The success of coffee bars during the past few months has prompted Pizza Hut to contemplate adding branded coffee and tea on its menu in India.
Tricon Restaurants, owners of the restaurant chain, says it is in talks with coffee chain Barista and food major Nestle for a tie-up.
"We want to provide our customers a complete pizza meal, with coffee and tea being part of the combo. We have our own coffee and tea on our menu right now. But consumers are demanding more. There is a potent demand for branded coffee and tea which, we feel, can bring more consumers to our restaurants," Pankaj Batra, marketing director (India subcontinent) of Tricon Restaurants International, said.
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"We are exploring a tie-up with coffee chains as part of our future growth. Discussions are on with Barista, Nestle, etc," he said.
Barista has already become a popular coffee chain in recent months. Nestle retails its branded tea, coffee and iced tea through vending machines.
Pizza Hut currently offers a variety of pizzas, including a few with Indian toppings. It also offers a variety of salads, carbonated beverages, tea and coffee, and bread and chicken wings as starters. The new toppings recently added include 'Teekha Tikka', 'Killer Korma' and 'Paneer Pataka'.
On the entry of Amul into the pizza market, Batra said that it would bring more people into pizza eating habit. This would help Pizza Hut in the long run, he said.
The company is expected to close the year with 30 outlets in 11 cities across the country. Next year, it plans to add 20 more outlets, with a target to establish at least 100 outlets by 2004.
All the outlets are operated through the four franchisees in the country. The company provides the marketing support and supply chain management.
However, the pizza major does not have a presence in the eastern region. "We see cities such as Kolkata and Jamshedpur as potential growth centers. We will be entering the eastern market in the next couple of years," Batra said.
The company also owns two more major brands -- KFC for chicken specialty outlets and Taco Bell, a Mexican food outlet.
At present, there is one KFC outlet operating in Bangalore and the second outlet will be opened in Mumbai over the next couple of months. However, the company official did not give any timeframe.