Spreading
its wings
International
fast food joints are a threat to Indian companies, but with aggressive
expansion strategies in place Nirula’s is making a comeback, reports
TFPJ
The
Indian consumer is becoming more and more discerning over time. The
change started with the trend of dining out and gradually newer options
emerged in the market.
Back in the 1990’s a number of international fast food chains stepped
into the country to satisfy the yearning of the Indian palate. McDonald’s,
Wimpy’s, KFC, Pizza Hut and Domino’s forayed into the scene.
With increasing competition, partly due to the new food items and the
experience that the multinationals brought with them, it was time for
the original Indian fast food joints, like Nirula’s to take a backseat.
Fast forward to the year 2004: Nirula’s, after almost a decade
in relative hibernation, has bounced back as a contender for the fast
foods pie in the Indian basket. Let’s take a look at how this indigenous
company turned around its image and its offerings.
The group’s beginning was a modest one with a 12-room hotel opening
in 1934, which preceded a brief stint with ‘India Coffee House’,
and was followed by the concurrent opening of the first modern quick-service
restaurant. From the 1980s onwards, Nirula’s growth accelerated,
and by end of the 1990s Nirula’s had become the largest chain of
fast food joints in North India with a presence in over 32 locations.
Now the company has established a modern infrastructure that includes
a central kitchen, a food processing unit, cheese manufacturing unit,
central bakery and confectionary, an efficient supply chain and a quality
control laboratory coupled with an IT department and a design team.
To further increase its reach, Nirula’s is looking at expanding
its market outside Delhi.
This decision is accelerated by the increasing demand for fast food,
and the provision of better infrastructure facilities, dependable supply
chain, warehouse facilities, and the availability of skilled staff.
Vikas Attri, Technical Advisor, Nirula’s says, “Our USP has
always been the wide variety of food items that we offer and the affordable
prices. Our fast food joints have ISO 9001 certification and we also
comply with the food quality standards specified by PFA, HACCP.”
In the first phase of expansion, which is spread over the first 12-15
months, the company plans to focus on areas situated in North India
like Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Western Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan
and Madhya Pradesh. After setting up outlets in these areas, the company
will shift its focus to western and southern India.
“Our production capacity is large enough to deal with the expansion
in North India. To support this, we have outsourced our supply chain
to Snowman India, a Bangalore-based logistics support company. Once
we start expanding in the south, we might consider setting up a production
centre there. This would help us in saving logistics costs and time,
thereby ensuring cost effectiveness. We aim to have a pan-India presence,
with over 100 outlets, by the year 2006,” says Mr Attri. With the
aggressive and well planned expansion strategy, Nirula’s is taking
the battle back to the competitors.
“We realised that it was time for us to go to the customers rather
than wait for them to come to us. We decided to increase our reach and
set up more fast food joints, across the country,” says Mr Attri.
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