How L'opera is Growing from a French Dream to a Pan-India Reality

The store size of the new Dunkin' Donuts outlets has been reduced by Jubilant Foodworks to nearly half, as the company looks to reduce the donut brand's losses in the financial year 18, and eventually grow the business towards profitability.

Pratik Pota, chief executive officer of Jubilant Foodworks while announcing the third quarter results for financial year 2017-18 said, "So the average size has varied earlier from 800 square feet to about 1200 square feet, and the stores that we have opened have been on the smaller side, they have been ranging from 300 square feet to about 650-700 square feet," The company which operates Domino's Pizza and Dunkin' Donuts in India, had reported more than three-fold increase in its year-on-year net profit at Rs 66 crore for the third quarter ending December 31.

According to Pota, for Dunkin' Donuts, the company is looking at model that is focused on donuts and beverages, with simple food. The other part of the model is to look at smaller format stores.

He furthhe company had at the begining of the year revealed its plan to open 5 Dunkin' Donuts store through the financial year 2017-18.

Pota said, "Dunkin’ Donuts we have said that we will be opening 5 stores this year and we stay with that guidance, there is no change there. We have opened 4 already and we plan to open 1 more this quarter.”

With domestic brands like Amul, Parle, Big Bazaar and Dabur featuring in the top ten list of India's most popular brands, a Nikkei BP-Market Xcel Data Matrix survey revealed that domestic brands are liked and revered by Indian consumers at par with international brands like Samsung and Coca-Cola.

According to the Brand Asia Survey 2017, Samsung has emerged as the most popular brand in terms of consumer brand relationship, followed by food and drinks brand Amul and mobile brand Nokia.

Ashwani Arora, Senior VP Research, Director on Board, Market Xcel said, "Amul, the food and drinks brand, has scored second place this year beating Coca-Cola (rank 10) and Pepsi (rank 15).”

He added, "Parle -- a brand from the pre independence era -- goes on to prove the love people have for it still. It has ranked fifth this year and its win is solely dedicated to the wide variety of its biscuits which has satiated consumer palettes since ages," said Arora.

"Hence, Indian brands are equally liked and revered by consumers," he added.

Arora further said, Nokia which is loved brand by Indians has a high past equity and connect. The brand was once a household name in India. The relaunch of the brand in India has refurbished the emotional connect with consumers as is evident in the survey," Samsung mobiles and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) company Parle ranked fourth and fifth in terms of the most popular brands in India.

The survey also revealed that Future Group-owned retail business Big Bazaar was the only retail brand to mark a place in the top 10 popular brands at rank six.

According to Arora, the kirana shops are unable to provide the choice, ambience, service and discounts which Big Bazaar offers leading to its popularity among customers. The (Big Bazaar) brand has many firsts to its credit. The only national competitor to the brand being Reliance Retail.

The rest of the brands in the top ten category included toothpaste brand Colgate, messaging platform WhatsApp, FMCG brand Dabur and beverages company Coca-Cola.

The top 10 brands featured in the survey are a mix of technology, FMCG and retail brands.

Another interesting insight was that the brands from the automotive sphere had the least representation even among the top 20 brands during the year's survey.

"Some of the reasons attributed to (automotive) category's low affinity include low penetration, high involving, and family product more than a personal category," Arora said.

"Also the choice is vested with few members in a family. The category has low mental salience with the womenfolk."

In 13 countries across Asia, a total of 200 brands were surveyed with a mix of national and international brands.

NativeSpecial, a Food-tech startup has raised an undisclosed amount of investment from Indian Angel Network and Madurai-based Native Angels Network. The startup retails traditional snacks & sweets through their online portal across India.

NativeSpecial will incorporate the funds for up gradation of its laboratory facilities and expand to newer markets. Executing 7,000 orders so far, the three-year-old company currently has over 42 products with 20 vendors on board. Nativespecial.com's 'stock-and-sale' model includes clients who form the migrated population in metros, travelers going abroad, gift givers & corporate clients.

The company offers traditional sweets without any preservatives or additions, with delivery across India. Baskaran Veluchamy, Founder & CEO at Native Special said, "Due to the positive response garnered during the trial execution of sale last festival season among South Indian NRIs in the US, the company senses a huge market potential among them and has already started working on tapping the same.”

K Premnath, the lead investor from IAN who joins the board to provide strategic mentorship to the venture said, "Native Special caters to a very pertinent yet untapped gap in the current market through a scalable business model and effective utilization of technology to serve fresh and authentic traditional south Indian sweets and snacks.”

Native Special is looking to introduce FSSAI certifications for vendors and set up an exclusive warehouse in Chennai to enable a hassle free delivery model.

Anand Thangaraj, the lead investor in the company from Native Angels Network said, "Native Special will revive the vanishing traditional cottage sector and thereby contribute to the rural economy.”

Smaller towns and cities are expected to contribute more in shaping future demand for the FMCG sector and the digital medium is increasingly going to play a key role in engaging and influencing consumers as the e-commerce channel’s contribution to the share of sales for FMCG companies is expected to become bigger, reported Business Line.

According to a CII-BCG white paper on the FMCG sector, growth in disposable income, increased urbanisation and the increase in the number of nuclear households are driving the growth of the Indian branded FMCG sector, which is pegged at about $65 billion and has been growing at a robust pace.

