CCD plans IPO

Sorabh Pandoh has significant expertise in sales related to luxury hospitality segment, particularly in leisure travel. In his new role as Director of Sales & Strategic Planning at Shahpura Hotels & Resorts, he will spearhead the sales operations of 15 existing hotels and devise plans for upcoming properties.

Sorab Pandoh is a highly experienced professional in the luxury hospitality industry with more than 22 years of expertise.

He has a deep understanding of the market and its workings. Previously, Sorabh worked as the Director of Sales for Claridges Collection, where he played a vital role in enhancing the brand's reach in various locations.

Currently, he is associated with Shahpura, utilizing his vast knowledge and experience to contribute to the organization's growth.

Sorabh began his professional journey at Jaypee Hotels and later worked at Intercontinental The Grand.

He then spent eight years at Shangrila Hotels before eventually rising to the position of Director of Sales at Claridges Collection.

Along the way, he has held important roles at various domestic and international hotel brands such as Intercontinental, Park, and Shangrila Hotels.

‘Having worked in the industry for many years, I am excited to bring my experience to Shahpura Hotels & Resorts and help drive the brand’s strategic business direction to new heights. I look forward to working with the team and contributing to the continued success of the company.’ said Sorabh Pandoh.

He is going to work closely with all the unit heads and the sales team in order to maintain exceptional experiences for their guests.

Sorabh has a proven track record in the luxury hospitality segment and the company is confident that he will be an important asset to Shahpura Hotels & Resorts.

‘We are exhilarated to have Sorabh on board to take immediate charge of the sales function at Shahpura Hotels & Resorts” said Digraj Singh Shahpura, Director - Shahpura Hotels & Resorts

Sorabh's exceptional leadership abilities and charming personality are expected to make a significant contribution towards improving the revenue and business sectors of Shahpura Hotels & Resorts.

He has been appointed to a higher leadership position where he will be responsible for leading a motivated team and devising a strategic sales plan for the brand.

Food deals website. KhaugaliDeals.com is planning to enter Chennai by end of this week.

New Delhi based food discount start-up promises to give discounts as high as 70% in restaurants, bars, ice-cream parlours.

The restaurant discovery and discount deals portal, which last year raised Rs 75 lakh led by angel investors, including Baskin Robbins' South Asia head Sanjay Coutinho, is currently tied-up with 10,000 restaurants in 14 cities with 6.5 lakh registered users.

Khaugalideals' website features restaurant information such as scanned menus, photos, user reviews and ratings. Khaugalideals' app is available for Android users.  

Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) is all set to revive the food business in India.

After bringing street food vendors at a single platform, the food safety body is now inviting e-commerce grocery players and food-tech entrepreneurs to follow the food safety rule.

According to FSS Act 2006, distributors, wholesalers and marketers need to be licensed and registered under the Act. Whereas, players who are a facilitator to the consumer, like foodpanda and Zomato, need to be made aware of the provisions of the FSS Act 2006.

Hence, in order to provide consumer with uniform level of protection through the availability of the option of making informed choices, FSSAI is organising an open discussion with leading players and experts to deliver safe food to consumers.

In this welcome act, the food body is also looking to decrease the legal uncertainty for the consumers.

“All food business operators in the country will be registered or licensed in accordance with the procedures laid down in the said regulations,” the statement said.

The European Union already has a regulation in place for the e-commerce business in which it has made it mandatory for them to give complete information including food safety aspects relating to food products on their respective web pages.  The regulation also enables enforcement sampling at any stage of the supply chain.

Players like Amazon, Snapdeal, Flipkart, InnerChef, foodpanda, Zomato, TravelKhana and others would be seen discussing the way forward for the growth of e-commerce food business in the country.

Mumbai based HolaChef which has already built a large customer in Mumbai and Pune is planning to enter two more cities by 2016 end.

Started in September 2014, offer daily new menus of breakfast, lunch, evening snacks and dinner prepared by select chefs.

“The centralized kitchen facility is thus an opportunity for our chefs to scale. As a result of this change, we have been able to extend our service hours (now we deliver from 9:00 am to 11:30 pm) and more categories (we have added breakfast and evening snacks recently),” shared Saurabh Saxena, Founder of HolaChef.

The food-tech start-up is also planning to replicate the same model in other cities before extending their business in that city.

“For now, we will be focusing on consolidation of operations in Mumbai and Pune. Then we plan to expand to at least 2 more cities by the end of 2016,” added Saxena.

So far, HolaChef has raised a total of 3.4 MN by Anand Lunia (India Quotient) in January 2015, Kalaari Capital in June 2015, Ratan Tata in September 2015 and a few angel investors led by Kashyap Deorah.

Costa Coffee which entered India in 2005 is planning a continuous growth in India.

The UK based coffee chain is planning to open 4-5 outlets every year, focusing on a balanced growth.

“We have seen great development in the business in India and it is creating a good competition making the category more opening and growing,” shared Ashish Chanana, COO, Costa Coffee India.

Present across over 11 cities, Costa is running over 100 stores in different formats and across different models in India.

Recently, the brand also launched its internationally crafted ‘Flat White’ coffee in India.

Owned by Kamat Hotels, Vidli Restaurants Limited has created history with the overwhelming response from public with over-subscription of almost 7 times of total shares offered.

“Vidli”, seems to have wooed the investors with its Initial Public Offering of Rs. 131.0 0 Lakhs.

