QSR (quick service restaurant) chain Devyani International plans to grow its Swensen's and Vaango brands through a market saturation strategy rather than expand rapidly across the country.
Swensen's is a US-based luxury ice-cream retailing brand, while Vaango is a South Indian food retailing brand.
DI is the master franchisee for Pizza Hut, KFC, Costa Coffee and Swensen's ice-creams in India, while it owns the Vaango chain of South Indian food outlets. The company plans to add around 140 stores at an investment of about Rs 200 crore in the current fiscal across its five QSR brands.
Swensen's, known for its sundaes, currently has seven outlets in Bangalore and plans to enter Chennai and Hyderabad during the next financial year. Similarly, Vaango, which has seven outlets in Delhi will be taken to other regions only after the current fiscal, said Mr Virag Joshi, CEO and President, Devyani International.
“We want to achieve operational excellence and better control before expanding to other markets,” he explained. The company plans to invest about Rs 100 crore on expansion of Swensen's chain in the next five years.
DI Ltd is an associate company of RJ Corp which has interests in bottling, ice-cream, healthcare, real estate and education.