Friday, August 28, 2015

FOOD / ENTREPRENEURS SPECIAL ......................GLOBAL FOOD DESI HANDS

GLOBAL FOOD DESI HANDS


A fresh wave of international quick service restaurant brands in India is spawning a new generation of franchisee entrepreneurs

In his epic drama in 1903, Man and Su perman, George Bernard Shaw wrote: “There is no love sincerer than the love of food.“ More than a century later, it's not just Indian consumers who would agree with the Irish playwright; also dis playing their passion for the chow are entrepreneurs who are playing partner to some of the biggest restaurant brands in the world in what's proving to be In dia's second wave of food franchising.
If the first wave in the '90s began with the entry of mass-market mar quee brands like McDonald's, KFC, SUBWAY and Domino's, the next wave is proving to be more niche, more premium, and more differenti ated. And perhaps not as ubiquitous and familiar to the Indian consumer as the popular burger, pizza and sandwich labels.
Consider, for instance Johnny Rockets, the all-singing, alldancing burger chain from Los Angeles.Started in 1986, Johnny Rockets is present across 27 countries; it opened its first outlet in India in 2014. Or take Carl's Jr., the California-based premium burger chain that only recently flagged off its India operations. Along with its sibling restaurant-chain Hardee's, Carl's Jr. is in the top 10 fast-food chains in the US. Then there is the Canadian quick service restaurant (QSR) brand Pita Pit which is focused on healthy food alternatives -think pita bread sandwiches, soups and salads. Pita Pit, which has over 450 stores globally, opened its first outlet in India in Novem ber 2013.
If more global food brands are keen to have India outposts, it's because of the sheer explosion in the business today. The Indian food & beverage (F&B) service market is worth `2,04,438 crore, growing at a compound annual rate of 23-24% and is likely to touch `3,80,000 crore mark by 2017, says a recent Grant Thornton-FICCI report.QSR and casual dining are the two formats that form 45% and 32% of the overall market, respectively. Titled `Unlocking the potential in the food and beverage services sector,' the report says changing demographics, an increase in disposable incomes and rapid urbanisation are driving India's food sector.
That's good news for entrepreneurs keen on the franchising opportunity.But it isn't a sector just for anybody with a war chest to invest. Brands, point out experts, prefer entrepreneurs with experience in F&B -added expertise in real estate management can prove a bo nus -and want them to be hands-on in operations; financial muscle comes after this. What is more, these entrepreneurs are also responsible for introducing new food concepts to Indians (think Carl Jr.'s chargrilled burgers and Sbarro's pizza by the slice). “This calls for agility and a learning mindset among the present generation of entrepreneurs who need to go the extra mile to maintain the brand promise and establish the brand before scaling up,“ says Devendra Chawla, group president, food & FMCG, Future Group.
From an entrepreneur's point of view, a presence in an upmarket food business in the big cities comes with a bit of glamour attached to it. “Food is the new sex. Being in this business and flaunting an international label has a zing of its own,“ says Harish Bijoor, a brand strategist.
ET Magazine profiles six such food entrepreneurs who have taken their passion for and expertise in food to the high table of six international restaurant chains.

Johnny Come Lately
In 2012, three foodie friends, Vishal Chaudhry, Gaurav Sharma and Sachin Goel, decided to translate their passion into business by getting an “exciting and big American f o o d b r a n d“ i n t o I n d i a .Chaudhry and Goel were already F&B veterans of sorts, the former opening the Suede Bar & Grill and East 101 Oriental Bistro food chains in Delhi in the early 2000s, and Goel among the first to bag a SUBWAY fran chise way back in 2002. Sharma was the odd one out, having been a senior member of the team that set up Providence Equity's India office in 2007 (he worked there till 2012).
The trio set up Prime Gourmet in early 2013, and decided that they wanted a franchise of an American casual dining restaurant with an `American' look and feel. They soon zeroed in on Johnny Rockets, the all-singing, all-dancing burger chain from Los Angeles.
“The discussions with Johnny Rockets went on for over a year,“ says Bakshish Dean, chief executive of Prime Gourmet, which has the master franchisee of Johnny Rockets in India. The F&B background of the founders combined with Dean's 24 years as a professional chef helped swing the deal.
The first Johnny Rockets outlet opened in January 2014, and the brand now has three in Delhi-NCR; the plan is to have 20 more by 2018. If that sounds like a slow rollout, Dean prefers to see it as a steady one. “We are not in the numbers game,“ says Dean, adding that the brand is well calibrated in its approach.“This [the pace] might seem slow but we are focused on making each store profitable before we move forward.“
Dean reckons that Johnny Rockets has a “late-mover advantage“ because it can learn from the first wave of food entrepreneurs who brought in food brands since the '90s; and also from the mistakes of some of them who were in a hurry.He's clear that this is not a business for a quick buck. “It's capital-intensive and calls for patience and perseverance. “If you're willing to do that, the returns will come.“ After all, it isn't quite rocket science.

