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Westlife slates Rs 750 cr investment to roll out new McDonald’s outlets
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Tuesday, 21 April, 2015, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Nandita Vijay, Bengaluru
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fiogf49gjkf0d Westlife Development Ltd, owner of the master franchisee of McDonald’s restaurants in India, will invest Rs 750 crore over 3-5 years. Hardcastle Restaurants Pvt. Ltd (HRPL), a Westlife Development subsidiary, manages McDonald’s operations in west and south India.
The company will not only increase the number of outlets from the current 202 in the country but also embark on refurbishing the existing ones. In addition, it will pump in another Rs 100 crore to open McCafé’s. Currently each McCafé outlet needs around Rs 30-35 lakh. The quick service restaurant (QSR) major intends to increase its consumer access.
McCafés, which are a store-in-store format, enable a quick roll-out of its range of aromatic coffees, flavoured teas and frappes and muffins in the country. Over the last 18 months, McDonald’s expanded its McCafé network across 41 restaurants in six cities of Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Nashik, Aurangabad, Pune and Bengaluru.
Speaking to FnB News, Smita Jatia, managing director, Hardcastle Restaurants Pvt. Ltd, stated,“The funds are currently raised through internal accruals, we could look at a combination of internal and external financing model for the future. We hope to achieve its target of 75-150 McCafés over the next 3-5 years.”
Opening the three McCafés in Bengaluru and the first in southern India, Jatia said that these would be a one-stop location for its consumers who are looking for a variety in the menu. We selected the locations based on the consumer presence, like for instance, shopping malls, offices and colleges. The objective was to widen out consumer base from mere lunch and dinner access to coffee breaks.
Bengaluru has a great significance as a coffee hub and there is tremendous potential for growth, according to her.
McDonald’s brought its global successful café style brand extension - McCafé - to India in October 2013. It is the third line-extension for McDonald's in India after it added McDelivery and Dessert Kiosks. Now McCafé aims to reach out with its range of premium specialty coffee including cappuccino, latte, iced mocha and frappe. Prices of beverages range from Rs 90 for a latte or cappuccino and Rs 110 for a frappe.
A consumer trend towards espresso coffees, led the QSR major to unveil the McCafe concept that has now caught on globally as there are over 15,000 restaurants which sell McCafe products worldwide that’s mocha, cappuccino, espresso, Americano, latte, iced latte, iced mocha and hot chocolate iced frappés, iced fruit smoothies besides a wide range of pastries and muffins.
Hardcastle Restaurants serves around 185 million customers, annually, at its 202 McDonald’s restaurants across 24 cities in Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and parts of Madhya Pradesh. It provides direct employment to over 7,500 employees.
It operates through various formats including standalone restaurants, drive-thru’s, 24/7, McDelivery, and Dessert Kiosks. The menu features burgers, finger foods, wraps, and hot and cold beverages besides a wide range of desserts.
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