Indians to soon get a taste of authentic Japanese-style curries
Indians to soon get a taste of authentic Japanese-style curries

CoCo Ichibanya, Japan's largest curry rice chain, is foraying into the Indian market. The brand will enter the country through a joint venture between Major trading house Mitsui & Co and Coco Ichibanya curry house operator Ichibanya Co.

The joint venture looks to launch its first restaurant in Delhi-NCR early next year. It is planning a combined investment of $3 million in the Indian market for establishing its network here.

This partnership marks Mitsui's, which is one of the largest and prominent global trading and investment companies of Japan, foray into the restaurant business in India. 

Ichibanya India is eyeing to open 10 directly owned outlets within five years after establishing its flagship store and 20 franchise outlets in the following five years.

Taku Morimoto, EVP and COO of the Asia Pacific Business Unit, Mitsui & Co, said, "With a population of over 1.3 billion and a rapidly growing middle-income class, we believe the time is right to launch the CoCoICHI brand and concept in India, one of the world's largest food and beverage markets."

"By investing in businesses with direct consumer touch points, we aim to create connections with our established portfolio of businesses, industrial expertise, and deep customer networks to stimulate further growth," he added. 

Currently, Ichibanya is operating 1,264 outlets of Coco Ichi in Japan and 180 restaurants globally across US, UK, China and South East Asia. 

 
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