It's a taste of things to come. As many as 30 foreign food chains are queuing up to enter India. Many of these are Asian restaurateurs, which operate small format chains.
“Thirty-odd food chains are foraying into India as franchises. These are mostly pizza and yogurt chains, quick service restaurants and food-on the-move concepts,” says Mr Gaurav Marya, President, Franchise India.
Among those entering are Loon Tao, Berrylite, Shawarma Xpress, Ci Gusta , Kenny Roger Roasters and Sarpino's Pizzeria — most of whom are salivating at the prospect of feeding a growing middle class. Take Ci Gusta, an Italian fast food chain for ice-creams, gelato and pastries, which will be entering India by mid next year enthused by the country's huge population. “It's a young country with increasing disposable income and here lies our opportunity,” says Mr Massimo Vinciguerra, Head (International Business Development), Ci Gusta.
“We are looking at niche food segment opportunities, our USP being the Italian flavour,” he says. The food chain already has a presence in Italy, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Dubai. West Asian food chain Shawarma Xpress, with its specialty in meat, variety of breads and multiple sauce derivatives, too is queuing up to take a bite out of the Indian pie. “We are currently in Bahrain, Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia and The Kingdom of Qatar,” says Mr Andrew H. McNair, Head of Operations, Shawarma Xpress. Using the franchise route, the firm, is looking to launch 100 restaurants here over a ten year period. Mall outlets, restaurants and drive-through types are the formats that it is eying.
Sri Lanka-based Loon Tao, which ranks among the top five restaurants in the island nation, is also all set to expand in India via franchising.
The brand plans to open its first franchise location in Chandigarh in the first half of 2012. It will extend its footprint to tier-I cities like Chennai, Mumbai, Pune, Goa, Kolkata, and Bangalore as well. “We are targeting, middle and elite classes, offering fine dining format for Chinese cuisine,” says Mr Janaka Wimalananda, MD and CEO.
Berrylite Singapore plans to invest as much as $200,000 in India, setting up its yogurt chains by next summer. “We will expand in India through a master franchise model. The brand has a target to launch about 150 stores in five years,” says Mr Marc Ng, President and CEO (Berrylite). The company is offering kiosks, food courts and café formats in India, its USP being 100 per cent fat-free yogurts with a wide selection of fruit toppings. “We are targeting the young and the trendy who are conscious of their lifestyles,” he adds.
Cautious after FDI chaos
According to Mr Marya, these food chains are entering using the franchise route given the chaos over FDI in retail. “Foreign brands are apprehensive because of this whole agitation against the FDI in retail. Therefore, mostly they are coming through the franchise route rather than investing capital. For instance, a major South African food chain dropped out of the agreement due to the opposition to FDI in multi-brand,” adds Mr Marya.
In India on an average, an individual eats out once in two weeks. In Jakarta this figure is once per day.