Panda Express an American-Chinese food chain is entering in India
India:
Panda
Express is planning to enter in India in partnership with Mumbai based JSM who
has earlier brought other international chains like California Pizza Kitchen, Hard
Rock Café, and others in domestic market. The master franchise agreement has
been signed with the Panda Restaurant Group who runs Panda Express. Panda
Express serves American-Chinese cuisine and its closest competitors are PF
Chang's, Noodles & Co and Pei Wei.
The first few outlets will operate in near about
six months, in the major metros and in the coming five years they have plans to
open around 50 outlets. The Panda Express started its business in year 1983 in
California and is counted as one of the largest Chinese restaurant in the US.
Mumbai based JSM is backed by PremjiInvest fund of the Wipro founders and was
founded in the year 2004 by Singh and Sanjay Mahtani. It runs nearly 30 outlets
of eight different brand like The Big Kanuha, California Pizza Kitchen,
Pinkberry, Hard Rock Café, Ginger Tiger, Asilo, Shiro, and Plus91. The plans
are to open self-serviced outlets so that the operational cost will be low.
According to TechSci Research, the food services
market in India is growing at a significant pace as the consumers are getting
more brand conscious which is attracting the foreign players to the Indian
market as the international brands are realizing the potential of Indian
market. The dining food services segment is the biggest contributor in the
Indian market and entry of international players will help the segment to
retain its dominance in the coming years as well.
According to a recent report
published 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. The
segment is expected to retain its dominance in the market over the forecast
period as well.