Sensing a growing demand for fried chicken, burgers in tier 2 and 3 cities Malaysian quick service restaurant chain Marrybrown will be expanding its foot print in southern India, said a top official.
Marrybrown will also be adding more dishes to its menu card mid-September, he said.
"We are seeing growth in smaller towns like Rajapalayam, Dindugul and other places in Tamil Nadu. We would like to leverage the first mover advantage by opening outlets in smaller towns in the southern states," Ajith, director, MGM Entertainments Pvt Ltd, the master franchisee for Marrybrown in India.
According to him, the chain is also open to have its outlets in hotels located in second or third tier towns.
"By the end of this fiscal we would like to increase our number of outlets to 75 from the current 48 (44 in Tamil Nadu, two each in Bangalore and Kochi). The expansion will be through a mix of owned and franchisee outlets. For every five franchisee outlets we will have an owned one," he added.
He said the investment needed in smaller towns is not high unlike what is needed to set up an outlet in major cities.
Also Read
"People are aware of global brands in smaller towns. A major competitor brand is becoming generic in those markets," he added.
According to Ajith, the Marrybrown chain in India is not stuck to fried chicken and burgers but also offers flavoured rice and even biryani to cater to the local palate.
"We offer equal number of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes," Ajith said.
Speaking of the new launches, Ajith said the chain would added Muncheez (fried chicken with masala powder to the sprinkled separately), egg burger, corn cheese burger and corn cheese nuggets.
He said the masala powder comes from Marrybrown's headquarters in Malaysia.
"Most of the food innovations happen in Malaysian headquarters and we pick up what is suitable for our market," Ajith said.
However the Indian company's own launch was the Chicken Poppers, an idea derived from popcorn.
Queried about chicken prices, he said it is stable for the past three or four months as compared to last two years.
According to Ajith, the latest trend that is picking up fast is online ordering using social media site Facebook.
"However the online order bill size is relatively smaller than of the customers who come to our restaurants," he said.