Business

Tuesday October 6, 2009

KFCH moving into India

By ZAZALI MUSA


The first two outlets will open in Mumbai and Pune this year

JOHOR BARU: KFC Holdings (M) Bhd (KFCH) will open its first two KFC outlets in India – one each in Mumbai and Pune – by year’s end.

It planned to open in January a second KFC outlet each in the two cities, said chairman Tan Sri Muhammad Ali Hashim.

To be located in different shopping complexes in Mumbai and Pune, each outlet would have an average built-up area of 2,500 sq ft.

“We are investing US$400,000 in each outlet and we target to have 20 outlets in major cities in India by end-2010,” Ali told StarBiz before giving away prizes to winners of the Johor state-level Catur Bistari Challenge 2009 on Sunday.

(Standing from left) Tan Sri Muhammad Ali Hashim, managing director Jamaludin Md Ali and vice-president KFC division Lim Teck Huak watching participants in action in the Catur Bistari Challenge 2009.

He said KFCH’s feasibility study showed that opening outlets in shopping complexes in India was the right strategy due to the popularity of the malls.

KFCH has been given the rights by Yum! Restaurants (India) Pvt Ltd, the franchisor of KFC restaurants in India, to open and operate KFC restaurants in that country.

Ali said Mumbai, the economic hub of India with a population of 20.9 million, and Pune, the educational hub with over 50 educational institutions and a population of 5.7 million, offered a good starting point for KFCH to make its presence felt in India.

“India, with its 1.2 billion population, offers good business prospect in the fast-food segment due to the huge domestic demand,” he said.

Ali said there were only 52 KFC outlets in India compared with 450 outlets in Malaysia, which had just 27 million population.

He said even Mumbai and Pune – with a combined population of 26.6 million – had only three and two KFC outlets respectively owned and operated by Yum! and local franchisees.

He said its KFC outlets in India would have 30% vegetarian menu to cater to vegans.

Locally, KFCH planned next year to open 30 KFC outlets, of which five would be drive-thru outlets, he said, adding that a total RM15mil would be invested in them.

On another note, Ali, who is also JCorp chief executive, said the Selasih Specialist Medical Centre in Padang, Sumatra, was badly damaged by the earthquake that struck the port city last Wednesday.

“We are assessing the damage and will rebuild the hospital with better building structure and more beds,” he said.


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