"We are looking at expanding both DeeZ and Filmy Cafe & Bar"

Thakur Bhuvan Singh completed Bsc (Hons) in Hotel & Restaurant Management from Oxford Brooks University, UK and worked at Radisson, New Delhi as a trainee. On completion he joined his father’s restaurant business under the brand DeeZ Biryani | Kebab | Curry. He worked with his father towards the expansion of the brand from a Single Restaurant to six restaurants at present. Here are the excerpts from the interview.

What made you enter into food business?

My interest in the F&B industry led me to create something more diverse in terms of both food and service and hence I decided to launch a Multi Cuisine Cafe and Bar under the brand Filmy Cafe & Bar by DeeZ.    

How many stores are there within your brand today and what is the average store size?

This is the first store and it’s in 2000Sq.ft.

What’s so filmy about your new restaurant?

The theme, the interiors, the experience the music and everything else is Filmy! We have different walls showcasing different film trivia like Famous dialogues, major blockbusters from 50’s to 2010’s, a James Bond corner etc. the props are also very filmy like the PK radio of Amir Khan, film clapper from Universal studios, Helmet from 300 etc.

What are the initial challenges and how have you met these challenges?

The initial expansion (two more restaurants) will be done as company owned restaurants and not franchised restaurants. During this period we will develop our expertise in replicating the successful model that we have. We have already started working of creating Standard Operating Procedures and Manual which will help our future restaurant management teams to maintain the same standards of food, quality, service and customer experience. 

Can you tell us more about your Business operations from the standpoint of Loyalty Program, technology (Hardware & software), raw material sourcing and talent recruitment & training?

Being a Unit of DeeZ, a lot these things have been a part of our operations from day one. We have complete recipe management solution borrowed from the central kitchens of DeeZ and we also have CRM systems which maintain a database of customer details as well as previous orders and likes/dislikes (if any). The material sourcing is done at DeeZ Central kItchen thereby enabling us to get great price and quality through our suppliers who have been working with us for many years.

What is the average duration spent by the customers’ at you cafe and the average price break up?

We have two categories of Customers who visit us. The first being the cinema goers, who usually visit us before the movie show or during intervals, these customers have little time and usually order for quick snacks and shots. They typically spend anywhere between 15-30 minutes and we ensure that the service they receive is very quick with average price cost of Rs 400-500. The other are the regular diners who take out time and enjoy our food, beverages, shesha and music. They typically spend 2-3 hours with around Rs 800-1000 total spend.

Do you have a growth targets for the next few years and can you reveal any strategy for how you intend to achieve this?

We are looking at expanding both DeeZ and Filmy Cafe & Bar brands across Delhi NCR. The targets are 5 DeeZ and 2 Filmy Cafe and bar before December 2016. All these will be company owned outlets. We will be franchising both the brands outside Delhi NCR.

How are you building on quality at a time when restaurants are much more focusing on the concept and theme?

We believe that our restaurants should please each of the five senses but taste should be the foremost. DeeZ has been famous for its taste and quality of its food products and we have enjoyed this reputation for almost three decades. We wish to attain the same status for Filmy as well. We have strict quality control measures as we believe that repeat clientele will always endorse you if you have good taste and quality of food products. We are selling food as the primary product the concept and theme are an additional secondary support.

Where would you like to see your Brand in the next 5 years?

We would like to take things one step at a time and hence we only make projections and targets for the next year which I have already shared with you.