Heavy Mettle
On a sultry Saturday after noon in Kalyani Nagar in the middle of May, thou sands of `devotees' in the eastern neighbourhood of Pune braved the oppressive summer heat to get a glimpse of `God'. Ron `Bumblefoot' Thal, guitarist and songwriter who played lead guitar for American hard rock band Guns `n' Roses for eight years till 2014, was in the city -not for a concert but to launch Classic Rock Coffee in India.
“It was heavenly. He is the God of guitar,“ says Avinash Agarwal, chief executive of FoodJockeys, the Indian master franchisee of the US-headquartered rock and retro music themed coffee store that was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Springfield, Missouri in the US. “This was the best way to start Classic Rock Coffee in India.“
A master franchisee company has the rights to sell another company's goods or services in an area or territory.
Agarwal spent 14 years in the family business of manufacturing generators and components for the earthmoving, construction, mining and automobile industries before taking a plunge into F&B.
“I did not have any F&B experience when I contacted Classic Rock Coffee,“ recalls Agarwal.Starting up yet another coffee chain didn't exactly excite the 37-year-old -till he came to know about the rock theme concept of Classic Rock, coupled with the live roasting of green coffee beans that's unique to this chain. “I felt this was something really cool,“ he says.
But how did an F&B newbie succeed in wooing the global brand? Well, it wasn't easy; it took four months for Agarwal to clinch the deal by the end of 2013. It was around the same time that he got the master franchisee rights for Indian premium yogurt chain Cocoberry for a couple of western and southern states including Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Goa.
In the case of Classic Rock Coffee, what turned out to be a clincher for Agarwal was his enthusiasm. “I guess it was the passion I showed in their brand and my earnestness in bringing it to the country that helped me,“ he recalls.
In India, says Agarwal, Classic Rock Coffee is more than just a coffee shop. While the rock theme and live roasting are a huge pull, Agarwal has tweaked the model by adding a multi-cuisine restaurant and bar along with a huge live performance amphitheatre.
“So we are not just one of the coffee players. We are the only one,“ says Agarwal, who also runs his own brand of food outlets called FJs and plans to open 10 Classic Rock outlets by 2020.
Ask him about the chances of success in a competitive market, and Agarwal points out that the foundation had been laid by the first wave of entrepreneurs who introduced big global food brands in India in the '90s.

