1. ON A FAST 'FOOD' TRACK
Samar Qureshi, director, Fast Trax Foods Pvt. Ltd. has the credit of building one of the most successful, Indian, fast -food empires. Braving the biggest recession since 1930, successfully catering the Commonwealth Games and managing a sale 56 per cent based solely on positive word of mouth, Qureshi has managed to pull off the unimaginable going from two outlets to 22 stores in just a few years. Having spent most of his formative years in Australia, Qureshi came back to India with the mission to begin Fast Trax.
"In Australia, I worked part-time as a member of a popular fast-food chain's crew. That was my first taste of the fast-food industry. I remember being completely fascinated by the concept of a 'quick service restaurant (QSR)'. The gap between a proper QSR format restaurant and traditional Indian flavoured one was vastly apparent in India. It was in 2005 when I decided to diversify and set up a QSR format restaurant," he expresses. Fast Trax is one of the first fast-food chains to be present at Delhi's leading schools. They have been a part of three international events in Delhi since their inception.
"At the CWG event held recently in Delhi, we set a new Indian record of selling over 6,00,000 fresh burgers in the shortest time period ever," adds Qureshi. But the road to success is never that easy and one has to face challenges head-on.
Talking about the challenges that his venture faced, Qureshi adds, "We knew right from the beginning that establishing an all-Indian fast-food brand with international items on our menu, in a market dominated by foreign MNC players would not be an easy task. First, we faced the problem of establishing ourselves as a brand. Acceptability was also another big challenge where people were used to really high standards. Our aim was to bring out better quality product, so that it is acceptable by our consumer," he concludes.
2. RECIPE FOR SUCCESS
After working for GE Capital across North America, Ashish Kapur returned to India to set up Yo! China, one of India's largest chains offering Indian Chinese cuisine in almost all corners of the country. "Yo! China is the result of great ambitions in the F&B space by six enterprising individuals and was launched in 2003. I have always felt that one can create a powerful brand with a fast-food chain in India. With a population of over 350 million middle-class citizens, the opportunity to operate a Chinese fast-food chain on a national level was new and yet to be explored," he says.
Today, Kapur is delighted to report that Yo! China has 50 points of purchase across the country, which goes to show of its popularity. But there have been certain roadblocks on the way too. "It is important for a nation-wide restaurant chain like ours to maintain retail and quality standards. But in a market like India, this becomes a challenge as the cold supply chain of our raw material varies to a great extent from region to region," adds Kapur.
Kapur feels that spiralling capital costs are difficult to manage if you want to maintain the same price point for customers - especially for a home-grown chain like theirs. "However, we have successfully competed with many international fast food chains," explains Kapur.
3. FOOD FOR THOUGHT
After completing his bachelors in hospitality management from Australia, Manish Aggarwal, director, Bikanervala Foods Pvt Ltd returned to India in 2000 to join his family business. "Bikanervala, started by my grandfather, is one of India's most prominent families in the business of traditional hospitality products like sweets and namkeens. We also have a chain of fast-food restaurants all across the country. To this wealth of inherited knowledge, our new generation has now added another dimension - modern technology," informs Aggarwal. Today, Bikanervala has four modern manufacturing units in the National Capital Region and a chain of 88 outlets in India and abroad.
So, how did the idea of getting into a fast-food chain come about and how successful has it been? "The idea of launching a chain of restaurants came to us from the fact that a lot of people in India had started 'eating out' and there were not many restaurants in Delhi at that time. And since we were into the food business already, we thought of exploring this option as well. We started with our first restaurant in Karol Bagh. From there on, we gradually increased our fastfood chain in India. Internationally, we are present in Dubai, New Zealand, UK and Nepal," expresses Aggarwal.
Talking about the challenges they faced so far in their journey, Aggarwal further explains, "In the food industry, the biggest challenge is that you have to maintain the quality of food. The chefs and other staff have to be trained; the raw materials, finished quality and presentation also need to be checked. The service is also very important these days."
These entrepreneurs have carved a niche for themselves by introducing consumer-friendly concepts and looking at the enthusiasm displayed by Indian foodies, there will be many more fast-food chains waiting to join the bandwagon.
