India is poised to undergo an unprecedented and dramatic change in the Food & Beverages (F&B) industry. Many new food chains are opening shop, some are expanding, some even going abroad, while many new food parks are being launched in India. Indeed, the coming years will be a gastronomic delight for food lovers all over the country.
McDonald’s, the largest restaurant chain in the world, will soon be indulging their customers by giving them the opportunity to choose the buns that they’d prefer to go with their burgers. There will now be a choice of two buns to go with their burgers. The healthier Focaccia will be available at an extra cost of Rs. 15. These buns will be worth the price, as these will be much tastier, contain less sugar than conventional buns, and also contain olive oil as an ingredient, which will make them more delicious. McDonald’s is making a genuine effort to create healthier foods for its consumers, in a bid to get rid of the “junk food” tag. McDonald’s has almost 400 restaurants in India, and is looking to add 250 more in the coming 5 years.
McDonald’s has also started opening a chain of “Coffee House” style F&B outlets in South and West India called McCafe. The first one to open was in Bengaluru. Over the past one and half years, it has opened across 41 restaurants in 6 cities. Besides Bengaluru, it has set up shop in Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Aurangabad and Nashik. It is looking to opening close to 150 McCafe outlets in the next 3-5 years. The McCafe concept was developed and launched successfully in Australia in 1993, and it started operations in India in late 2013. This is the third addition of McDonald’s in India, after McDelivery. McDonald’s feels that the coffee concept will catch on as there is already a liking for espresso coffee among the consumers.
Burger King has recently opened its largest restaurant in India. Located in Mumbai, this huge outlet has a capacity for accommodating 250 people at a time. The new restaurant is located at one of the iconic locations of the city. It hopes to attract both the young and the old. With a lot of institutions, banks, businesses, and premium residences in the vicinity, the new restaurant is hoping for a large number of footfalls.
Neopolitan Pizza, a quick service restaurant (QSR) chain located in Vadodara, Gujarat, is all set to go global. With over 26 pizza outlets across India, it is all set to start operations in Dubai and Canada starting this month. It is also looking to open 35 more outlets pan India within the current financial year. Riding on the steadily growing QSR market, Neopolitan Pizza is looking for franchisees in India and the Middle East in order to expand its operations both within the country as well as abroad.
Five Star Chicken is looking to open nearly 150 outlets in India by the end of this year. It is exploring franchisees for this purpose. Five Star Chicken has over 260 outlets in Bengaluru, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Hyderabad. Since the brand has its own farms, storage and distribution systems, it is able to optimize the cost and offer products at better value-for-money. Five Star Chicken is one of the most popular brands in Asia, with its presence in nine countries with more than 7000 outlets in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Malaysia and India. In India, the first outlet was launched in Bengaluru in late 2012. With its growing chain of outlets, Five Star Chicken is fast becoming a very popular chicken destination that is available at affordable prices to all its consumers.
In the beverage sector, Manpasand Beverages has received market regulator Sebi’s approval for raising Rs. 400 crore through IPO. Manpasand Beverages, the makers of “Mango Sip” as well as apple and litchi juices has manufacturing facilities at Vadodara, Dehradun and Varanasi. The funds will be utilized to pay loans, set up new facilities at Haryana and Punjab, as well as a Corporate Office in Vadodara, and expansion, renovation and modernization of old installations. The company is targeting revenues of Rs. 300 crore within this year, and Rs. 1000 crore by 2016.
Added to all these frantic activities, there is more good news for the consumer, as many food parks are being set up in various parts of the country. For example, ITC is all set to develop four food parks over the next three years in Tamil Nadu with an investment of nearly 250 crore each. Work on two of the food parks in scheduled to begin later this year. On top of this, the Govt. of India is setting-up 17 new mega food parks around the country with an investment of over 2,000 crore. Therefore, the future of the F&B sector in India is looking bright.
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