McDonalds – through its franchisee Hardcastle Restaurants Pvt Ltd (HRPL) — is increasing its presence in India from the present 271 restaurants to between 450 to 500 restaurants by 2022 at an expenditure of US$ 500 million over the next 3 to 5 years, according to Amit Jatia, Vice-Chairman, Westlife Development Limited (WDL), which focuses on putting up and operating Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) in India through its subsidiary HRPL.
Highlighting the present phase involving new store formats, digital interventions and menu innovations such as “The Good Food Story,” which was narrated in Mumbai today to reinforce its commitment in promoting nutritive and wholesome food, Jatia reported an upswing in business with 10 consecutive quarters of positive store sales growth. “Every brand has to remain significant to customers today and Millennials are also part of that journey,” he said.
Noting that McDonalds has been serving the Indian palate for 22 years through development of an indigenous menu completely unique to India, he said its restaurants even kept the vegetarian kitchens separate from the non-vegetarian kitchen, and did not serve pork or beef in any of its restaurants in India.
The ‘Good Food Story’ highlights a menu to suit different preferences ranging from high protein (including paneer, chicken, egg and fish), besides McDonald’s being the only restaurant in the Quick Service Restaurants space in India to have a ‘Special Breakfast Menu’ like +Sausage & Egg McMuffin+, +Egg & Cheese McMuffin+ and Scrambled Eggs. Besides its signature burgers and fries, the company has launched ‘Chatpata Naan’ to accompany its recent launch of rice with the goodness of bulgar, basmati rice and fresh vegetables in select markets, and also a plethora of sides and desserts to complete a meal. Through Mcfafe, it offers a range of over 30 cold and hot dairy and fruit-based beverages.
“All the modifications in ‘The Good Food Story’ have resulted from three years of persistent re-engineering of our products for offering more wholesome and balanced food choices at great value to customers,” Jatia said, adding that, in its offering, McDonalds has reduced sodium by over 20%, oil content in mayonnaise (40%), McDonald’s patties 100% artificial preservative-free while having dietary fibre content up by 20-25%, and Soft serve being 100% milk and 96% fat-free.
With service to around 200 million customers at its 271 McDonalds restaurants across 37 cities in States including Telengana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Goa and parts of Madhya Pradesh, he said McDonald’s operated through various formats and brand extensions including standalone restaurants, Drive-thru’s, 24/7, McDelivery and dessert Kiosks with menus featuring Burgers, Finger foods, Wraps and Hot and Cold beverages, desserts, besides several of its restaurants featuring an ‘in-house’ McCafe.’