Burger Queen
During a two-month stint in California in 2014 at Carl's Jr.as a trainee, Sana Chopra had to wake up every morn ing at 4.30, open the restaurant, clean it (toilets, too) set the chairs and tables in place, and then take charge of the kitchen. And then get back to work on the evening shift. Chopra wasn't doing the grind to earn some pocket money but to learn how to run a food business. “If you don't have your skin in the game, then you are not in the game,“ says Sana Chopra, executive director of Cybiz BrightStar Restaurants, the master franchisee of Carl's Jr., the California-based premium burger chain.
For new-age food entrepreneurs like Chopra, 24, monetary investments in getting a global food brand to India are secondary. For the global brands, financial clout of the Indian partner is no longer a deciding factor. Chopra contends that what matters now is one's personal involvement in the brand, the time one spends in understanding the brand. “Getting a master franchisee is like entering into a marriage. It's a long-term relationship. So one has to be compatible and comfortable with each other,“ she says.
The California-based premium burger chain, known for charbroiled burgers, opened its first outlet in India in August 2015. Chopra's target is 10 every year. “This is what the last-mover advantage teaches you,“ she says when asked why she isn't in a hurry to expand. “It may be a fast-food business but one has to go slow and be content with a slow pace of returns,“ she adds.
Though the decades-old family business of real estate and F&B -Cybiz Superbrands has the master franchising rights for various restaurant brands under the Lazeez Affaire group like Out of the Box Café, Warehouse Café, Boom Box Café, Flying Saucer and Fork You -did come handy when pitching to the American food giant, it was the promise and display of commitment and deep involvement of the Indian partner that helped clinch the deal, says Chopra. The combination of real estate and F&B expertise also worked in her favour. As Chopra says, knowledge of real estate (rentals, location et al) can make or break a brand.
Declining to share the financial details involved in buying the master franchisee rights of Carl's Jr, Chopra says it runs into several crore. She's in no hurry to get it all back, and is willing to wait at least five years for Carl's Jr. to break even in India.

Chomping at the Pit
For 29-year-old Anun Dhawan, the transition from oily and spicy chicken tikka and hal eem to sandwiches and salads was as dra matic as the choice of the global food brand he represents in India. Two years back, Dhawan decided that he had enough of unhealthy eating and wanted to make a radical change in his lifestyle.What came handy was his elder brother's advice when he went to Canada to meet him in early 2013.
“Ishann took me to a Pita Pit outlet and asked me to try their made-to-order customised pita sandwiches and salads,“ recalls Dhawan, adding that the taste was so good that he got hooked to the brand that carries a tagline -Fresh thinking, healthy eating.
On returning home, Dhawan was quick to form a company called Mentor Hospitality, and didn't waste much time in bagging the franchisee rights for the healthy Canadian quick service chain for north and east India in for north and east India in 2013. The brand opened its first outlet in August this year and since then gone up to three in Delhi-NCR. Dhawan hopes to open five more outlets this year.
Dhawan is betting big on many neo-healthy converts like him. With changes in lifestyle and increases in disposable income, more people are becoming health conscious, says Dhawan. “There is a huge untapped market for a healthy alternative to the traditional fast food joints in India,“ he reckons.
There's another factor, points out Dhawan, that will help the Canadian brand develop deep roots in the country: Indians are now more open to experimenting with food, thanks to an increased exposure to global markets. “Being a foreign brand helps as the concept is already established abroad. So the reputation helps in attracting first-time customers,“ he says.
Dhawan realises that just bringing in a global brand doesn't assure success. Awareness of the market (tastes and trends), assessing the demand and the ability to cater to it in a timely fashion are key. “Even global brands can fail if they fail to adapt,“ says Dhawan, adding that getting a master franchisee is a big investment game. He spent an estimated `5 crore to rope in the brand and in opening three stores in India. The Indian partner for any global food brand in the country, says Dhawan, has to shell not only the master franchisee fee but also has to pay a royalty, incur staff expense, invest in advertising and marketing and bear the cost of real estate.Dhawan declined to share the financial details of the deal with Pita Pit.
Breaking even is not an immediate priority for Dhawan.“It's a Test match and not a T20 game, although I will play the Test match in T20 style.“

