Comesum eyes highways for expansion

After making its presence felt at major railway junctions, RK Pariwar's Comesum Food Plaza may now be seen at major national highways across the country.

The group, which began railway catering, in association with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), by setting up Comesum Food Plazas on railway platforms of major junctions has begun conducting feasibility tests for highway points.

Depending on the results of the feasibility tests, the group will decide about setting up its food plazas on major national highways and expressways.

Comesum Food Plazas are 24-hour multi-cuisine restaurants which offer 900 items throughout the day priced at a premium rate.

The group has set up the food plazas in Delhi, Bangalore, Agra, Pune, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Mugalsarai, Vijaywada, Kolkata and Sealdah, among others.

Recently, the group launched its 15th outlet at Ahmedabad railway station and will soon launch in other railway junctions like Raipur, Durg, Goa, Baroda and Mumbai.

"We are basically focussing on major railway junctions initially to capture as many travellers as we can, even those travelling at nights. We are also conducting feasibility tests for highway plazas. If the results are favourable, we might decide to set up Comesum food plazas on highways as well," Ashit Toppo, senior manager, business development and franchise, said.

Comesum Food Plazas also offer catering services to Shatabdi and Rajdhani trains. It plans to expand its catering services as well in near future, Toppo said.

The group is also experimenting with other formats of the popular food plaza by introducing takeaway services and Comesum Express, a small eatery in the highstreets of Delhi.

"The idea is to move away from railway platforms now. To do this, we have experimented with Comesum Express, a small snacks joint in the South Extension Delhi area. If successful, we will replicate it in other cities. We are also setting up a bigger version of Comesum Plaza in Ghaziabad which will be spread over an area of 50,000 sq ft," Toppo added.