The Issue which was oversubscribed before closure of the Issue, proved a magnetic attraction among the Investors. As per the details available on regulatory website, the Issue comprised 89.30 Lakhs Equity Shares at a fixed price of Rs. 10 per share and was opened for a period of three days from February 03, 2016 to February 05, 2016.

The net proceeds raised through the IPO are to be utilized inter alia to finance establishment of new food joints, general corporate purpose and issue expenses.

The issue constituted 30.25% of the post issue paid up equity share capital of the Company. Pantomath Capital Advisors (P) Ltd., a Category I Merchant Banker is the lead manager to the Issue.

Vidli Restaurants IPO received subscription from all categories including QIBs, HNIs, Corporate and retail. Interestingly, very few companies receive retail participations for IPOs on SME Exchanges. Vidli is the exceptional issue to receive tremendous Retail Participation. This is also an indication of growing popularity of BSE SME Exchange. The market analysts and investors are quite positive on the Exchange becoming a giant for the capital market. As per market analysts, Pantomath lead managed companies have better liquidity track record compared to average of other companies listed on SME Exchanges.

Incorporated in 2007, Vidli Restaurants Limited is engaged in the hospitality business and runs chain of restaurants either through own operated outlets or through franchisee operated outlets. Vidli started its commercial operations from November 2013. Over these last 2 years, Vidli has carved a niche for itself and is successfully operating 2 restaurants and running 37 franchised outlets.

Vidli runs a chain of restaurants, with the brands “VITHAL KAMATS” (Under License from Dr. Vithal Kamat) serving hygienic standardized food items in quick serve format at various outlets on national highways, state highways and cities. Currently, Vidli has 39 restaurants in western & central India having presences on major highways.

Mumbai based The United Sports Bar & Grill, has revamped its menu.

Finding space in this exciting new menu are herbs-infused drinks, lip-smacking chucks and a variety of appetizers.

The Molecular Drinks offer Beer Alaska, Green Apple Boba, Turbooze and Smoked Godfather – all edgy concoctions. The herbs-n-spice infusions in the cocktails are interesting – like Cardamom & Mint cocktail and Thyme Julep that bring a dash of flavour to an otherwise simple combinations. The Twisted Classics spring a surprise to the traditional – tequila with cumin or beer mojito. Indian Ethnics like Paan Mojito and Chatpati Chuski are sure to impress customers’with their interesting Indian twists.

Unveiling the spanking new menu, Amit Jambotkar, Vice President Operations at Mirah Hospitality said, “At United, we’ve always wanted to give the best bar experience to our patrons. Our game viewing is enthralling. Our food options are edgy as we constantly innovate with ingredients.”

Apart from these, the classic Long Island Ice Teas, Shooters, Dessert Cocktails, Single Malts, Beera, Bourbon, Vodka, Rum, Gin, Wine, Tequila, Brandy and Mocktails offer options galore.

The United’s Brand Chef, the very creative and talented Dominic Sequeira, has curated a menu that is edgy, brave and delicious.

The restaurant chain is planning to sell high on its menu like Chinese Bhel, Channa Express and Anda Kejriwal.

“We put together offers that are tough to match. Our innovative Happy Prices ensures that no matter when you walk in, there’s always a great offer waiting for you, beyond the Happy Hour,” added Janbotkar.

Bengaluru based cafe CUPPA, is planning to add more outlets in India within next few months.

Owned by Concorde Cuppa Beverages Pvt. Ltd, the restaurant chain, is planning to take the number counts to 75 from 45 outlets at present.

Talking to Franchise India, Sushil Kumar, Retail Head of the brand shared,“With the current progress, 2016 should hopefully be a promising year for us. We look to take the store count to 75 outlets pan India and venture into new cities where we do not have our presence.”

CUPPA opened its first café in Bengaluru in 2009 which was a company owned outlet. After that first franchisee outlet was opened in 2010 in Bengaluru only. 

CUPPA’s strength lies in teas. It serves a variety of national and international teas along with coffee.

“We have got a premium model named as CUPPA Bistro where customers can unwind themselves with freshly made food like Sizzlers, pastas and Chinese food along with the short eats.  This model has been a great success and we have grown great with this model,” added Kumar.

CUPPA with its great variety of Teas and ambience is also looking at expanding into the International Markets. Its menu is a great blend of Indian, continental and Chinese with some mouth watering Indian Starters and salads. It seeks franchisees to be a part of the fastest growing beverage Tea across the world.

Chaayos, Bengaluru-based Chai Point, is on an expansion spree. After launching in Delhi-NCR region three years ago; last month the company launched in Mumbai and is now ready to give a further boost its expansion plans.

"We are opening 10 stores between NCR and Mumbai by December this year," said Nitin Saluja, founder and CEO, Chaayos.

The company will have 25 cafes total and 16 dedicated delivery centres for its chai on-demand service by the end of December, said Saluja. And by early 2016, Chaayos will start focusing on southern markets as well.

The company is also running a pilot, in alpha phase, for a subscription model for the chai on demand service. Presently, customers have to order a minimum of two cups of chai for delivery that translates to an average price point of Rs 119.

It has also tied up with Zomato, TinyOwl, Swiggy, Grofers and Foodpanda as third party logistics providers for delivery side of business. "We do 150 deliveries a day of which 10% per cent come from third party sources," added Saluja.

At present, its outlets see 4500-5000 walk-ins a day across its 11 stores. Chaayos menu items are priced between Rs 49-139.

SpoonJoy, the weekly subscription-based online platform that serves to get healthy & delicious meals right at customer’s doorsteps, has raised $1 million from SAIF Partners.

