Sumptuous Profits on A Platter

INDIANS, across the length and breadth of the globe, compromise on anything but their gastronomic habits. The last decade has witnessed a dynamic alteration in taste buds of Indians across the world, as now the trend is infusing contemporary flavours and global cuisines with desi tadkas. Riding this nascent, hence rapidly growing vegetarian Indo fusion food wave and looking at the huge present scaleable potential, YIHSPL is all set to be the answer to becoming India's first true global chain of F&B brands. Go! Foodiezz.. is YIHSPL's flagship brand leading this long term vision. They are making waves pan-India and globally imparting profits and many a smile to each of its franchisees.

The parent company, YIHSPL is of true F&B pedigree as it is co-owned by the promoters / operating partners of Radisson Hotels, Park Plaza Hotels and TGI Fridays in India. Launched in 2008 through its now nationally renowned street food brand, Go! Chaatzz.., YIHSPL has today grown into a conglomerate of successful F&B brands catering across various segments. After the sterling success of Go! Chaatzz.. via the franchise route, they launched other F&B brands to build on its success story, such as Go! Foodiezz.., Go! Foodiezz.. 'Xpress and Go! Bakezz..

With a rapid franchise expansion across borders, they are focused on capturing virgin markets before direct or indirect competition plays spoilsport for their plans. YIHSPL, through all its brands has already been able to enter tier II, III & IV markets today by making inroads into cities such as Sri Ganganagar, Yamunanagar and Bathinda among others by exemplifying its adaptability to suit market demands.

They started off as the pioneers in serving hygienic, innovative, high quality yet affordable street food across India through Go! Chaatzz...

Fusion Food-YIHSPL’s mouthwatering menu mantra

Three decades of being in the industry have brought a lot of learning and a great culinary menu mix vision. They are an ISO approved and a HACCCP certified corporate which understands that food costing merged with innovation efficiencies is the epitome of success for a new gen brand. YIHSPL's new product development (NPD) team has introduced many trademarked and unique fused menu innovations such as Makhni Pazzta, Soya Roganjosh, Chowmossazz, Papdi Poppers, Mushroom Barrel Tikka, Basket Pakoda, Cottage Cheese Salsarozz, Potpourri Jaisalmer, Broccoli Stuffed Paranthas, Manchu Ping Pongzz.. and Papad Taco among others on their food menu list. A collection of a hundred plus such menu items exist in the menu bank in a standardised format.

Desserts such as the Paan Ice Cream along with the Classic Super Sundae have led to thousands of gallons selling across various geographies. The journey for the YIHSPL NPD team has just begun, according to them.

“The NPD Team at YIHSPL is engaged in constant R&D and will continue to provide menu items that are unique and those which offer a competitive edge to our franchisees. We are in the F&B business. At the end of it, we are all about the quality of food we serve.” Rajat Shah, Director NPD

Spicy yet lucrative model

Franchising in the F&B sector is leading the pack among all other business models. Despite the food inflation, F&B is a preferred choice when buying a franchise. Riding on the same wave, YIHSPL forayed into franchising in early 2010 and since then they have been following a similar recipe. The parent company has a brand mix which is highly franchisable and scaleable, as their franchisees have been able to open multiple units with the help of their back-end support, pre-opening support and standard operating procedures manual.

As of now, YIHSPL has pan-India and global presence with operational, signed and under construction units in more than 20 cities, such as Delhi, Gurgaon, Kolkata, Noida, Guwahati,Yamunanagar, Srinagar, Ghaziabad, Trivandrum, Allahabad, Bathinda, Sriganganagar, Cochin, Fremont (USA), Sunnyvale (USA), San Francisco (USA) among others. Besides, they are anticipating the rate to increase to as high as 50 per cent as they forge ahead in terms of numbers and look forward to selling their master franchises as well.

The brand's very evolution has become an inspiration for many because with franchising as the most significant ingredient in their business recipe, they have come a long way from being a modest chaat kiosk (Go! Chaatzz..) in Noida to becoming a well-established international network in various countries across the globe. Wafting aroma beyond the shores of the country, YIHSPL will soon start its operations in the US via master franchising in October 2012, at Fremont, CA, USA. Says Vikram Sood, Director Development (Global), YIHSPL: “The company is already in talks with other master franchise partners in key international territories, such as the GCC, ASEAN, UK and Australia to achieve a global scale.”

Bouquet of brands & its target market city menu

YIHSPL has introduced niche brands under its parent umbrella. Go! Chaatz.., Go! Foodiezz.., Go! Bakezz.. and Go! Foodiezz.. `Xpress are the novel brands they launched between late 2010 and early 2012. The management has learnt and dedicated in excess of two years to research and development before launching these brands and their associated product categories.

While the brand, Go! Chaatzz.., deals in only the chaat (Indian Street Food) category, it continues to seek growth primarily in markets where it hosts the Go! Foodiezz.. units. These are units typically varying from 80 sq ft to 200 sq ft in size only focused on the take away clients at high street locations and busy malls.

Go! Foodiezz.. is all set to increase its global footprint in the large unit all-day diner vegetarian Indo fusion food segment. It has adopted a hybrid model of acting as a diner primarily and also focuses as much on home deliveries and outdoor caterings and on increasing revenue opportunities.

