The third highest selling vodka in the world 'Khortytsa' launched at Aura, The Claridges

Sweet-Factory, known as World’s leading brand for Pick ‘n’ Mix sweets was originally started in UK. The brand is now venturing in Indian market with Franchise India as their Exclusive Partner.

They have 200 stores worldwide with their presence in US, Europe, Canada, Japan and Middle East, now venturing in India. Sweet-Factory has 36 years of global success in this segment.

Talking about their launch in India, Lisa Rosen, Managing Director, Sweet Factory said, “Indian market is a growing market; we can see more growth in the coming years. It’s an emerging market. We are targeting shopping malls and airports mainly. The brand is known for Halal, vegan and vegetarian treats. We use natural flavors and natural colors in their products.”

The brand operates in kiosks models, free standing store in middle of the mall or metro stations or in airports where they generate more traffic and more footfalls.

“We are importing all over from Europe. We don’t jeopardies on quality. The price will vary from market to market. All the products will be same in all stores India. We have local competitions in Indian market. There is hardly any brand with international name in this segment. We will be having sugar candies only. Our key target audiences are kids and people who love to eat different candies. We have customers of all ages. Our candies are eye-catchy and attractive and something unique than the other brands. We are still executing the plans for the launch in various locations in India.” she added.

It is known for the sweet jellies, marshmallows, cables & belts, chocolate coated nuts, fudge, sugar coated jellies, fizzy jellies and much more.

Korean crispy chicken brand Cravy Chicken is set to make its entry into the Indian hospitality and retail space at the Franchise India Expo 2024. The launch event, scheduled for November 29-30 at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai, marks the brand’s introduction to Indian consumers, bringing its globally recognized flavors to the country.

With a presence of over 100 stores worldwide, Cravy Chicken is known for its innovative menu that blends authentic Korean and international flavors. Signature dishes such as Seoul Sweet and Spicy chicken, New York Supreme, and Texas Chi-beque have made the brand a popular choice globally. Cravy’s advanced R&D techniques, including Air-Shower technology for tender and juicy chicken, ensure consistency in quality and flavor.

FranGlobal, holding the master franchise rights for Cravy Chicken in India, spearheads the brand’s expansion into the Indian market. Known for managing international franchise operations, FranGlobal aims to replicate Cravy Chicken’s success in this new territory.

Justin Hyunjoon Yang, CEO of Cravy said, "Cravy Chicken’s launch in India represents our commitment to sharing authentic Korean cuisine with global food lovers. We are confident that our unique flavors and world-class preparation techniques will delight Indian consumers who are eager for new and exciting culinary experiences."

Gaurav Marya, Chairman of FranGlobal said, "We are thrilled to bring Cravy Chicken to the Indian market, a country with a deep appreciation for diverse and flavorful cuisines. Our goal is to replicate the success of Cravy in Korea by offering a product that resonates with Indian consumers while staying true to the brand's essence."

The Franchise India Expo 2024, renowned as the world’s largest platform for franchise and retail opportunities, provides an ideal stage for Cravy Chicken’s debut. Visitors will get a firsthand experience of the flavors that have earned the brand its international acclaim.

Cravy Chicken’s launch highlights the growing demand for Korean cuisine in India, influenced by global culinary trends and the evolving preferences of Indian diners. With a focus on hygiene, innovative cooking techniques, and recipes adapted to local tastes, the brand aims to establish itself as a key player in India’s fast-growing food and beverage sector.

Little Caesars Pizza has forayed into the Indian market with the launch of two outlets in Ahmedabad. The US-headquartered company aims to unveil more outlets in Gujarat and across the country in the coming months.

In Ahmedabad, the brand’s first outlet has been opened near the Iskcon crossroads, while another one is inaugurated near LD College.

Little Caesars Pizza claims to be the third largest pizza chain in the world. It is operating in 26 countries, works on a franchisee-based model.

