Lite Bite set to Expand its Foothold across India on the back of Heavy Investment

India: The company is set to expand the operations of its Punjab grill brand in India and overseas. As a part of its expansion plans, the company is introducing a new format of its Punjab grill with the target audience majorly including younger consumers looking for a “healthier foods and small portion sizes”.

Lite Bite Foods, which owns brands like Punjab Grill, Zambar, FresCo and The Artful Baker has over 100 stores across the country and some in the overseas market such as Singapore, Bangkok and Washington. The different cuisines on offer by the company tends to gain attraction, and this is helping the company cope up with its same store sales growth, which has been a bit on the downside for the last couple of years.

According to TechSci Research, the different cuisines on offer by the company is surely to attract a lot of customers. The consumers nowadays prefer different choices on their food consumption. This is due to the rising per capita income of the population which allows them to have flexibility and freedom of options, and allows them to plan their expenditures on such services.

According to a report published in 2015 by TechSci Research, “India Food Services Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2020”, the market for food services in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 12% through 2020. Growth in the market is anticipated primarily on account of higher disposable income, improved standard of living and changing preferences of consumers. In addition, expansion of brands into tier II and tier III cities, is also a major factor which is expected to drive growth in food services market of the country over the next five years. In 2013, the market was dominated by unorganized and non-branded players, however, with growth of various foreign and domestic brands, these players are expected to lose their market to organized branded players. Segment-wise, dining food services segment was the largest contributor in India food services market in 2014, on account of the large number of dining restaurants in the country.