food company plans to open 50 Wendy’s across India’s major cities, according to reports.

“What we’ve basically done is taken the soul of Wendy’s and put it into a new body,” said Jasper Reid, the head of Sierra Nevada, the joint venture responsible for the Wendy’s franchise in India. 

That means Wendy’s will still taste, smell and feel the same in India, just without the beef.
Wendy’s Indian restaurants will feature six different vegetarian burgers, nine chicken burgers and two lamb burgers on its menu.

Thus, Wendy’s decided to dump some of their biggest sellers, including Dave’s Hot ‘n Juicy Triple and the Baconator, from the menu because selling beef just wasn’t worth the risk of having the majority of India’s over 1.5 billion non-beef eating Hindus be offended by the menu.

It’s a smart move, because according to Technopak Advisors, the fast food market in India is estimated to reach $78 billion by 2018.

Wendy’s is the second largest burger chain in the States by sales, just behind McDonald’s, but with its hot new vegetarian menu, decked with mushrooms, spinach and corn and potato patty burgers, the prince of burgers in the States may just become the rajadhiraja (“king of the kings”) of veggie burgers in India.

Virat Kohli launches Chisel, a chain of fitness centres

With celebrity-backed ventures becoming the new trend in consumer businesses, cricketers too are joining the fray with unique enterprises. Recently, Virat Kohli was present at the launch of Chisel, a chain of gym and fitness centres, which he has started. With investment of Rs 190 crore in sight, the plans are to launch 75 centres in three years under the brand name Chisel.

This brand is jointly owned by Kohli, Chisel Fitness and CSE, the sister concern of Cornerstone Sport & Entertainment, which is the agency that manages Kohli.

 "We will launch gyms of various sizes and with different facilities according to their locations," said Satya Sinha, Director of Chisel Fitness, a Bangalore-based startup that specializes in corporate fitness. 

Kohli is not the first cricketer to switch role from cricket pitch to entrepreneurship in the recent time. Speaking on the occasion, he said, "Fitness and good health are extremely important for a happy and successful life.

The brand under the celebrity-status of Indian cricket team’s vice-captain is hopeful of making it big in around Rs 1,300 crore Indian fitness industry comprising branded fitness chains and standalone gyms.

KUONI – SOTC ADDS TO ITS FRANCHISE NETWORK

In order to capitalise on the growth opportunity, Kuoni-SOTC announced the launch of five franchisee outlets in Bengaluru – Malleshwaram, Model Town- Delhi, Netaji Subhash Place- Pitampura, Alipore- Kolkata and Allahabad.

Apart from the franchisees that were launched, Kuoni-SOTC opened its own branches in Raipur in Chhattisgarh, Guwahati in Assam and Santacruz in Mumbai. Raipur will now become Kuoni-SOTC’s nodal office catering to the entire region of Chhattisgarh whilst Guwahati will be the hub to drive business for the entire North East region.

The launch of franchisees has significantly contributed towards the brand’s growth. Based on the potential and demand of the market, Kuoni- SOTC currently operates 109 outlets across prime locations in 55 Towns & Cities across the country. Kuoni-SOTC endeavours to open 15 outlets in the coming year across target markets. 

Vishal Suri, CEO, Tour Operating, Kuoni India said, “We have introduced an aggressive franchisee expansion plan to cater to the market needs of our customers in India. Our primary goal is to cater to customers from tier II and III cities and share our passion for creating perfect holiday moments while making holidays a priority for Indians.” 

Daniel D’souza, Head Sales, Tour Operating, Kuoni India stated “We have been able to penetrate into smaller towns and expand our footprint, thereby growing the business considerably. With a thriving business model and a solid franchising system, Kuoni-SOTC is committed to providing continuous support to its consumers and looks forward to many franchisee partnerships and regional presence in the years to come.”

Kuoni- SOTC recently held its National Franchisee Summit this April in Mumbai. The event brought together Franchisee Business Partners from across India, along with the senior and regional management of Kuoni India as well as esteemed tourism boards. The National Franchisee Summit clearly outlined Kuoni India’s plans for the way forward and was an excellent platform that allowed the Management at Kuoni- SOTC and the Franchisee Partners to collaborate and bond on the many successes in store for the future.

Five Star Chicken seeks five star franchisees pan-India

Charoen Pokphand Foods (CP Foods) is looking forward to open 100 to 150 Five Star Chicken outlets in India by the year end via the franchise route. The brand says 10 % of its total outlets are company-run while the remaining 90 % are operated by its franchisees.

With a production and processing facility at Budigere near Bengaluru, Five Star Chicken has 265 outlets in India across Bangalore, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Hyderabad.

It also operates outlets in Salem, Coimbatore and Erode in Tamil Nadu. Since the brand operates its own farms, storage and distribution freely, they are able to optimise the cost and pass on better value to its customer.

Sanjeev Pant, Senior Vice President, CP Foods, says, “We will be opening around 100 to 150 year by this year end. We will be expanding in South India followed by West. In the near future, we will also have frozen food category.”

The chicken brand, which was founded in the year 1985 in Thailand, comes from a Thai multi-national conglomerate- CP Foods with over $13 billion sales in agro and food industry globally.

Five Star Chicken is one of the most popular brands in Asia with presence in nine countries with more than 7000 outlets in Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, China, Bangladesh and India. In India, the brand launched its first outlet in November 2012 in Bangalore.

With a growing network of stores Five Star Chicken is becoming a strong neighbourhood brand offering great quality chicken at affordable prices to all consumers. The brand offers a wide range of chicken recipes/menu in spicy Indian flavours as well as other Asian and Thai flavours.

Apollo building retread franchise network

Apollo Tyres Ltd. is launching a retreading franchise initiative in India, with plans to open up to 20 “Apollo Retread Zone” (ARZ) plants there during the current fiscal year.

Apollo did not disclose its budgeted investment nor sales expectations for the initiative, which it launched last year with the opening of retread plants in Jaipur and Chennai. The third Apollo Retread Zone, in Mumbai, opened recently to service customers in western India.Apollo said the objective of the initiative is to provide quality retreading service to truck-bus customers and fleet owners. As such these branded outlets are equipped with advanced retreading equipment, high quality tread material and trained workers. 

Satish Sharma, president, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa for Apollo, said the increase in usage of radial tires in the truck-bus segment has increased the potential for retreading, and thereby the need for quality retreading outlets to service customers.

Radial truck/bus tires are capable of multiple retreads due to the strong carcass, Apollo said, with each retread costing only 25 to 27 percent of the cost of a new tire while providing nearly 90 percent of the mileage of a new tire.

Mr. Sharma said the tire maker is “committed to providing a 360-degree solution to our customers, which very much includes retreading as well, to enhance the tire life of the end-user.”

The targeted size of an ARZ retread plant is 3,000 square feet, Apollo said, with a capacity of 20 to 25 tires a day and eight to 10 employees.In addition to providing infrastructural support for these retreading outlets, Apollo Tyres also trains the employees of the ARZ franchisees at its state-of-the-art Retread Research and Training Centre in Chennai, India.