Ashok Lal, Regional Managing Director, Little Caesars Pizza, said, “Both these outlets will offer only vegetarian pizza as the market research exercise suggested keeping only vegetarian varieties and dropping chicken or any other non-vegetarian variety from the menu. However, non-vegetarian pizza varieties may be introduced in the future as per customer demands.”

“We have started with these two outlets and we have plans to open stores in other cities of Gujarat and India in the coming months. Affordable price is our main USP,” he added.

The newly launched outlets are owned and operated by franchisee firm Phoenix Enterprise Nexus India Pvt Ltd, managed by Nandish Patel, who also owns several Little Caesars Pizza restaurants in the US.

Paula Vissing, Senior Vice President (International), Little Caesar Enterprises, Inc, stated, “We believe in delivering value for affordable pizza to the customers. Our pizza varieties are cheaper than other players offering pizza in the city. We have been expanding internationally over the last several years and we will open more such outlets in the months to come.”

Growing Pizza Market

The Italian food format stood third in preference after Indian and Chinese five to six years ago. However, recent studies show that pizza is the biggest and the most profitable segment in the Quick Serve Restaurant (QSR) format.

The Indian pizza market is dominated by Jubilant Food Works and Yum Brands, who own the widely recognisable brands Domino’s and Pizza Hut, respectively. However, other brands such as Sbarro, Papa John’s and Marco’s Pizza are also competing to spread their base in India. Thus, with the increase in the number of players, the market is ripe for investors.

Serving pizza via franchise route

Global and domestic pizza brands in India are expanding their stores through the franchise route throwing many opportunities for entrepreneurs in the country. Be it Domino’s, Pizza Hut, Papa John’s,  Sbarro, Neopolitan Pizza or any other pizza brand, the majority of them are spreading their footprints via a franchise model in India. Domino’s Pizza has Jubilant FoodWorks Limited as it Master Franchisee.

Prospects in smaller cities

The Indian fast food market, which used to concentrate only in the metropolitan cities, has been witnessing a robust growth pan-India over the past few years. Tier-II and III cities are the focus of the leading pizza makers due to huge opportunities there.

In the pizza segment, competition is getting intense as franchisors are significantly ramping up their presence across tier-II and tier-III cities of India. There exists a tremendous growth opportunity for franchisors in these areas as an educated middle-class population is becoming more sophisticated with respect to standardised food consumption.

Tipping Mr Pink, the parent company of Burger Singh, has unveiled its first cloud kitchen QSR, Bowl Hub. The new brand has launched 17 simultaneous outlets across Delhi, Gurugram and Noida.

Bowl Hub has become one of the first few single-serve-bowl meal brands in the region for urban millennials and office goers, who are looking for every day quick and convenient single-serving at everyday price points.

Kabir Jeet Singh, Founder of Tipping Mr Pink, said, “For the last few months, we had been incubating the brand out of some of our existing cloud kitchens under a different project name. This was to validate our recipes, taste, and customer expectations and also to measure the unit-level economics that would work for us in the long run. Once we are confident of a product, the Tipping Mr Pink team has the ability to scale things up aggressively in no time.”

Recently, Tipping Mr Pink has also raised an undisclosed amount of funding from several marquee investors. The firm is planning to aggressively increase the footprint of both its brands, Burger Singh and Bowl Hub, in the coming few years.

Cloud kitchen market in India

The cloud kitchens, which are primarily a restaurant kitchen that takes online orders without a dine-in facility, are the new game-changers in the market.

According to the industry estimates, the daily online order volume of food has increased to 15 lakh per day since September 2018, while it was just 3.7 lakh in the same month previous year. The phenomenal growth of online food delivery market, which is estimated to be more than $15 billion, has also had a direct impact on the growth of cloud kitchens in India. 

Frost & Sullivan estimated, in 2018, that the industry is at $82 billion in terms of gross revenue bookings. It is set to over double to $200 billion by 2025, backed by a cumulative growth rate of 14%.

Benefits of Cloud Kitchens

The new concept of 'cloud kitchens', which involves low operating costs and high-profit margins, is gaining increasing traction among F&B players.

