Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks, Wendy’s, Krispy Kreme, Johnny Rockets, Taco Bell and many other international food brands have made their way into India. Though established, bringing them here is a challenge in itself.

To understand what goes into it, we spoke to Chef Bakshish Dean, Executive Director at Prime Gourmet Pvt Ltd. about getting the famous American burger food chain Johnny Rockets to Indian foodies.

“It took us a year to get everything in place before we opened our first outlet at the Select Citywalk mall. The whole exercise was really tedious but rewarding,” says Dean.

There are various things that need to be considered when international brands expand to a potential market. Apart from getting the basics right like the legality and licenses; it is important to understand the dining demographics and identify if the people are prepared to try out something new. “One needs to identify the potential of the concept – will it excite the customers; are there enough takers to sustain this as a business; study of demographics to understand the consumer bank and their spending power would be really important. Another important thing is to know if it is the right time to introduce the concept. Understand the capital investment aspect of it – if it is conducive to the market; what is the recovery time and how healthy are the returns.”

“You also need to understand the supply chain and the level of development that it will require along with the technical support and its availability to service the machinery,” he adds.

One of the most important aspects of a food chain that needs to be dealt with most carefully is its menu. While it is imperative to stay true to the brand, it is also important to be able to match the palate of the customer. As the contents are altered to suit the taste, a lot of planning goes into its implementation and application. Given the various bans on meat products in our country, the entire effort of making the brand work, goes up a notch. “It is important to keep the brand’s identity intact. It is necessary to review the offering and identify the areas which will need to be worked upon. One also needs to develop a menu based on the ingredients that would be available in the local market. You also need to develop local fabricators and suppliers who can support the concept. Map the local palette and have some offerings that connect well with that and replicate the guest experience,” adds Dean.

Creating a connect is as essential. “It was really important for us to work with profiles that connect with the customer. The reason was simple – we wanted “all” our customers to connect well with our menu offering,” says he.

But at the same time it was important to retain the originality of the brand and making sure that it was done right keeping in mind the minutest of details; something as minuscule as getting the dance moves right. “Dance is an integral part of the experience that we offer. Johnny Rockets as a brand stands for “where the good times roll”. We don’t say our food or service is the best, we say the overall experience at Johnny Rockets is great. We have to ensure that the identity of the brand stays intact and that is only possible if you get into all the little details and implements them.”

Chef Dean agrees that International food chains tend to do better in India as compared to home grown food franchises. He also feels that given the projections that have been made on the economic growth of the Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) segment in India, many International brands flock the market and has turned India into a prime target for them.

With expansion continuing on a fast pace, Dean comments, “Indian food brands just need to step up their game and match up to International standards. If they achieve that they could then look at leading the pack.”