With this round of funding, SpoonJoy is planning to expand its services to Delhi-NCR and Mumbai in the next two months.

Earlier in December 2014, the online food delivery portal has raised an undisclosed amount from Flipkart co-founder and CEO Sachin Bansal and chief product officer Mekin Maheshwari with participation from Sahil Barua, co-founder of Delhivery and Abhishek Goyal, founder of Tracxn.

Launched in April 2013 by Manish Jethani, former AVP (catalogue) at FashionandYou.com, SpoonJoy offers a whole some of fresh food options to office goers and customers in the same line with a motive to serve on-the-go customers.

Jethani an IIT- Roorkee graduate, later roped in his batchmates,  Sourabh Agarwal, Prateek Agrawal and Kanishk Tyagi as co-founders in the company.

At present, it is serving 700-750 orders a day with eight kitchens across Bangalore. In December, it had said it receives 350-400 orders a day, of which almost 90 per cent came from offices, while the remaining from homes.

The company earns revenue both from the subscription model where users can sign up for the month or pay-as-you order.

Nusra

Wendy’s, the world third largest burger chain after McDonald’s and Burger King, is set to open its first outlet in India on 6th May.

America based burger chain will be opening its first outlet at Sector 29 in Gurgaon and is planning to open more outlets around Delhi-NCR.

The company has entered into a license agreement through Sierra Nevada Restaurants Private Limited, a company in which Rollatainers Limited is having 50 per cent equity stake, with The Wendy's Company to develop and operate the Wendy's brand across India.

Sierra Nevada Restaurants Private Limited is a 50:50 joint venture between Rollatainers and International Market Management Ltd (IMM).

The chain is known for its square hamburgers, sea salt fries and the Frosty, a form of soft serve ice cream mixed with frozen starches.

The Wendy's system includes more than 6,500 franchise and Company-operated restaurants in the United States and 28 countries and US territories worldwide.

Odeal D'souza

Hello Curry, one of the first Food-Tech start ups from Hyderabad, has announced their entry into the Bengaluru market today.

The company has launched units at Ulsoor and Saharanagar, through which they will cover the central business district and parts of North Bangalore respectively.

After pioneering an asset light business model in Hyderabad the company is adapting a similar model for Bengaluru also.

While the unit at Ulsoor is a takeaway format that will oblige takeaway and delivery orders, the one at Saharanagar is a neighbourhood kitchen format that will process delivery orders only.

The food delivery brand is also planning to expand across Bengaluru in next few months.

Hello Curry has been conceptualised by an IT leader, Raju Bhupathi and Food Entrepreneur Sandeep Penumatsa when they identified a gap in the existing food market.

According to them, in the entire sphere of food service retail, there is no reliable brand delivering Indian food with fast food efficiencies.

Speaking at the launch, Bhupati said, “Hello Curry has solved the puzzle for customers when it comes to ordering Indian food online. Due to lack of convenient options, working lunches of busy professionals have consisted of un-appetizing pizzas and sandwiches mostly because they are easy to carry and consume. With the unique Hello curry boxes, we are making tasty Indian food more accessible”.

“It is an attempt to cater to the rising demands of the customer,” added Sandeep.

Hello Curry will also be soon launching their innovative light on purse and right on the diet option weighs and pays in Bangalore so that one orders exactly how much they want to consume.

Initially Hello Currys biryanis will be offered through “Weigh” and “Pay”. Customers can choose from nine different varieties of scrumptious biryanis, choose the exact portion size (in grams) as per their appetite and pay 50 paise per gram.

Westlife Development Limited, owner of the Master Franchisee of McDonald’s restaurants in India, has opened three McCafes in Bengaluru.

McCafe will take the expression “let's talk over a cup of coffee" to a whole new level with its aromatic coffees, flavoured teas that can be enjoyed in a relaxing ambience. “We are extremely excited with the launch of our first McCafe in South India. The city of Bengaluru has a great significance as a coffee hub and there is tremendous potential for growth. With the launch of McCafe, we will strengthen our beverage strategy and build our restaurants as a one stop destination for all customers to enjoy across all day parts,” said Smita Jatia, Managing Director - Hardcastle Restaurants.

The store-in-store format enables a quick roll-out of a McCafe with an investment of Rs 30-35 lakhs per outlet across key trading areas in metro cities of West & South India to make it easily accessible to our consumers.

“Within a span of 18 months we have expanded our McCafe network across 41 restaurants in 6 cities – Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Nashik, Aurangabad, Pune and Bengaluru.  Today, we are well on track as per the stated goal to launch 75-150 McCafés over the next 3-5 years, a clear testament to the fact that our coffees, frappes and muffins have been very well accepted by customers,” added Jatia.

The expansion of the McCafe brand and its product offering is part of the company’s goal to elevate its coffee portfolio and to become India’s favourite destination for good food and quality beverages.

McCafe uses 100 per cent Arabica coffee beans that are specially brewed by professionally trained baristas which are medium roasted to perfection, then freshly ground with every order to maintain flavour and quality and ensures freshness in every cup.

The coffee beans and espresso blend at the heart of the coffee are locally sourced from sustainable farms in Chikmangalur, India.

McCafe is the third line-extension for McDonald's in India after it added McDelivery and Dessert Kiosks in the last few years.

Besides extending its McCafe product portfolio, the restaurant re-imaging initiative gave the company a unique opportunity to create a defined space for McCafe in-restaurant, creating a brand within a brand at the point-of-sale.

Celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor is planning to enter into online food space by launching his mobile food starup.

Chef Kapoor who has already created a benchmark by from Khana Khazana  and his restaurant chains like The Yellow Chilli and Sura Vie fame will take on players like Zomato and Foodpanda in the same space.

“There is enough untapped potential in the online food market that has recently been privy to frantic fund infusion by investors,” said Chef Kapoor.

The food startup by celebrity chef will focus on predicting people's tastes and push name of restaurants and food varieties accordingly.

The group is already collecting data in Mumbai for a long period.

"We have been collecting data till now and will launch the company in Mumbai in the next six months. All I can say is that it will be a very integrated approach and will also include transactions," added Kapoor.

At present, Chef Kapoor has over 70 restaurants across India and the Middle East and has set up Wonderchef, a company that sells premium kitchen products from cookware to appliances.

The chef is also very active on organising event like MasterChef and hosting the same for over a long period has done so much for the food industry in India.

Au Bon Pain, RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group-led café bakery chain, is planning to open 55 cafés across the country over the next 18 months.

"We had announced expansion last year, but we later decided to focus on meeting customers' expectations first. We now are ready for a take-off," said Avarna Jain, founder of Au Bon Pain and daughter of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group Chairman, Sanjiv Goenka.

At present, the café bakery chain has 20 outlets in Bengaluru, four in NCR and three in Kolkata.

Primarily, the chain will focus on cities like Hyderabad and Chennai, besides adding outlets in Kolkata and the Delhi region, added Jain. The chain will also have new Au Bon Pain café restaurants in Ballygunge, New Alipore and Alipore.

With annual turnover of Rs 17 crores, the chain has now realigned its strategy like localising menus and leveraging the franchisee route to expand. Hence, the company is aiming an increased turnover of Rs 24 crore by the end of the current fiscal.

"We are already localising the menus, on Bengali New Year we have introduced baked chicken wings, cucumber lemonade, sparkling nutty espresso and a few more," informed Jain.

Jumeirah Group, the Dubai-based luxury hotels chain, is planning to enter India by 2019, reported PTI.

The group will be opening its first property in Mumbai under the brand 'Jumeirah'.

"We have already signed a management contract and by 2019 we plan to have our first operational property under the Jumeirah brand in India," said Gerald Lawless, President and CEO, Jumeirah Group.

The company is also in talks with our partner for potential development of a property in Goa.

However, the company did not disclose the name of the partner in India.

“The group will be introducing its second brand 'Venu' in India, which is related to contemporary lifestyle. We are also looking at locations like Bangalore, Chennai, New Delhi and Noida among others which are of interest to us for further development, added Lawless.

The hotel chain is aiming at opening 75 Jumeirah properties and 25 Venu hotels worldwide by 2023.

At present, Jumeirah has operational properties in cities including Abu Dhabi, Baku, Dubai, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Maldives and London.  

Taj Group of hotels, which is one of the largest hotel chains in India, is planning to open ten hotels under the brand ‘Vivanta in next five years.

The group which is undergoing several changes in the business front under the leadership of Rakesh Sarna, will now be divided and operated by different regional heads to get the best business done.

The Central zone will be headed by Farhat Jamal who has worked with Shangri-La, Prabhat Verma, COO of the Gateway brand will look after the operations in South and Rohit Khosla will be back from Sri Lanka to head the North. 

The group will also be opening Vivanta by Taj in Guwahati and Amritsar by 2015-16.

The group ha recently also bid adieu to its legendary chef Hemant Oberoi, who has served the 73 old property for about 41 years and will be working as consultant to the group for over a year.

McDonald’s is planning to test all day sales of McMuffins, Hash Browns and Hotcakes, to increase sales at its outlets.

The global chain is planning to start the test in early this April at some of the outlets in the San Diego area.

McDonald’s will push sales of certain breakfast items past the start of lunch service. The move doesn’t guarantee that the company would expand the project nationwide, a spokesperson at the brand said.

“We look forward to learning from this test, and it’s premature to speculate on any outcomes,” said Terri Hickey.

The breakfast initiative highlights McDonald’s efforts to reinvent its brand in the US and increase sales growth that has dropped in the last two years.

According to release issued by McDonald's Corporation global comparable sales decreased 1.7 per cent in February.

CG Corp, owned by Nepal's first billionaire Binod K Chaudhary, is planning to acquire Indian food companies, reported ET.

The company which owns Wai Wai brand of noodles is planning to quadruple its production from half a billion packets in the next five years in order to increase its market share in the country.

"We are very actively looking at expanding through M&A route in the food and beverage category in India. We are looking at investing several hundred crore in this category,” said said Chaudhary, Chairman of CG Corp.

CG Food India has a turnover of Rs 600 crore and is looking for right opportunities to tap the Indian food sector.

“The company is also considering providing infrastructure to food and beverage companies as well as joint venture opportunities in its upcoming food park in Rajasthan,” added Chaudhary.

Besides, it is eyeing partnerships that will help it ramp up its distribution network in south India.

The brand has a market share of 65 per cent in north-eastern states of the country and 15 per cent in northern India.

"Our presence in south and west is still small, so we are looking at expanding in that region," he added further.

The company has seven plants and is looking to set up another plant in Madhya Pradesh or Rajasthan.
 

Starbucks, the US coffee major which has over 700 cafés in the UK, is  planning to sell wine and beer in the evenings to customers, reported Telegraph UK.

The coffee chain will offer a wide range of meals and snacks along with the selection of beer and wine.