Written by
Samar Qureshi, director, Fast Trax Foods Pvt. Ltd. has the credit of building one of the most successful, Indian, fast -food empires. Braving the biggest recession since 1930, successfully catering the Commonwealth Games and managing a sale 56 per cent based solely on positive word of mouth, Qureshi has managed to pull off the unimaginable going from two outlets to 22 stores in just a few years. Having spent most of his formative years in Australia, Qureshi came back to India with the mission to begin Fast Trax.
"In Australia, I worked part-time as a member of a popular fast-food chain's crew. That was my first taste of the fast-food industry. I remember being completely fascinated by the concept of a 'quick service restaurant (QSR)'. The gap between a proper QSR format restaurant and traditional Indian flavoured one was vastly apparent in India. It was in 2005 when I decided to diversify and set up a QSR format restaurant," he expresses. Fast Trax is one of the first fast-food chains to be present at Delhi's leading schools. They have been a part of three international events in Delhi since their inception.
"At the CWG event held recently in Delhi, we set a new Indian record of selling over 6,00,000 fresh burgers in the shortest time period ever," adds Qureshi. But the road to success is never that easy and one has to face challenges head-on.
Talking about the challenges that his venture faced, Qureshi adds, "We knew right from the beginning that establishing an all-Indian fast-food brand with international items on our menu, in a market dominated by foreign MNC players would not be an easy task. First, we faced the problem of establishing ourselves as a brand. Acceptability was also another big challenge where people were used to really high standards. Our aim was to bring out better quality product, so that it is acceptable by our consumer," he concludes.
2. RECIPE FOR SUCCESS
After working for GE Capital across North America, Ashish Kapur returned to India to set up Yo! China, one of India's largest chains offering Indian Chinese cuisine in almost all corners of the country. "Yo! China is the result of great ambitions in the F&B space by six enterprising individuals and was launched in 2003. I have always felt that one can create a powerful brand with a fast-food chain in India. With a population of over 350 million middle-class citizens, the opportunity to operate a Chinese fast-food chain on a national level was new and yet to be explored," he says.
Today, Kapur is delighted to report that Yo! China has 50 points of purchase across the country, which goes to show of its popularity. But there have been certain roadblocks on the way too. "It is important for a nation-wide restaurant chain like ours to maintain retail and quality standards. But in a market like India, this becomes a challenge as the cold supply chain of our raw material varies to a great extent from region to region," adds Kapur.
Kapur feels that spiralling capital costs are difficult to manage if you want to maintain the same price point for customers - especially for a home-grown chain like theirs. "However, we have successfully competed with many international fast food chains," explains Kapur.
3. FOOD FOR THOUGHT
After completing his bachelors in hospitality management from Australia, Manish Aggarwal, director, Bikanervala Foods Pvt Ltd returned to India in 2000 to join his family business. "Bikanervala, started by my grandfather, is one of India's most prominent families in the business of traditional hospitality products like sweets and namkeens. We also have a chain of fast-food restaurants all across the country. To this wealth of inherited knowledge, our new generation has now added another dimension - modern technology," informs Aggarwal. Today, Bikanervala has four modern manufacturing units in the National Capital Region and a chain of 88 outlets in India and abroad.
So, how did the idea of getting into a fast-food chain come about and how successful has it been? "The idea of launching a chain of restaurants came to us from the fact that a lot of people in India had started 'eating out' and there were not many restaurants in Delhi at that time. And since we were into the food business already, we thought of exploring this option as well. We started with our first restaurant in Karol Bagh. From there on, we gradually increased our fastfood chain in India. Internationally, we are present in Dubai, New Zealand, UK and Nepal," expresses Aggarwal.
Talking about the challenges they faced so far in their journey, Aggarwal further explains, "In the food industry, the biggest challenge is that you have to maintain the quality of food. The chefs and other staff have to be trained; the raw materials, finished quality and presentation also need to be checked. The service is also very important these days."
These entrepreneurs have carved a niche for themselves by introducing consumer-friendly concepts and looking at the enthusiasm displayed by Indian foodies, there will be many more fast-food chains waiting to join the bandwagon.
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