Business Categories
Feb, 05 2015

Partner with the most trusted indian qsr chain

Jumboking is regarded as a people's brand & a 100% franchise entity. It was the first QSR chain in India to introduce the concept of selling vadapavs in an organised way. Started in 2001, today it has presence in 15+ cities with 75+ operational outlets.

So far, the brand has served over 100 million vada pavs and has seen 40% YOY growth in the Indian QSR industry. TFW got candid with Dheeraj Gupta, Founder, MD, Jumboking who gave tips on becoming a committed QSR brand.

DHEERAJ GUPTA, FOUNDER MD, JUMBOKING

“JUMBOKING HAS TRADITIONALLY SUCCEEDED IN MARKETS THAT EMPLOY A LARGE MOBILE WORKFORCE AND HAVE A VIBRANT STUDENT POPULATION AS WELL. JUMBOKING CATERS TO THE CONSUMER WHO IS ALWAYS ON THE MOVE.”

JUMBOKING, a Mumbai-based QSR chain that specialises in serving snacks to customers on the move, is now targeting to open 1,000 stores. The man behind the success of Jumboking is its founder Dheeraj Gupta, who incepted the company in August 2001, from a small suburb in Mumbai. At present, the brand has a strong presence in Mumbai, Thane, Bangalore, Aurangabad, Mysore, Delhi, Gurgaon, Amravati, Indore, Raipur and Pune, Lucknow, Hyderabad and Nagpur.

For the last two years, 2014 and 2015, Jumboking has achieved the distinction of being ranked as the most trusted QSR brand of Indian origin in the country, as per the brand trust report released by Trust Research Advisory. 

Sachin Bhosle, Research Head, Trust Research Advisory (TRA), says: “The Brand Trust Report is a benchmarking report that allows brands to measure their brand attributes that make up most essential bond called trust. When TRA (Formerly Trust Research Advisory) understood 'trust', we did so by speaking to hundreds of psychologists, sociologists and communication experts. That understanding gave us 61 different attributes of trust which one can see as the raw material which makes up the social and commercial bond called trust. These attributes then got clubbed into '10 Brand Behaviours', which became part of the three foundations of trust, namely 'Building Capacity to Trust', 'Perception of Positive Intent' and 'Showcasing Relevant Competence.' At a macro level, these three are the true foundations of building and maintaining trust.”

On acknowledging this honor by TRA, Dheeraj Gupta, says: “We are proud and grateful, both. It's a responsibility we would like to live up to.”

Evolving into a national QSR

After establishing a robust network in Mumbai via franchise business model, Jumboking has been focussing on pan-India expansion.

Moving ahead, Jumboking will soon be entering cities such as Kolkata, Chennai, Coimbatore, Jaipur and Ahmedabad. Jumboking'S USP is  vadapav, a quintessential product that is had on the move. The brand also offers various fusion versions of the product, a selection of delicious wraps and soft drinks in its menu. They cater to the customer who is always on the move and is looking for a quick finger food. Dheeraj Gupta, says: “Jumboking has traditionally succeeded in markets that employ a large mobile workforce and have a vibrant student population as well. Jumboking caters to the consumer who is always on the move and we believe our product range is highly relevant for such markets.”  The brand also has plans to add 100 stores in 2015.

About two years ago, the brand had almost 50 per cent company-owned stores which were re-franchised and which have seen significant increase in sales. Jumboking offers two types of franchise opportunities for aspiring investors:-

A) A Master Franchise model that operates city-wise

B) A Unit Franchise which is store specific only.  

Dheeraj says: “Any prospective franchisee who is looking ahead to get into QSR segment, must speak with existing franchisees before signing up with the brand. Existing franchisees will always give you the best advice.”

Jumboking: A brand built by the people, of the people and for the people

Jumboking has built a market around its 'on the move' positioning. Take a quick look at the key reasons  why franchisees should invest in a Jumboking franchise?

Production base: Jumboking has adopted IQF technology last year in the month of April. This world-class technology gives products a shelf life of six months. The brand also has the freedom to be able to open stores across the country with complete control on the product quality and consistency. This line is capable of manufacturing 10 tonnes of vadapav per day. This is the same technology used by reputed international chains like McDonald's, Pizza Hut and KFC.

Supply chain: Jumb-oking has tied up with a 3PL logistics company with presence in more than 20 cities across the country. So while the central kitchen is like our heart which manufactures the food products, logistics functions like the artery that carries the food to every part of the country.

Master Franchise business model: Jumboking's master franchisees develop markets for the brand on a lucrative revenue share. The master franchisees spends the first few months putting up his Jumboking store to understand the business and then uses his local expertise to grow the business through unit-franchisees in his area based on strict guidelines. Since he himself has a substantial investment in terms of money and time in the business, he is fully committed to the business. They also share best practices across regions and learn along the way.

Standard Operating procedures and systems.

Besides offering a viable business model, Jumboking also offers know-how of running a successful franchise. The brand offers a complete business support and training programme to its franchisees through operational training, site selection, execution and store design. The brand offers marketing related support both regionally and on pan India basis.

Consumer insights' guru and doyenne of market analytics, Rama Bijapurkar wrote about Jumboking in her bestseller, 'We are like this only.' In the context of McDonald's Indianising its menu, she has written, “not to be outdone, a chain called Jumboking has taken the vadapav and offers it the McDonald's way.” Dheeraj candidly passes over the credit of building recall for Jumboking to his customers. “They loved the brand, felt proud that an Indian brand was indeed moving towards corporatizing the vadapav, and made it their own story,” he says. 

On social media platforms, Jumboking is followed by a diverse strata of society.

New avatar of vadapav “Wraps”

The introduction of 'wraps' as a product category for instance has been a major move. The wraps are served packed in an easy to use, disposable card box.

While the consumer perception may be that wraps will indeed make Jumboking a more aspirational brand, it seems to have little to do with what the brand is trying to do. Dheeraj says:“ We are open to innovation, but the key is that every new product launch has to fit into the scheme of 'finger foods that can be had on the move'.”

Just like international markets, the QSR business in India will certainly thrive and witness huge investments in the coming years as the Indian consumer loves to take a quick bite while on the move. As the trend is quickly catching up in India, Jumboking expects to make its presence on a national scale.  The brand will be opening its outlets in high footfall areas like food courts, railway stations, high streets, college hubs and information technology (IT parks). This is a good time to engage with the brand's aggressive expansion plans.

 

 

 

 

 

Comment
user
email
mobile
address
star
More Stories

Free Advice - Ask Our Experts

pincode
;
ads ads ads ads