Restaurants

The big Mac

Amit Jatia MD Hard Castle Restaurants

Amit Jatia, managing director, Hard Castle Restaurants and Vikram Bakshi, managing director, Connaught Plaza Restaurants, speak about how their vision helped them make McDonald’s a household name in India

Vikram Bakshi MD Connaught Plaza Restaurants

McDonald’s began to look at the Indian market sometime in 1990, when its executives started making exploratory trips. By 1994, some international suppliers of McDonald's had visited India to identify local partners. Meetings with agriculturists were conducted with a view to set up a supply chain. Finally, all this fructified when a 50:50 joint venture was entered between McDonald's and Hard Castle Restaurants owned by Amit Jatia (managing director) to manage the west zone. Similarly, Vikram Bakshi, managing director, Connaught Plaza Restaurants, entered into a JV with McDonald's for the Northern region. Both partners signed the JVs in April 1995.

Harbouring the desire to bring the concept of McDonald’s to India, it opened its first restaurant in India in 1996. The members of these two teams received extensive training by McDonald’s international group to ensure the maintenance of uniformity to the global quality and service standards. "Whenever you go, you will find similar serving counters, cash counters, serving trays and most surprisingly very similar behaviour by the serving boys and girls. Since the opening of its first restaurant we have proceeded to demonstrate, much to the delight of all our customers, what the McDonald's experience is all about," expresses Jatia.

The game plan

When in Rome do as the Romans do is a saying McDonald’s learnt fast in India. For the Indian market the company has developed a special menu with vegetarian selections to suit the local tastes and preferences. "We do not offer any beef or pork items in India. Only the freshest chicken, fish and vegetable products find their way into our Indian restaurants. In addition, we've re-formulated some of our products using spices favoured by Indians. Among these are McVeggie burger, McAloo Tikki burger, Veg. Pizza McPuff and Chicken McGrill burger. We've also created eggless sandwich sauces for our vegetarian customers. Even our soft serves and McShakes are eggless, offering a larger variety to our vegetarian consumers," stated Jatia.

Another important strategy adopted by the company has been to source local suppliers that provide the highest quality and freshest ingredients. Complete adherence to the Indian Government regulations on food, health and hygiene is also ensured, while maintaining its own international standards. "Stringent cleaning standards ensure that all tables, chairs and trays are sanitised several times each hour. Such meticulous attention to cleanliness extends beyond the lobby and kitchen to even the pavement and immediate areas outside the restaurant," asserts Bakshi. 'We take the burger business more seriously than anyone else' - when McDonald's founder, Ray Kroc made this memorable statement, he was letting the world know the philosophy and secret behind it's phenomenal success.

Offering quality, service, cleanliness and value is an unflinching McDonald's ideology. "We are committed to exceeding our customers' expectation in every restaurant every time. And we will seize every opportunity to innovate and lead the industry on behalf of our customers," both Jatia and Bakshi replied in unison.

On the horizon

Encouraged by the overwhelming response to its restaurants, McDonald’s India has plans to spread its wings across the country. Currently, there are 50 McDonald’s restaurants in India in the cities of Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Jaipur, Mathura, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Ludhiana, Manesar and Noida.

"We've already invested Rs 450 crore since our arrival in India in 1996. Over the next five years, we project this investment to touch Rs 800 crore which will go into development of the supply chain as well as the opening of new restaurants. The expansion will also reflect in the direct employment generation of an additional 3500, taking total employment to 6500 people," says Jatia.

McDonald’s fans can look forward to sweeter times at the outlets as the company plans to roll out Cold Kiosks, a new concept currently being tested in Mumbai, to other cities. Jatia said the new concept, which will either be part of the main outlet or adjacent to the McDonald’s outlet, will offer customers an innovative range of cold desserts such as ice creams with unusual flavours and coatings. The expansion plans will be complemented by a major initiative to make the brand affordable to a larger audience by expanding its Happy Price menu.

Jatia believes…

"Growth is always brought about on account of the market conditions. And today, the Indian market is a burgeoning with hospitality related business, as consumers are more informed and are looking for good quality, service and they are willing to pay the price for that comfort," says Jatia. The company also sees tremendous scope for both domestic and international brands within the fast food space, and now with the mushrooming of malls across the country McDonald’s is vying to capture that segment.