Dabur, Spain's EatOut in restaurant foray

The EatOut group, a part of Spain's leading business house Agrolimen, today announced a strategic joint venture with Dabur's Amit Burman-promoted Lite Bite Foods to establish a chain of speciality restaurants in India.

The venture will have an investment of around Rs 50 crore. Lite Bite Foods will separately invest nearly 35 million euros to put in place a pan-India network of 200 restaurants.

This venture would mark EatOut's entry into India.

The EatOut group has more than 600 restaurants in Spain and owns brands such as FrescCo, Pans and Company, Bocatta and Fresh & Ready.

Lite Bite was recently established to focus on the food and beverages retailing sector, with formats ranging from quick service restaurants (QSR), casual dining (CDR) and express outlets to entire food-courts, and a brand portfolio of leading international and local concepts.

Amit Burman, a member of the Burman family (promoter of home-grown FMCG major Dabur) is the majority shareholder in Lite Bite.

The joint venture, Burman said, aims to become one of the strongest players in the restaurant sector, taking advantage of the strong growth potential.