Virgin territories

Restaurant chains make their maiden entries into the hallowed precincts of hospitals and schools.

After malls and markets, restaurateurs are now looking at newer spaces to stretch their presence. Among unusual venues where restaurants have recently sprouted in Delhi are a school and a hospital.

Delhi Public School (DPS), Mathura Road, for one, would now invite much more peer envy, what with a full fledged restaurant "" Fasttrax "" on its premises instead of the usual canteen other schools make do with.

And instead of bun-samosas, nimbu-soda and such childhood fare, this one is definitely snazzier. On the menu are shwarma rolls, and healthy salads, sandwiches, milkshakes and fruit juices, and no, no colas.

Fasttrax is the retail front end of Hind Foods, one of the largest exporters of frozen food products in the country. The group, that has recently got into the restaurants business, is now eyeing schools seriously.

"We are talking to a number of schools... there is big opportunity here," says Samar Quereshi, director. The 5,000 sq feet outlet at DPS is ostensibly the first one of its kind in the country. The "unorganised" schools canteens segment is usually catered to by local, halwai-type players.

So, will we now have schools sporting full-fledged restaurants? Businesswise, Quereshi points out, the idea squares up. "Since this is a relatively big outlet, we made an investment of Rs 50 lakh in setting it up and have been able to sustain the model," he says.

The target is to tap a market for up to 6,000 mid-day meals per day. Already, the restaurant caters to about 2,500 students per day; seniors spending an average of Rs 50 and juniors an average of Rs 20 per day. Even though prices need to be kept lower than at standalones in the city, sales are steady, unlike, say, in a mall, where the number of walk-ins varies considerably daily. Besides, "word of mouth publicity helps our other outlets in the city too", Quereshi adds.

A captive audience is also what is drawing many to hospitals. The likes of Nathu's have always been present at big private hospitals, considerably perking up attendant spirits, but the last couple of months have seen better dining at the capital's Ganga Ram Hospital.

The Quality group has set up a 40-seater restaurant at the hospital serving fare from its brands Bread and More and Chopsticks Express. So sandwiches, pizzas and juices apart (not to mention sugar-free cakes et al, in case the patient gets tempted) there is full-fledged Chinese food that one can sample.

"If the patient needs a change of taste, we also do room service and have developed a pizza-box like container with in-built trays for the Chinese food so that it doesn't get messy," says Dhruv Lamba, whose brainchild this is.

But the market is in the attendants accompanying the patients. "In India, every patient has at least three people with him," points out Lamba.

Even though prices have been slashed by almost 40 per cent "" the Chinese meal combo is the highest priced for Rs 99"" on city prices, thin margins are more than made up for by the steady stream of clientele.

The outlet was set up for Rs 28 lakh, considerably lower than the investment needed to fund a similar mid-level restaurant elsewhere in the city "" which'd be about Rs 40 lakh. On the other hand, a kiosk in a food court may come for as little as Rs 10 lakh but as those with a presence in the malls have found out, business may not always be steady.

Other hospitals are apparently also on the anvil. But one area where restaurateurs fear to tread are corporate offices. While huge complexes in the suburbs may have a sprinkling of cafes and quick service restaurants, there is a lot of scepticism about a restaurant's success in the area.

Most corporates have their own catering that is subsidised or even free, so if a restaurant was to serve a meal for even Rs 150, people would, at best, come just once a week, is the logic.