A cloud kitchen, usually situated in a remote (read cost-effective) area, is essentially space where food is prepared for delivery only and has no dine-in or takeaway facilities. In many cases, small eateries come together to share a kitchen facility where deliveries can be made easily.

Cloud kitchens reduce real estate costs as they do not require prime locations. Also, because of the fact that kitchen space is shared by many players and the production costs are much lower, the opportunity to scale up remains high.

Big Bros, a chain of Internet restaurants backed by celebrity chef Harpal Singh Sokhi, has been unveiled in Gurugram. The restaurant chain has introduced three innovative cloud kitchen brands, namely MeatMe, BhookHara and Chaatoreez, each providing a unique experience to food lovers.

Big Bros targets to go the extra mile and deliver an experience with amazing taste at the customer’s doorstep, while most online restaurants or cloud kitchens focus only on quick delivery, huge discounts and serving a larger customer base.

The brand has been founded by Rajat Sahni, Sanjay Kohli and Deepak Dandona to share the goodness of family recipes that had been kept secret for generations.

Rajat Sahni said, “Till date, Indians haven’t had a food experience at their doorstep that can rightfully compete with a visit to the restaurant. Through Big Bros, we are changing this trend by curating and delivering authentic food experiences to the customer, wherever they may be. We are launching the service with three brands and will be and expanding our portfolio as we grow.”

Sokhi, known as Energy Chef of India, is the brand ambassador of Big Bros.

Sokhi stated, “Food has been my passion, and Big Bros now allows me to take the taste of my food to every home in the country. I am excited at the prospect of creating a mesmerising food experience at the customer’s doorstep. My food has always had a tadka and similarly, Big Bros is the tadka that the food industry needed.”

Thirty two years after establishing popularity with the Coffee vs Toffee advertising proposition, the confectionary firm Lotte India Corporation is relaunching its flagship coffee toffee brand ‘Coffy Bite’.

Coffy Bite toffee has the highest recall in the company’s portfolio, which also comprises confectionary brands like Lacto King, Lotte Choco Pie and Lotte Eclairs.

Milan Wahi, Managing Director of Lotte India, said, “We expect Coffy Bite to be a significant contributor to our overall revenue which is 25% in the next three years from the current 15%.”

Lotte India has also launched a targeted nationwide marketing campaign for the coffee toffee’s comeback to stay relevant and increase its overall market share in the fast growing $1.5 billion Indian confectionary market.

Initially, four 30-second TV films will be aired in the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana. Going forward, the campaign will be scaled up nationally in a phased manner.

iD Fresh Food (India) Pvt Ltd has launched a flanker brand iD Daileez to target the traditional price sensitive markets. Through this new brand, the Bengaluru-based start-up is eyeing at catering to customers in key regions including Chennai, Kochi, Coimbatore, and Kozhikode.

At present, the food brand has introduced a 1 kg pack of idly and dosa batter at a competitive price of Rs 49. 

PC Musthafa, CEO and Co-Founder, iD Fresh Food, said, “iD Fresh’s flagship product, the idly and dosa batter, has been a pioneer in the fresh, preservative-free, ready-to-cook category. With iD Daileez, we are looking to compete in the ever-growing batter category, without damaging the existing product’s market share, while catering to extremely price-sensitive consumers.”

“iD Daileez will help us reach out to the consumers, who typically do not have access to high-quality products that are made in hygienic conditions. We are keen to strengthen our hold in the Rs 35-50 price category in target cities to make our products easily accessible to all Indians. For this financial year, we have set a target of Rs 200 million for iD Daileez,” he added.

Bira 91, Sequoia India-backed domestic beer brand, has introduced a sub-brand Boom to foray into the mass beer market.