The cafe chain has also included flatbreads, hummus and pulled pork chill on the menu.

Starbucks is planning to open its ‘Starbucks evenings’ cafe’ at Stanstead airport, with the evening menu available from 4pm.

The firm says it will then look at rolling out the programme to other outlets, though they have not yet revealed the locations.

‘Starbucks Evenings’ were first launched in the US, and there are 30 cafes which now offer them, in locations including Chicago, Seattle and Atlanta.

“We are delighted to launch the first Evenings Programme in the UK. Providing a welcoming coffeehouse environment has always been our focus and now we can offer something new for the evening too,” said Ian Cranna, a spokesperson for Starbucks.

Starbucks announced a long-term plan to almost double its market value to $100 billion last year.

Hershey Co, one of the largest manufacturers of chocolate in the world has announced to use simpler ingredients in its chocolate bars and kisses brands, reported Reuters.

The company is taking such steps in accordance with the US consumers' concerns about the quality and sourcing of food.

The chocolate maker is planning to use locally produced milk, would shift to using simpler ingredients earlier this year.

Kit-Kat maker Nestle's US unit said on Tuesday that it planned to remove artificial flavours and FDA-certified colours from all Nestle chocolate candy by the end of 2015.

Hershey on Wednesday did not mention whether it would consider dropping any ingredient because of the new policy.

Information on the sourcing, manufacturing and labelling of the products would be made available on the packaging or online, the company said.

The Pennsylvania-based brand also reaffirmed its full-year 2015 sales and profit forecast and also announced a $250 million share buyback program.
 

PizzaExpress, the UK based pizza chain which entered the Indian market in 2012 is planning to open 50 outlets in the country in next five years.

The global restaurant chain that differentiates itself from the QSR crowd by its premium casual dining ambience is planning to invest around Rs 150 crore for expansion.

Last December, the brand entered the Delhi-NCR market by opening its first restaurant at Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj.

The group is also planning to open its second outlet in Ambience mall, Gurgaon next month as part of its strategy to tap into the fast-growing Indian casual dining market.

"I want PizzaExpress to become the benchmark for pizzas in India. Clearly, there is more consumer awareness and demand for premium Italian offerings in India today and we believe that our product and restaurant experience are key differentiators for our brand,” shared Ramit Bharti Mittal, Head of strategy and business development, Gourmet Investments Pvt Ltd.

The global chain has six restaurants in Mumbai. The first Indian outlet was launched in India in 2012, at Colaba in Mumbai, in partnership with Gourmet Investments, a company promoted by the Bharti Family Office.

Coca-Cola, the US beverages major is planning to launch Fuze Tea, a combination of tea and fruit juices by June 2015, says a media report.

Earlier the group has also partnered with Nestle to launch its ready to drink Nestea.

"The company is working out plans to bring Fuze Tea to retail shelves latest by June quarter - in time for peak summer season," revealed a Coca Cola official to a leading English daily.

When Restaurant India enquired the issue, the company officials did not wish to comment on the query.

Coca Cola is looking to include a larger number of functional or low-sugar beverages in its portfolio in line with increasing health consciousness among consumers across the world.

"The plan is to bottle Fuze Tea initially through Coca-Cola's bottling partner Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, and subsequently scale up the brand through its franchise bottlers," added the official.

Coca Cola wants to test the brand first through its own bottling arm before getting franchise bottlers to invest in it.

Launched in 2012, Fuze Tea is present across 40 markets globally.

It is available in over 30 variant combinations such as lemon, apple, peach and mango.

Amul, owned and managed by GCMMF is not planning to hike its milk pricesin next 4-5 months, a top official of the company said to PTI.

"Last price increase happened in May 2014. At present condition, we have no plan to raise prices in next 4-5 months because of higher production and procurement,” said R S Sodhi, MD, Amul.

The price increase is not required currently as cost of milk production is also under control in view of stable feed prices and lower energy and transportation costs, the company added.

"We will take a call after 4-5 months. If feed prices rise, then we will be forced to hike prices. Otherwise, we will not do for the heck of it. Whenever we did, we raised it by Rs 2 per litre, which is just 4 per cent," Sodhi further informed.

The average price increase in milk in the current fiscal is around 5-6 per cent, much lower than 10-12 per cent in last two years.

Meanwhile, the company has also witnessed that milk buying from Gujarat and other parts of the country, has increased to 195 lakh litres per day from the average 155 lakh litres per day because of better prices being paid to farmers as compared to private dairies.

Amul is also planning to invest Rs 50,000 crore to expand its network and set up at least 10 new processing plants across the country in next two years.

Amul, formed in 1946, is a dairy cooperative based in Anand district of Gujarat and is managed by Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation.

Sankalp Restaurant, the Ahmedabad based south-Indian cuisine chain, is planning to enter ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook market, reported ET.

"Having catered to Indian and international customers with our signature sambar (spicy South Indian curry) and other Manglorean delicacies, it is time to offer it to Indian customers a range of our other products off-the-shelf," said Kailash Goenka, Chairman and MD, Sankalp Group.

Sankalp which has over 175-crore business is planning to compete with MTR, GITS and McCain in the category.

The group is also aiming at Rs 300 crore businesses over five years.

Sankalp is the flagship brand of the group's subsidiary, Sankalp Recreation Pvt Ltd, which owns brands such as Saffron, Sam's Pizza and Salt N Pepper. Sankalp Recreation.

The brand which was earlier supplying frozen curries and pastes to its restaurant chains and institutional buyers will cater to business-to-customer while continuing with business-to-business model.

