Jubilant FoodWorks pours Rs 1,000-cr into Popeyes expansion
Food services company Jubilant FoodWorks announced its plan to pump in money to set up over 250 restaurants for Popeyes in the coming four to five years, given its potential to scale up the business of fried chicken in India and packaging that shadows.
04 Jan 2024 | By Aditya Ghosalkar
Founded in New Orleans, USA in 1972, Popeyes has more than 45 years of history and culinary tradition featuring the iconic chicken sandwich, spicy chicken, chicken tenders and other regional items. In January 2022, Jubilant FoodWorks launched Popeyes’ first quick-service restaurant in Bengaluru, India.
A Statista report says that the quick-service restaurant market in India is estimated to grow to over Rs 500-billion by 2025. This growth is driven by a rise in online food delivery services of the biggies such as Swiggy and Zomato, which caters primarily to the organised fast-food sector including brands such as Domino’s, McDonalds, KFC and Pizza Hut.
Given the Indian market has a good appetite for chicken, the food services company is taking Popeyes to new cities and will launch over 250 flagship stores. The company eyes notching Rs 1,000-crore in the next four to five years.
The packaging sector plays a crucial role in ensuring food safety and convenience for consumers, especially quick-service restaurants must consider travel times for their food.
The Popeyes India menu showcases a plethora of fried chicken selections and offers balanced meal choices like rice bowls and wraps, including vegetarian options. The brand has set a benchmark for its consumers with its hot and messy range, which is its signature fried chicken coated in flavourful sauces with smoky pepper and sweet chilli flavours.
The packaging employed by Popeyes is minimalistic. This is a great way to communicate with consumers at the retail place.
The offering is expected to be a delightful choice for all Indian guests and increase online food sales. Furthermore, the eye-catching orange-coloured packaging gives a sense of warmth and adventure to the consumer.
Currently, Jubilant FoodWorks operates 22 Popeyes restaurants across six cities. It added nine restaurants under the brand in the first half of this fiscal and focuses on building a strong back-end supply chain and the right store locations for expansion.
The company is betting big as a master franchiser. WhatPackaging? readers can recall Domino’s mission, in the last fiscal, to add 1,300 new outlets across India. This resulted in 3,000 stores across 317 cities in the country.