Boom will be available in 330 ml, 650 ml bottles, and 500 ml cans, and in two variants, including Classic and Super Strong. It will be accessible across key markets such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. The 650 ml bottle of Boom is priced between Rs 130-160 in the respective markets

Ankur Jain, Founder & CEO of B9 Beverages, which owns and sells Bira 91 brand of beers, said, "We strongly believe that consumers across all socio-economic and geographic spectrum want flavor in the beers that they consume. Bira 91 BOOM has been designed to fill that gap in the market and bring flavor to the masses. We aim to activate 10 new states and go deeper into our existing markets with this product"

In May 2018, B9 Beverages had raised Rs 332.6 crore from Sofina at a reported valuation of Rs 1,300- Rs 1,400 crore.

"The proceeds will be used primarily for expansion of Bira’ distribution in the Indian market, though we have also set foot in key global markets such as the US and Asia Pacific region,” Jain further stated.

Wow! Momo, the fast-food chain, has launched its new Chinese food brand Wow! CHINA.

Sagar Daryani, Co-founder and CEO, Wow! Momo and Wow! CHINA, said, "We have launched a new brand Wow! CHINA. In the same way that we have enhanced the taste of roadside momos through Wow! Momo, at Wow! CHINA we are redefining roadside Indian-Chinese food. We are giving a new look and feel to the cuisine. We plan to convert this unorganised Indian-Chinese cuisine market into an organised one."

"There are many brands which have been doing Indian-Chinese but there is no brand to my knowledge as such which has been serving across India as a national player and no brand has innovated and tried to give a different look and feel to this food. And the best part is, Chinese is well accepted in all parts of the country and that is what we are going to thrive upon," he further stated.

Daryani added, "Wow! CHINA outlets will operate out of kiosks. The first outlet of the brand has opened in City Centre Mall, Kolkata. It is an 8×8 kiosk which is making average revenue of Rs 11 lakh per month."

Yellow Tie Hospitality, restaurant franchise management company, will launch the Taiwan-based beverage brand Chachago in India in January. The company is planning to open 100 Chachago outlets by 2021.

Apart from India, Yellow Tie Hospitality has also got the master franchise rights to develop Chachago in markets like Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and West Asia.

Karan Tanna, Founder & CEO of Yellow Tie Hospitality said, "Our focus is on developing a strong portfolio of brands in the restaurant space that can be scaled up through efficient franchising management. We felt there was lack of a beverage-focused restaurant brand in our portfolio. Hence, we decided to acquire the franchise rights for Chachago, which is known as the 'House of Milk Tea'."

"This is also the first time that an Indian company has got franchise rights to develop a brand in mature markets in the West Asian region," he added.

Chachago is known for its milk teas, bubble teas, fruit-infused beverage, cheese-based beverages, milkshakes, and other speciality beverages and desserts. The brand has a presence in Taiwan, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Tanna further stated, "We believe the brand has a huge potential in the Indian region. It will be positioned in the QSR segment with the average store size of 100-500 sq ft. Initially, we will open some flagship stores in metros on our own. Then we will look at roping in franchise territory partners for north, south, east and west and have plans to open 100 Chachago stores by 2021."

Hershey India Pvt Ltd, a part of The Hershey Company, has introduced its iconic 'Hershey's Kisses' chocolate brand in India

'Hershey's Kisses' Milk Chocolate will be available in 36 gram and 108 gram packs priced at Rs 50 and Rs 140, respectively.

In the beginning, Hershey's Kisses will be launched only in South India. It will be available in modern trade, large general trade and e-commerce in South India.

Herjit Bhalla, Managing Director, Hershey India, said, "We want to launch in South India because one-third of the chocolate market of India is in South. Then gradually we will take it to other parts of the country. "

"We have a manufacturing plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh and the other two are run in Gujarat and Telangana (Hyderabad). We will look at more manufacturing facilities to grow our presence," Bhalla added.

The Hershey Company, the fourth-largest confectioner maker in the world, will be investing $50 million in India over the next five years. The investment will be made by the company to scale up its operations in the country.

Michele Buck, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Hershey Company, said, "We will be investing $50 million during the next five years as we focus on growing and expanding our presence in India and mainly because India is one of our key International focus markets and our investments are to build this important business."