Friday 29 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on August 16, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: Berjaya Food Bhd (BFood) is looking to strengthen its foothold in India with the opening of at least 30 Kenny Rogers Roasters (KRR) restaurants and 75 Jollibean kiosks via a partnership with an Indian firm.

The outlets will be progressively rolled out over the next five years with the Indian firm, World Iconic Brands Hospitality Private Ltd (WIB), investing US$50 million (RM205 million), said the firm’s managing director Gaurav Marya.

Gaurav was speaking at the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between his firm and BFood yesterday. Present at the ceremony were Kenny Rogers Roasters International senior vice-president Luis Daniel, and Bfood chief executive officer Sydney Quays.

Quays, speaking at a press conference later, said the two groups are seeking to open outlets in as many cities in India as possible.

“[The numbers] 75 and 30 for the next five years are very preliminary. Tentatively, based on the models that we have, I think we have the capability of doing a lot more than that,” said Quays.

“There is a growing demand for healthy food, and these are rapidly gaining favour with consumers. We hope that the opening of these two brands will further fuel the healthy trend in India, and translate into a more accepting society towards a health-focused nation,” he added.

Gaurav said India’s booming bricks-and-mortar retail sector will add to India’s already vibrant demographics, whereby one-third of its population are under the age of 25. Retail space is only expected to rise by another 400 shopping malls in the years to come, to the existing 970 malls in the country, he said.

Against such a backdrop, Quays said the pan-Indian expansion is expected to contribute positively to the group in the future.

The MoU will see WIB as the development agency responsible for commerce development of the KRR and Jollibean brands.

WIB is owned by Franchise India Holdings Ltd, an integrated franchise solutions company that manages 400 brands in India.

Meanwhile, the chicken-based chain KRR and Jollibean — as with Starbucks Malaysia — are brands under BFood. Jollibean is a quick service concept soy-based brand currently only present in Singapore.

Besides one outlet in Chandigarh of India, there are currently close to 200 KRR restaurants across Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Bangladesh, and Dubai.

The MoU yesterday will pave way for the group to open new KRR stores in the states of Goa, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as in Hyderabad city, said Luis.

Gaurav expects the partnership to bear fruit with the birth of a new store, possibly in Hyderabad, by early 2019.

Shares in BFood closed two sen or 1.35% higher at RM1.50 yesterday, with a market capitalisation of RM564.25 million.

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