Snippets

Domino's to go online

Jubilant Foodworks, the sole franchisee for Domino's Pizza in India, has announced plans to create distribution channels at airports and railway stations and roll out a system for taking orders online. The company has also said that it would invest a part of the proceeds from its upcoming initial public offering for repayment of debts, besides undertaking expansion by opening 65-70 new outlets in the next fiscal.

Visit India Year 2009 scheme extended till March 2010

The Union tourism minister of state Sultan Ahmed has announced that the Visit India Year 2009 scheme has been extended till March 2010. MoT is also organising domestic road shows in collaboration with private sector participation in north, south, west, central, east and northeast regions of the country.

Cornell study finds distinct consumer preferences for shopping center food-service options

Shopping mall operators must take into account consumers' food-service preferences as malls are redeveloped in the current economic landscape. A new study from the Cornell Centre for Hospitality Research connects customer demographics to consumers' preferences for the arrangement and types of food outlets at shopping malls. The study, 'Customer Preferences for Restaurant Brands, Cuisine, and Food Court Configurations in Shopping Centres,' analyses the mall restaurant preferences of a national sample of 1,737 US residents.

Six Senses takes on strategic investor to capitalise on growth potential

Six Senses Resorts & Spas has entered into a strategic alliance with Miami-based Saudi entrepreneur, Laith Pharaon, who will become a stakeholder in the management arm of Six Senses group - Six Senses Mauritius. Six Senses currently operates thirteen high-end resorts branded as Soneva, Six Senses and Evason in the Maldives, Thailand, Vietnam, Oman and Jordan, with new developments underway in several additional locations.

US-based Au Bon Pain forays into India with RPG Group

Au Bon Pain, the Boston-based bakery café chain with more than 250 outlets in the USA, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand, launched its flagship cafe in Bangalore recently as a result of a JV with RPG Enterprises's retail division. The Au Bon Pain flagship cafe will serve a "build-it yourself" range and assortment of breakfast and lunch items such as sandwiches, harvest rice bowls, soups, salads, bread & bakery items, confectionaries, and hot and cold beverages. With over 250 cafes across the world, Au Bon Pain is an international bakery café chain defined by top quality flavorful, distinctive and nutritional foods, quick and easy service, reasonable prices, and high hospitality in a comfortable café environment. Keeping in mind the cultural and local taste and preferences, the menu in India will also include a whole range of vegetarian dishes. The café has been set up in a space of 2,000 sq feet and with a total investment of around Rs 60 lakh.