Go! Foodiezz.. 'Xpress looks to operate in smaller delivery with limited seating units. Making its presence felt in large numbers per metro city is a key focus for this brand. It is an asset light model allowing franchisees to sustain their business through initial troughs, while providing an opportunity for high sales at the same time. Aimed at being dominant in metro cities of India where rentals play havoc.

Go! Bakezz.. is franchised as the answer to being a pan-India bakery / confectionary brand. Tying up with Lavazza for its coffee supplies, this module is franchised mainly to tier II, III and IV markets where there is a massive market gap for a good bakery and coffee product.

Vending modules for future

Go! Foodiezz.. 'Xpress (GFX)

With the instant success of Go! Foodiezz.. as a large format diner (typically 1,500 6,000 sq ft), YIHSPL has reconfirmed that its food innovations and brand positioning have been well accepted across geographies. As it became more important to gain further retail presence per city with lower capital intensive vending modules, especially in A-grade metro markets, it became necessary to make the business model more franchisee attractive to grow in larger numbers.

The introduction of Go! Foodiezz.. 'Xpress (GFX) has been a catalyst to the company's franchise growth plans. With the rising real estate leasing costs, this home / office delivery model has allowed YIHSPL to create the true “real estate killer” F&B franchising opportunity. In spaces such as 600 sq ft, franchisees are setting up delivery modules in metro cities and realising the same sale as they would have through larger units. GFX is far less capital intensive, achieves quicker operational break-even, and yet offers an infinite sale-oriented model catching on rapidly in YIHSPL's franchisee network. GFX works on quick turn around, vacuum sealed packaged food delivered hot and fresh by way of an organised IVR based call center and food delivery network.

Franchise requisites

Long term vision, work ethics, corporate objectives-- all need to match with that of YIHSPL for that perfect franchise partner fit.

YIHSPL's brands are one of the most admired and fastest growing brands globally. The brand engages the franchisees through brand franchise contracts and an optional management-contract if so desired by the franchise partners. To associate with the brand, one must have the passion to run the F&B business, have financial holding power to sustain the preferred vending model, a corporate and system based mindset, and a desire to grow with the brand through multiple units and geographies. Prior F&B experience / qualification is an added advantage to understand the nuances and shorten the learning curve. But, it is not a prerequisite.

USP of YIHSPL

The vending modules, their systems, clear brand positioning, well-defined standard operating procedures (SOP’s) make each brand in the system promising. Besides, there are reasons galore which make it the most robust Indo Fusion brand ever. Some of them are:

=Awesome food quality and its consistency with limited dependency on labour

=Varied vending modules and brands allowing us to enter each segment

=Ready to adapt as per market dynamics. Our investments, MRP’s and returns are dynamic as per model franchised.

=True national geographic presence with a great start to our international campaign

=Highly experienced management team with a wealth of knowledge bank.

=Franchisee support from pre-opening to ongoing operational support.

=All reports are cohesively analysed at regular intervals to keep

franchisees profitable operations.

The road ahead

The brand is on the go aiming to spread its wings in every nook and cranny in India through one of their vending modules. Commenting on their growth aspirations, Sameer Akhil Kachru, CEO & CMO, YIHSPL, says: "We have the scope and want to be in every city through one of our branded vending modules. We aim to have a strong foothold in metros and state capitals as phase I of our plans, while we explore lower tier cities simultaneously.” YIHSPL will be adding at least 30 more franchise units to its portfolio by the end of this financial year.

Also, they plan to take their franchise store count to 100+ by fiscal year 2014 across their brands. The company is strategising a few more stunning innovations to make the brand more promising from a franchisee’s perspective. Moreover, the company also mulls operating 1,000 outlets globally in the next 15 years via the franchise route alone.

Going global, the glocal way

YIHSPL believes itself to be truly an international player. Just like other major international players, it has fragmented the F&B industry into minute segments and is approaching franchise profitability per segment. Says Vikram Sood, Director, Business Development (Global), YIHSPL: “So far, no other Indian F&B chain has achieved this status. We have built our brand to franchise it, rather than the other way round. We are and have been franchise ready through enormous experience in pre-opening, operational support and back end systems. It's now a routine plug and play model for any franchisee of ours making their operational efficiencies higher than competition."

Instead of foraying into any neighbouring country, YIHSPL started its maiden global entry from the US. It is a key market for the parent company and they expect massive footfall and brand following in the coming years. Says Sameer Akhil Kachru, CEO & CMO, YIHSPL: “We are looking at over 100 units by 2018 in the US alone. We have already deputed a management team, master franchisees and master brand development agents for the North American continent on their soil. We will strategically plan franchising growth, such as building blocks rather than in quick spurts”

The ASEAN, Western Europe, GCC and ANZ markets are the next ones on their list they aim to target. The company is looking at various routes for entry into countries. The routes, including joint ventures, master franchising, non-competing F&B co-branding and flagship unit franchising are being considered per territory, as of now.

BOX_1

Brand On Its Menu Target Cities

Go! Foodiezz.. Indo Fusion Diner All tiers in India & abroad

Go! Foodiezz.. Indo Fusion Home Delivery All tier I in first phase

Xpress

Go! Bakezz.. Bakery & Café (Lavazza) B & C Indian markets

Go! Chaatzz.. Chaat (Indian Street Food) A, B & C cities in India

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