In a bid to provide a superlative customer experience — from enhanced menu to the restaurant environment – food outlets in India are shedding their ageing asset base reports Zarafshan Shiraz
Since overall guest satisfaction is often tied to the look and feel of the place, the pressure to update their look and bring the brand’s DNA and its best self forward is now turning into a widespread phenomenon among the eating outlets of India. From tweaking recipes to customising menus or rebranding the outlet, legacy restaurants and fast food chains are doing all in their power to heal their reputation with the customers or close the gap with their competitors by revitalizing decor or offering comfortable seating and other amenities, among other things.
A Fresh Approach
Last October, for the first time in the history of McDonald’s in India, the fast food giant developed and launched 12 new products for the festive season under the campaign ‘Flavours Without Borders’ which were an instant hit and evidently helped McDonald expand their customer base in India. The ChatpataNaan, one of the key new products, was appreciated by food bloggers as well as customers.“Most of our interventions over the last year or so have been around providing variety and new flavours to our patrons,” said a spokesperson from Hardcastle Restaurant (P) Ltd., master franchise of McDonald’s in West and South India. “Whether it is the Mexican McAlooTikki Burger or the Chicken Kebab Burger, both have been appreciated for the new flavours that they provided in a well-known and accepted format,” he added.
Intimate and informal, KFC’s new format ‘Hangout’stores are perfect hangout zones for every mood and occasion. “KFC Hangouts have a rustic feel, with an interesting mix of wooden and metal furniture, brick walls and earthy lamps and offer an environment that subconsciously makes consumers let go of any inhibitions, thus allowing them to kick back, relax and enjoy a finger licking good meal,” said the brand’s spokesperson.
Localisation is the Key
Given the need to build familiarisation with Indianised adaptations, it only makes sense not to just revamp the restaurant but to also revamp the menus and moreso in order to adapt to changing consumer tastes. Rebranding or changing into a new name or logo does not mean anything if the overall brand experience doesn’t change. “The investments that we made in initiatives like McCafe andMcDelivery, re-imaging our restaurants and creating a special breakfast menu have definitely had a positive impact on sales,” revealed a spokesperson from Hardcastle Restaurant (P) Ltd., which,despite disruptions like demonization and GST implementation, registered 10 consecutive quarters of positive same store sales growth.
“The consumers are increasingly demanding authentic and real food experiences, and we are catering to those who want to try our international flavours,” said the spokesperson from KFC who went on to add that due to this, products like the Smoky Grilled Chicken are being appreciated since the flavours are bold, authentic and distinctive. “Hence, we will continue to build on innovations that are original, building up craving and are authentic,” he added.
Old is Gold
Karim’s Restaurants has seen a tremendous improvisation in design and menu lately but the outlets prefer to stick with their ‘dhaba’ image as their customer relations are passed down from generation to generation. “We have renovated our second main branch located atHazratNizamuddin in Delhi and you can see all our new restaurants are perfect in terms of decor and amenities,” said Haji Asifuddin, owner of Karim’sMughali Foods (P) Ltd. “There are changes in our menu from time to time and the branch-wise menus are a bit different too. Some of our branches have menus exclusively for corporate lunches and dinners whereas other restaurants have to customise these types of arrangements on request,” he said.
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