The division produces 10 tonne of sambar per day at its Mehsana facility in Gujarat, which is frozen and sent to over 150 Sankalp outlets in India and the US, the UK, Australia, Canada and West Asia.

It also produces 45,000 idlis and 5 tonne of pastes for Manglorean cuisine offers at other outlets.

"I want to ensure that Sankalp generates over Rs 400 crore turnovers with a chain of 500 outlets (franchised and company-owned) before I would divest," Goenka added.

Parag Milk Foods is targeting at Rs 1,500 crore revenue during the current fiscal by expanding into national as well as global market, reported PTI.

"We have undertaken many expansions during the last few years. We have introduced and established four brands - Gowardhan, Go, Pride of Cows and ToppUp, a new brand for beverages. Looking at the growth we are expecting Rs 1,500 crore revenue in 2014-15," said, Devendra Shah, Chairman, Parag Milk Foods.

Parag Milk has reported Rs 1,450 crore revenue in financial year 2014.

The brand is also planning to expand its product portfolio by adding cream under its Go brand and whay-based beverages in 2015.

Parag Milk is also planning to invest over Rs 120 crore through inter accrual this year for strengthening the brand and expansions.

“Last year, the company had spent Rs 75 crore and currently the ratio for domestic and exports are 80:20 and the company is targeting to increase its overseas shipments by another 10-20 per cent mainly focusing on neighbouring countries, South East Asia and the middle east,” added Shah.

The company also announced their new corporate identity and unveiled their new logo.

"This strategic move is intended to bring all our brands together under the new umbrella corporate brand, helping to build a stronger brand connect and recall with the parent company," added Shah.
 

The Future group, owned and managed by Kishore Biyani has formed a management committee to expand its food and FMCG arm Future Consumer Enterprise (FCEL), reported ET.

The group is targeting its annual sales fivefold to Rs 10,000 crore in the next five years.

The team includes founder Kishore Biyani, Ashni Biyani, Director and top executives from various divisions, such as Food Park CEO Praveen Dwivedi, fruits & vegetables division directors Sumit Saran and Vivek Dhume and recently-appointed FCEL CFO Manoj Saraf.

By March, the group is planning to partner with over nine local and international food and personal care brands to make and distribute their products across its retail chain formats.

In the recent change, Devendra Chawla will now be responsible for the groups entire buying and merchandising operations. Murali Krishnan, CEO of the recently-acquired convenience chain Nilgiris, will also head the group's other convenience store chain, KB's Fair Price and both will be part of the committee.

"FCEL has the potential to emerge as one of the largest FMCG companies in India with strong presence across home, personal care and food space," said, Kishore Biyani, CEO, Future Group.

The group is targeting at launching regional products as well as bringing international brands through partnerships.

“FCEL signed its first licensing agreement with California-based Sunkist Growers last year to launch its citrus beverage products in India, marking the group's entry into consumer business outside its private label portfolio,” added Biyani.
 

New Delhi Municipal Council is planning to set up an open air restaurant on Palika Bazaar's rooftop, reported PTI.

The civic body has invited Request for Proposal (RFP) for selection of an agency to set up the restaurant.

"A restaurant called 'Rambles' used to run at the same spot earlier, some 25 years back. It used to be one of the liveliest places in Delhi. Gazebo-style seating, open air and hot dogs at less than Rs 2," said Jalaj Shrivastava, Chairperson, NDMC.
NDMC is planning to revive the same trend by running same style of restaurant seating and live band performances.

The group is planning to set up the restaurant on the rooftop of Palika Bazaar's parking lot, which is right across the Khadi Gram Udyog outlet.

"Though it will be an open air set-up, temporary structures will be erected in some parts to ensure that visitors can enjoy, in winter, summer as well as rainy season," added Shrivastava.

However, the restaurant will be available on the rooftop, the kitchen will managed from the basement area.

"The kitchen will be along the shops running in the basement. The idea is not to disturb the landscaping done above but to beautify it," added Shrivastava.

The civic body is also planning to come up with similar restaurant near Shivaji stadium.

Goa is planning to organise a four day wine festival from 23rd to 26th January, said an official statement by tourism ministry, reports IANS.

The four day festival will be organised by Goa government’s tourism department with participation of more than 20 Indian wineries.

Apart from this, major renowned spirit brands will also be participating in the Grape Escapade, the popular wine festival.

The four day fest will also be hosting over a dozen restaurants and catering outfits over the four day period under the name of 'Popular Gourmet Festival'.

"Last year, we had 40,000 participants and visitors during the four-day Grape Escapade and it was an enthralling experience for one and all. We are sure that this year too it will be a success," said, Dilip Parulekar, Tourism Minister.

The event is also expecting an increase in B2B participation between wineries, hoteliers and restaurants as Grape Escapade provides a platform for business and trade partnerships at every edition organized during the last one decade.

"The festival also adds economic value to Goa every year as it brings together restaurateurs, wineries, and hospitality and lifestyle players and provides business networking opportunities to F and B managers and wine manufacturing units," added, Minister.

Meanwhile, all four days will feature an exclusive wine tasting sessions for invitees and wine connoisseurs apart from other allied events like grape-stomping, crowning of the Grape Escapade Queen for the year, live music, fashion shows and much more.

And Chillies Hospitality, which owns pan-Asian restaurant ‘And chillies’ in Mumbai is planning to open three more outlets in the city, reported Financial Express.