Nearly two-thirds of households in the country are nuclear households and at the same family income size, nuclear families spend more on FMCG than joint families, said Abheek Singhi, Senior Partner and Director, the Boston Consulting Group.

“The FMCG sector has been delivering far superior returns over the past few years compared to most other sectors. Our projections indicate that the sector will continue to grow by 13-14 per cent in the next 5-10 years and is likely to become a $220-240 billion industry by 2025,” Singhi added.

The CII-BCG white paper will be unveiled on Monday at the CII National FMCG summit, which will see top CEOs deliberating on the theme ‘Re-imagining FMCG in India’.

Shiv Shivakumar, Chairman, CII National Committee on FMCG 2015-16, & Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo India, said the FMCG sector is already a key driving force behind ‘Make in India’ and a bedrock of talent.

Talking about the regulatory framework, he said the industry has seen a lot of openness from the food processing industry and the FSSAI and are having a constant dialogue, which is progressing in the right direction.

He further says for industry leaders included food laws, food safety, having better working relationships with the regulatory authorities, one common market in terms of tax, initiatives to grow talent and a focus on newer distribution channels.

The white paper also indicates that companies will need to focus on tier-2 and tier-3 cities and rural regions as their contribution will be an important source of demand for the sector as more and more consumers move from the non-branded to the branded segment.

With the growing number of digitally influenced FMCG buyers, companies are expected to shift more and more marketing dollars to the digital media as share of sale from the e-commerce channel grows.

RI Bureau

With a wealth of knowledge and experience between them, Costra Group Pvt. Ltd. and Silver Beach Entertainment Hospitality Pvt. Ltd.(SBEHPL) have entered into an association that is set to revolutionise the hospitality sector.

Dubai-based Costra Group is a retail solutions giant that is making a foray into the Indian hospitality sector; partnered by renowned food and beverage hospitality firm SBEHPL, owners of award-winning offerings such as Nom Nom, Silver Beach Café and Radio Bar.

Investing in an 18,000 sq. ft. property in Bandra-Kurla Complex, Mumbai, the partners aim to transform the lively commercial hub of the city with an offering that is unmatched in the food and entertainment space.

“All the restaurants under the umbrella of Silver Beach Entertainment Hospitality have been extremely popular and have proved to be sustainable in the ever-changing and dynamic scene of the hospitality industry in India. I am confidentthis new engagement with Costra Group will change the way one looks at hospitality in India,” said SBEHPL director Hitesh Keswani.

Currently evaluated at over INR 120 crore, SBEHPL continues to conquer the culinary scene, under the able leadership of Hitesh Keswani. Their innovative repertoire — on par with the best in international culinary creativity and adapted to suit the Indian palate — has trail-blazed their brands into the limelight.

With a plan to roll out over a dozen new outlets across India and the UAE by 2016, this association will further strengthen the foothold of SBEHPL’s acclaimed brands and introduce revolutionary offerings to a market that is ripe and ready for more.

Dairy Queen, the global ice cream and fast food restaurant chain is eyeing a potential Indian partner to enter India’s rapidly growing fast food market, according to a report published by ET.

After initial talks with Reliance Retail to introduce its dairy business fell through, it is learnt that the company is looking for new partners to launch its burger chain in the country.

Dairy Queen is owned by American conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway has 6,000 stores in across 19 countries.

This is Dairy Queen's second try at entering the Rs 2, 47,680 crore Indian food services market after 2011.

The restaurant chain is headquartered in Minneapolis in the US and is best known for its signature soft serve ice cream.

"The company would initially want to look at opening around 100 burger stores in India," said a person familiar with the matter. Several phone calls to the company's headquarters went unanswered.

Over the last few months, the Indian market has seen major global brands entering in the Indian market including Carl's Jr, Wendy's, Burger King, Fat Burger and Johnny Rockets have announced their entry into the country.

The total size of India's burger market is estimated to be around Rs 1,000 crore. The unorganised sector accounts for 40 per cent of sales while McDonald's controls 75 per cent of the market share in the organised sector. 

The Baker’s Dozen, a chain of artisan bread shops at Wadala and outlets in Prabhadevi and Kemps Corner, has opened its third outlet at Pali Naka, Bandra (West), Mumbai.

Sneh Jain, Co-owner, The Baker’s Dozen, on the occasion said, “We started our Prabhadevi outlet almost a year ago, and this is our third. Our unique selling proposition is that all our bread is handmade and contains no fats, preservatives or chemicals.”

The outlet offers Indian, French and other varieties of bread including the famous Indian ragi bread priced at Rs 25 and Rs 50, and the French Brioche Bread priced at Rs 110.

Costa Coffee, the British coffee retail chain, may end its franchisee arrangement with Devyani International after the company refused to commit more investments in a slowing economy to a business that has not yet turned in net profits.

According to a media report, Costa Coffee is likely to appoint other franchisees as well to grow the business rapidly.

RP Gandhi, President and Group CFO, RJ Corp, which owns Devyani International, said, “The two partners will meet soon to decide whether DIL will remain Costa Coffee's exclusive franchisee. Costa Coffee UK wants to discuss the same, and for which, a meeting has been fixed.”

Andy Marshall, Costa Coffee's Managing Director for international franchise, is also coming to India in April to discuss the matter with Devyani International officials, stated a media report.