South Africa-listed company Famous Brands will expand into India with the opening of its pilot Debonairs Pizza restaurant in Mumbai in July.
The quick service and casual dining restaurant franchisor has signed a master license agreement with Diwa Hospitality, a subsidiary of the conglomerate Parekh Group. In the short-term, five restaurants will be opened in Mumbai.
“Entering the Indian market is as much about our partners as it is about the market. They will give us local knowledge advantage which is critical to the sustainability of this venture,” said Famous Brands COO Darren Hele.
“Whilst Debonairs Pizza is Africa’s biggest pizza brand and the group is confident of exporting the concept, in-depth research has shown that the model must be relevant from day one, and be re-engineered to fit the Indian market,” said Hele.
Debonairs Pizza’s Mumbai offer will be customised with a strong vegetarian bias and innovative product offerings designed to support the cost conscious ‘’grab-and-go’ Mumbai consumers.
Debonairs Pizza’s free home delivery model, for which the brand is famous, will remain intact given that home delivery accounts for a significant portion of the pizza business in India, says the company.
The group has received investment enquiries from a range of emerging market countries but selected India for several key reasons.
“There are very strong factors driving growth in the food services industry in India, including a general increase in disposable income, intensified urbanisation and the exponential growth in the population segment most likely to consume processed food – the five to 35 year age group – which is projected to grow to 51 per cent of the total population by 2020,” said Hele.
“In addition, pizza currently accounts for the biggest share of the QSR market in India and is the fastest growing segment. The QSR market is expected to grow from US$15 billion (2011) to US$50 billion in 2020, at a faster rate than even the Chinese market.”
According to Diwa Hospitality director Yogesh Parekh, they decided to tie up with the South African restaurant operator as they share an optimism for the growth potential in the market.
“This partnership with Diwa Hospitality is specific to Mumbai and Debonairs Pizza at this point, but we are optimistic that the success of this venture will enable us to extend our relationship with them to other brands in the group’s portfolio and other markets in India,” Hele said.
Debonairs Pizza currently trades out of 345 restaurants in South Africa and a further 60 restaurants in 14 other African countries.