Presently, the restaurant has two operational outlets in Worli and Mahim, Mumbai. The Worli outlet has 20 covers and Mahim which recently opened has 60 covers.

Meanwhile, the group will have a long term growth plan which will be partly funded by internal accruals and partly by its partner company.

“Once the second outlet starts making profits, we want to go into opening more outlets. We believe in word of mouth advertising, which will work for our brand. Recently, we have started our marketing through media meets, which is a better platform. We are customising the dishes as per guest requirements and we also have dishes for the Jains,” said, Vaishnavi Nalawade, co-founder, And Chillies Hospitality.

And Chillies Hospitality was started in 2011 by siblings, Rahul Nalawade, Rohit Nalawade and Vaishnavi Nalawade. Shree Dutta Bhuvan, an eatery in Worli, owned by their grandfather was converted into the first outlet under the And Chillies brand.

“Since we already had the premise for the first outlet, we had to spend around Rs 30 lakh on refurbishments. For the second outlet we invested Rs 70 lakh along with our partner company. As for the future three outlets, we are looking at having 50-60 covers with an investment of around Rs 70 lakh each,” added, Rahul Nalawade, Director, And Chillies Hospitality.

The restaurant chain is also planning to start a QSR with a health food brand and launching a semi-fine dining restaurant called India Delicacies, offering regional Indian cuisines.

“We have finalised the menu for India Delicacies which will offer guests different regional cuisines of India. The next project is to launch our QRS brand by offering healthy eating options, mainly fruits and salads to consumers. Both these projects are part of our long term expansion plan which will be focused around Mumbai and then we might look at other cities,” added Vaishnavi.

Pescafresh, the Mumbai-based seafood retailer has opened three stores in Delhi by partnering with Aditya Birla’s MORE.

The group has opened three stores namely, Kirti Nagar, Rohini and Gurgaon at More supermarkets operated by Aditya Birla Retail.

Today, the brand caters to over 20,000 households across Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore with plans to have a pan India presence to reach out to every seafood consumer. Piscafresh has also partnered with national retailers like Godrej’s Nature Basket, as Future Group's Big Bazaar, Trent and Haiko.

Piscafresh is also planning to offer 38 to 40 varieties of fish to customers in Delhi-NCR. The majority of the fish supplied will be sourced from Indian coasts to uphold Pescafresh's ‘door to shore’ motto and to maintain gold class quality of fresh seafood for connoisseurs,” said Sangaram Sawant, CEO, Pescafresh.
 

Myra Vineyards, founded by ex-banker and fine food and beverage enthusiast, Ajay Shetty is planning to enter Delhi-NCR and Pondicherry by March 2015, according to a PTI report.

"New Delhi and Pondicherry are the markets we are not currently present in, but we are working towards it, by end of this financial year we should be able to enter these two markets," Ajay Shetty, CEO, Myra Vineyards told PTI.

Headquartered in Bangalore, Myra's wines are infused with a passion for viticulture and from its vineyards emerge specialised and stylised wines in regular and vintage modes- fine wines that are crafted to demystify the wine-drinking experience.

The company has also expanded its operation to key destinations like Mumbai, Pune and Goa and is looking for a good growth by next financial year.

"My target is to double the sales and production in the next fiscal year. We have done around 85,000 bottles this fiscal year, going by the current numbers, I expect it to touch anywhere between 75 per cent to 80 per cent of growth in terms of bottles in the next fiscal year," shetty added further.

The group is also planning to introduce couple of new brands in the Indian market. This year, the company has launched two categories, Reserve at super-premium segment and Two-Headed Bird (THB), at the entry level segment.

Carlson Rezidor Hotel group has entered the Northeast market by opening its first hotel in Guwahati, according to a report published by Economic Times.

The group is planning to open more hotels in the state capitals of Northeast India. With this opening, the Northeast region has got its first five star hotel.

“We are prospecting; several private investors have evinced interest in partnering us in different places of Northeast India. If we get suitable land we are keen to start a hotel in the vicinity of Kaziranga National park in Upper Assam. Another Redisson Blu is coming in Kolkata and it will be ready in another two years. We already have one hotel operating in Kolkata,” Raj Rana, Chief Executive Officer, Carlson Hotels (South Asia) Private Limited told ET.

With this opening, Carlson has added 9 hotels in its portfolio in India this year taking the number count to 73 hotels in the country.

However, across India at least 23 hotels are under various stages of consideration. The Guwahati hotel is managed by Carlson Rezidor Hotel group, while Dharmpal Satyapal group has promoted the hotel.

Dharmpal Satyapal has invested close to Rs 300 Crore in the hotel. Whereas, the Assam government has leased 5 acres of land to the project, for which it will get Rs 30 crore annually.

Burger King, which entered India earlier this month is planning to open more outlets at locations such as Connaught Place, Greater Kailash I, Nehru Place, Ambience Mall and Vasant Kunj in Delhi.

The burger chain is also planning to add outlets at Infiniti Mall in Andheri, Infiniti Mall in Malad, Phoenix Marketcity in Kurla, Korum Mall in Thane in Mumbai.

Burger King has recently launched its first outlet in Mumbai on November 22, 2014 at Oberoi Mall, Goregaon.

The opening weekend saw a crowd of over 10,000 people who queued up since 9 AM to get a bite of its 'Whopper Burger'.

The chain will operate through a mix of standalone restaurants and food court sites. 

The Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad will now have a floating restaurant, according to a report published by the Times of India.

The river will get a floating restaurant between Sardar Bridge and Vasna, where they can have an option to dine in while floating.

