8/2/2019 Be It London or Phnom Penh

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Be it London or Phnom Penh, one will not miss the Indian curries and chicken tikka masala. Indian

cuisine has gained its popularity abroad mainly by the efforts of the small entrepreneurs who opened

mom and pop restaurants in cities with a sizeable Indian diaspora. Now the branded food and

beverage companies have taken up the task of providing authentic Indian cuisine, and they are not

just looking at markets with large number of non-resident Indians but in newer markets as well.

There is an increased interest for Indian cuisine abroad. This has mainly got to do with globalisation

and the world becoming smaller. There has been more interest in Indian things lately and primarily

since the recession. There has been a reverse influx of people where in, we see more and more of

foreigners working in India. So more Indians travelling abroad and more non-Indians coming to India

have jointly popularised the Indian food abroad, said Rajeev Matta, COO, Khana Khazana India.

According to Gaurav Marya, president, Franchise India, several small entrepreneurs have been

popularising the cuisine abroad through mom-and-pop restaurants. But in the recent time we are

seeing an interest among the branded food chains to go overseas and capitalise on the growing

demand for the cuisine. They are more keen on providing premium specialty cuisine along with better

service, he said.Sagar Ratna, The Great Kabab Factory, Copper Chimney, Moti Mahal, Bikanerwala

and Sanjeev Kapoors Indian Cookery are some among the brands keenly looking for franchising

opportunities abroad.

Indian Cookery is opening 30 outlets in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE and Qatar under its Khazana and

Yellow Chilli brands of restaurants. They are into talks with franchisees in Europe and the US as well.

No one can deny that the small Indian entrepreneurs have done the ground work; the quality and

authenticity can be questioned For instance, London boasts of many places selling Indian curries

and chicken tikka masala, but if you check those places closely they are run by Bangladeshis and the

recipes are nowhere close to what we know of them here. We are taking the Indian Cuisine to such

markets to build up on that foundation and give the real taste of India, said Matta.

However, Arvind Singhal, chairman, Technopak Advisors, finds that identifying right concepts,building up strong brands, attaining critical mass and putting systems in place are some of the major

challenges before Indian companies. We should have brands that are as powerful as McDonalds

and Pizza Hut. First they need to build a critical scale within the country so that the franchisees would

have the confidence to open not less than 100 outlets in one particular market, he said.

According to him quick service casual dining concepts work better for building up mass. Some of the

companies have started working on creating right models and building brand equity through different

ways. A scalable quick service model is Bikanos Chat Caf of Bikanerwala, which has 66 outlets.

We plan to present the Indian cuisine the fast food way with American service to make a difference,

said Yuvraj Kohli, director, Moti Mahal Delux.

Indian Cookery is using the brand equity of renowned chef Sanjeev Kapoor, Ashas uses the fame of

singer Asha Bhosle and Eastern Condiments is using the popularity of actor Mohanlal for its Taste

Buds.

sangeethag