Elior Group completes acquisitions of Megabite Food Services and CRCL
Elior Group completes acquisitions of Megabite Food Services and CRCL

France-based Elior Group, one of the world's leading operators in the contracted food industry, announced that it has completed the simultaneous acquisitions of Megabite Food Services and C Ramachandran Catering Ltd. (CRCL), two leading Indian contract caterers for the business and industry (B&I) market.

While Elior has wholly acquired Megabite, it has picked up a majority stake in CRCL. The acquisitions were completed in an unprecedented record time of 48 hours – a first for a foreign multinational company (MNC) in India.

The successful completion of the acquisitions has sealed Elior’s entry into India.

Elior also announced the appointment of Sanjay Kumar as the CEO of its newly formed subsidiary, Elior India Catering LLP.

Sanjay, who was the brainchild behind Elior’s entry into India, will be responsible for the company’s operations in the country. He will report directly to Philippe Salle, Chairman and CEO of Elior Group and will also be a member of the Group Management Committee.

Prior to joining Elior Group, Sanjay was with Altran, overseeing the company’s India operations as its CEO and Managing Director. An industry veteran with over 30 years of experience, Sanjay has also worked with the Royal Dutch Shell Group for 18 years, where he held various significant positions in Europe and Asia.

Sanjay Kumar, CEO, Elior India said, "This is a watershed moment in Elior’s 25-year history. The India market offers a lot of promise and we expect to generate annual revenues of $100 million through our acquisitions. Our aim is to create a national footprint through more acquisition-driven consolidations, whilst also continuing to focus on quality, safety, and the strengths of our acquisitions – all of which are our key differentiators.

We are confident that our India operations will help open an exciting new chapter of growth for the company as it allows us to expand into other emerging markets, which is one of the key objectives to meet our 2020 goals."

In India, Elior will compete with other established global players to gain market share in a highly fragmented and unorganized catering market which is worth $2.7 - $3.3 billion and growing at a CAGR in excess of 15%.

 
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Elior in talks with food tech brands for extending its operations
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Elior, the contract food catering and support services provider, is in talks with multiple food tech brands for extending operations from the business-to-business space to include a consumer-facing business. For the same, Elior will soon be introducing a business-to-consumer food services arm.

Sanjay Kumar, Managing Director of Elior India, said, “The company has outpaced industry growth in food services, and that it plans to touch sales of $100 million in India by 2020. Compass and Sodexo are the other two significant contract catering operators in the country.”

The contract catering market in India comprises of more than two million organised caterers, and is valued at $3.3 billion, clocking a growth of 16%.

The Elior group had entered India three years back. It owns a majority 70% stake in Chennai-based CRCL and acquired Bengaluru-based Megabite Food Services.  

Elior has eight central kitchens in the country. It is serving over one lakh meals daily to the employees of various corporate clients.

 

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Elior India sets up Central Kitchens in Delhi & Hyderabad
Elior India sets up Central Kitchens in Delhi & Hyderabad
 

Elior India, a premium food services company for the corporate and industrial segment, has opened its state-of-the-art Central Kitchens in Delhi and Hyderabad to service the food demands of the corporate and institutional segment. 

By adding Delhi and Hyderabad into its network, Elior India has enhanced its capacity by 20% and also become a national player in the premium food service space.

Presently, Elior India, a subsidiary of French Elior Group, has 8 Central Kitchens in India. Besides these Central kitchens, the company is also managing 26 on-site kitchens.  

Sanjay Kumar, MD & CEO, Elior India, said, “We have been serving two lakh meals a day so far.  The addition of Delhi and Hyderabad will increase our capacity by 20% a day.  In the next two years’ time, we will be serving at least 1 lakh meal a day in these two cities. With Central kitchens going live in Delhi and Hyderabad, we have completed our national presence with the presence in all the metro cities in the country and also in Central India at Bhopal.”

“Elior India follows the Central kitchen model and the Chef-driven food service model which helps them to service a lot of customers and gain customer satisfaction by addressing specific menu demands. Today, all those companies which are listed as Great Places to Work are our customers.  These companies see food as an employee value proposition,” he added.

 

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Elior India starts operations in Delhi & Hyderabad
Elior India starts operations in Delhi & Hyderabad
 

As part of its expansion plans in India, food services firm Elior India has started its operations in Delhi and Hyderabad.

The company has further set up a 15,000 sq ft centralised kitchen in Delhi, which is equipped to prepare about 40,000 meals per day.

Sanjay Kumar, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Elior India, said, "We are pleased to announce that by launching our Delhi and Hyderabad operations, we have achieved a major milestone of completing our national footprint."

"Through constant expansion and the growing awareness among corporate employees for healthy food, Elior India continues to outpace industry growth in the food services segment in India," he added.

Elior India has eight central kitchens in the country. It serves more than one lakh meals daily to the employees of various corporate clients

Elior Group, a leading operator globally in catering and related services, is catering to 5.5 million guests each day across 16 countries employing around 1,27,000 people.

 

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Elior Group joins hands with MegaBite Food Services and CRCL
Elior Group joins hands with MegaBite Food Services and CRCL
 

Elior Group, one of world's leading operators in the contracted food industry, has announced its entry into the Indian market with the simultaneous acquisitions of MegaBite Food Services and CRCL, two leading contract caterers for the business and industry market. The new subsidiary, Elior India, will serve 135,000 meals per day with over 3,500 employees.

Philippe Salle, Chairman and CEO, Elior Group, said, "This move in India allows us to expand into emerging markets, which is one of the objectives of our 2016-2020 strategic plan. We believe India is one of the most promising markets with significant growth potential and a very fragmented profile. The combined acquisitions of MegaBite and CRCL will position the Group among the top 3 contract caterers in the Indian market."

MegaBite Food Services is the top player in premium corporate catering in Bangalore. It was founded in 2005 by three ex-hoteliers. Its customers include Cisco, Microsoft, Google, McKinsey and Shell. MegaBite has been wholly acquired by Elior Group.

Chef Prabhakar, MegaBite Food Services, said, "We are extremely excited to be part of Elior Group. We look forward to harnessing their global expertise to delight our customers even more as this has been the core of our value proposition. We believe this relationship can help us introduce more innovative offerings for our customers."

Based in Chennai, CRCL is one of the largest industrial catering companies in South India with over 33 years of experience in the contract catering business. Its customer list includes prestigious names like Daimler, Pfizer, MRF and Vellore Institute of Technology. Elior Group has acquired a majority stake in CRCL.

D.R.E. Reddy, Managing Director of CRCL, said, "We look forward to this partnership which we believe will deliver a higher value to our customers and enable this business to move to the next level. This will be a strong platform for accelerated growth over the coming years. We expect this alliance to achieve global standards."

Philippe Salle said, "We are convinced that food offering is a critical employee value proposition in an increasingly competitive and changing work space. The awareness is still nascent in India and we believe that we are in the right place at the right time with the right partnerships. Both MegaBite and CRCL are premium top contract catering companies whose values are aligned with those of Elior Group."

The transaction is expected to close within the next 90 days, subject to customary closing conditions.

 

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