The restaurant will accommodate around 300 guests on board in one sail.

The total investment in setting up the restaurant is estimated to be around Rs 5 crore. The boat will have three trips in a day, while on Sunday and a public holiday the restaurant will make five trips.

The maintenance cost of the restaurant will be around Rs 14 lakh per annum and will be decorated with Gujarati culture artifacts.

"The AMC had invited tenders for this project on four different occasions. Two parties and finally a Goa-based firm was selected for the project. The AMC's share which the firm will have to give has not been fixed and the final decision will be taken by the Sabaramti Riverfront Development Corporation," a senior AMC official told ToI.

The floating restaurant will be around 50 meter long and 4.5 high.

Anant Fresh has started its successful operation in Haryana. The brand has also launched its first super market store at Kundali and also started e-commerce (online shopping) services for the customers.

Beside this, the company has also started its wholesale retailing concept in nearby area of Sonipat, and is delivering products to more than 200 mom and pops stores on daily basis. said Anant Fresh Managing Director Mr. Manoj Kumar Khatri in a press conference held at Hotel Bulbul, Sonipat, Haryana.

“In first stage our focus is Haryana and will open 10 more retail stores in the region by end of this financial year. Some of the stores would be company owned and some would be franchise in the areas like Panipat, Hisar, Kurushetra, Sirsa, Bhadurgarh, Rohatak, Gurgaon, Rewari, Jeend, Faridabad and Palwal” said, Manoj Kumar Khatri, MD, Anant Fresh. 

Best Food, one of the leading rice companies in India is planning to open 800 stores in next 2-3 years.

The group which manufactures and supplies brown and white basmati rice to Indian and overseas market, presently own 35 stores in the country.

In India, Best Foods is amongst the most penetrated brands available in more than 2000 modern retail format (MRF) outlets spread across India in 200 cities. In addition to this, the company has exclusive brand outlets across high footfall areas in Delhi/NCR.

“From an existing 35 stores, we are planning to open 800 stores in coming 2-3 years. We are investing substantially in our plants to meet our target growth”, said, Aayushman Gupta, CEO, Best Food.

Today, Best Food is clocking at Rs 2,600 crore. With an increase in demand for basmati rice with affecting factors like increasing domestic prices and export demands, the brand is planning to target Rs 5,000 crore by 2017.

Best Food, export about 70 per cent of its products in various countries across the globe.  “Our products have been widely appreciated in major countries like, Asia-Pacific, CIS, Middle East, Africa, Europe and North America” added, Gupta.

Carlson Rezidor, the global hospitality chain is planning to open 50 park Inn hotels by 2014, reports PTI.

The hospitality major will be opening the mid-scale hotels to expand its footprint in the country.

Carlson presently runs 73 hotels under the brands Radisson Blu, Radisson, Park Plaza, Park Inn by Radisson and Country Inns & Suites by Carlson in India.

The brand has 37 hotels in various stages of development under mid-scale hotels and management contract.

"We will be having over 50 operational Park Inn by Radisson by 2024. Of these, 5 hotels will be operational by the end of this year," said, Raj Rana, CEO, South Asia, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group.

The hotel group has signed with Bestech Group to build Park Inn hotels in North and Central India. However, it is looking for different partners for For South and other parts of the country.

"Though we continue to add numbers to all our brands the focus is on midscale segment as there is a huge demand for this segment as more and more middle class population is travelling domestically," he added.

The hotel chain will open its mid-scale hotels in secondary and tertiary cities, tourist and religious destinations, state capitals and outskirts of metros.

Carlson is also looking at introducing its luxury brand Quorvus Collection and upscale brand Radisson Red in India.

Tata Global Beverages Ltd (TGBL) is planning to jostle against Hindustan Unilever’s in green tea segment, reports Hindu Business Line.

The company recently launched green tea under its Tata Tea brand with smaller packs to compete Lipton brand by HUL.

 While Tata Tea has priced a pack of 5 tea bags at Rs 20, Lipton’s pack of 10 tea bags is priced at Rs 55.

TGBL also has green tea in the premium segment under Tetley brand. The brand is also planning to enter into e-commerce platform to promote its product.

“The idea was to offer green tea at a better price point to consumers in smaller towns. Till now green tea was perceived as a premium product with a few players such as Twinnings, Typhoo and Tetley in fray” said, Ajoy Misra, Managing Director, TGBL.

The company feels that there is lot of growth in the tea segment and is growing at a very fast pace. “We are planning to expand this portfolio and launch more flavours in the coming months. We expect about 10 per cent of the total sales in the tea segment to come from green tea in the next few years and establish a leadership position in the market not only in India but also globally”, he added.

 At present, green tea contributes to 3-4 per cent of the overall sales for Tata, while tea contributes to about 70 per cent and coffee about 20 per cent. About 10 per cent sales come from water.

Nestle, the FMCG major which is there in India for over 100 years said it would strengthen its presence in diverse segments, reports PTI.

The company is planning to strengthen its position in health and nutrition. And is also planning to make more investment seeking the growth perspective in the country.

"We are in this country for more than 100 years and we want to be there for another 100 years. So we want to continue to invest because of the potential," said, Etienne Benet, Nestle Head of South Asia Region.

The company which is parent for brands like Maggi and Kit Kat in India remains optimistic about India's long-term growth potential.

There are enormous opportunities in India and it is definitely a country where the company can do better, he added.

The company is focusing on nutrition, health and wellness as their main target for the development.