Pizza with Puri
New York-based pizza chain Sbarro made its India entry in 2007, a good 10 years after Domino's. Too late? Maybe, maybe not. The optimistic way of seeing the belated entry is that the two big daddies -Domino's and Pizza Hut -had built the market and developed the taste buds of Indians for the Italian cuisine.What's more, Sbarro is different from the early movers, in that it serves pizza by the slice in its 800-odd outlets across 33 countries.
Three years later, however, Sbarro wasn't going anywhere along with its joint venture ( JV) partner Hotz Industries. Faulty site selections and financially unviable stores contributed to the chain terminating the JV in 2010.
Four years later, Sbarro was back with a different entry strategy. Rather than tie the knot with one partner, the pizza chain inked deals with three different master franchisees for the country. Akhil Puri, chief executive of Jyoti International Foods Private Limited ( JIFPL), which holds the master franchisee rights of Sbarro for north and east India, is one of them.He too has observed Sbarro's missteps in the past. “Location plays a major role; one must be realistic about expansion and one must have the right business model,“ says Puri.
Puri's Pune-headquartered JIFPL, though, is not new to the food sector, having a presence in food supply and the cold chain sector with clients such as Chili's, Krispy Kreme and Starbucks. Its tryst with QSR started way back in 2003 when it became one of the franchisees for American fast food brand SUBWAY.
That, however, didn't make bagging the Sbarro franchise a cakewalk. Puri says it took a little over one and a half years to clinch the deal, with the US team visiting India a couple of times and the local partner travelling to the Melville, New York headquarters of Sbarro several times. For its part, the pizza chain was going through a rough patch, having exited bankruptcy in mid 2014 for the second time in three years. As a part of the restructuring package to reduce debt, Sbarro moved its headquarters to Columbus, Ohio.
Perhaps the cut-throat competition back home made overseas expansions in faster-growing markets an imperative -as well as choosing the right partners. “You are getting into a relationship, a serious, long-term one. So it's crucial for both parties to understand each other,“ says Puri, who opened Sbarro's first outlet in September 2014 in Gurgaon. There's another one in Delhi and Puri plans to take the store count to 50 in five years by exploring various business models such as food-court outlets, kiosks and home delivery.
Declining to disclose the amount paid to get the master franchisee rights, Puri says that it's a high investment game running into crores and one should not look for a quick turnaround.“After all it took Domino's about 10 years to make money,“ he says.“One has to be patient. It's not a tech industry which will give you returns overnight.“
Undeterred by the dominance of Domino's -it controls over 74% of the pizza market -Puri claims that consumers are looking for new options and that Sbarro's ingredients are far superior than the others in the market.

Wendy, Vidi, Vici?
In 2014, Sanjay Chhabra was confident of getting the American brand Wendy's to India. Reason: he was convinced that his company had the perfect credentials.For its India debut, the world's third largest burger chain after McDonald's and Burger King was looking for a serious and committed player with a strong F&B background. Chhabra seemingly has it all. He has experience in the sector, courtesy his position as director of the holding companies of Italian restaurant chain Jamie's Italian and coffee brand Barista in India. The commitment was assured by Chhabra being an independent director at auto parts company Amtek, a company valued at roughly `2,700 crore on the stock exchanges. “That's where we came out very strongly,“ avers Chhabra, director of Sierra Nevada Restaurants, a 50:50 joint venture between Rollatainers of India, owned by the Amtek Auto group, and the UK's International Market Management, which has the master franchisee of Wendy's in India.
The journey from the US to India was not a quick one. It took a year to sign the deal and another year to open the first Wendy's outlet in May this year. Chhabra plans expand to 10 stores in 2015, all concentrated in the Delhi-NCR region. “We believe in growing in a cluster format so that we can optimise the synergies of all the outlets,“ he says, a strategy in sharp contrast to the other global food brands that opened in early '90s.
With the likes of McDonald's and KFC well entrenched in the country, Chhabra is counting on a strategy of differentiation in terms of food quality, ambience of the stores and product offerings. “The menu has been considerably tweaked to suit the Indian palate,“ he adds.
Chhabra says that the new generation of master franchisees is radically different from the earlier ones not only in terms of the way they operate but also in terms of quickly drawing lessons from the mistakes of their predecessors.And one of the biggest learnings is to avoid reckless expansion. “We are not in the game of opening 100 stores and then deciding which one to close down,“ he says.
The second big learning for Chhabra is positioning of the brand. Wendy's, he points out, has not been positioned as a price warrior. “It's a value product, not a price product,“ he says.
Chhabra feels that the hands-on approach of the management also makes them different from many of the earlier franchisees. The newage food entrepreneurs are more involved in deciding menus, listening to consumers, and are more tuned to global changes in food and innovations, he claims. “Every generation has its learning curve, and we too will have ours.“
Rajiv Singh

ETM23AUG15

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