?Demonetisation hits hard on the face of city-based eateries

Pizza Hut has expanded its vegan menu with a new selection of pizzas, desserts and sides available in UK restaurants.

The pizza chain has added a new Vegan All About Mushroom pizza, featuring tomato sauce, Violife Vegan Cheese, topped with closed cup mushrooms and garlic mushrooms. This is the fifth Pizza on the Pizza Hut Vegan Menu, joining the Vegan Margherita, Vegan Veggie, Vegan Hot ‘N’ Spicy Veg and the Vegan BBQ Jack ‘N’ Cheese.

The pizza giant has also added Southern Fried Nuggets, made in partnership with meatless brand Quorn Foods, and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Cheesecake, a vegan dessert that features cookie crumbles and caramel.

Pizza Hut started its foray into vegan options in 2017, and released its first fully-dedicated Vegan Menu in 2019.

In January 2019, the restaurant chain sold over 25,000 Vegan Pizzas, outstripping the Veganuary target of 10,000.

The brand has 250 dine-in restaurants across England, Wales and Scotland, and is the leading casual dining restaurant in the UK by footfall.

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US-based fast food chain Chick-fil-A has achieved its goal of serving “No Antibiotics Ever” chicken at all of its restaurants in the United States (US).

In 2014, the quick-service restaurant made the commitment of serving chicken raised without any antibiotics nationwide by the end of 2019. Chick-fil-A reached its milestone early, serving the antibiotic-free chicken at all 2,400 of its locations since May 2019.

The fast food chain’s packaging at over 2,400 restaurants will change in October to reflect the commitment to customers.

Matt Abercrombie, Director of menu and packaging, Chik-fil-A, said, “We know consumers care about how their food is made and where it comes from, including the use of antibiotics. Because it was important to our customers, it was important to us.”

“Chick-fil-A has always been committed to serving customers delicious food made with high-quality ingredients and offering No Antibiotics Ever chicken was the next step. Our goal was to pursue the highest standard and partner with the U.S.D.A. to verify it,” Abercrombie further stated.

The company worked with suppliers to convert the entire supply chain.

Chick-fil-A claims that it is the largest quick-service restaurant to implement No Antibiotics Ever chicken across all its restaurants.

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McDonald's is aiming to cash in on the breakfast boom by extending the hours when its early morning menu is available.

The fast food chain is expanding a previous trial to serve its breakfast menu until 11 am, extended from 10.30am, at 120 sites across the South East. This means that 10% of McDonald’s restaurants in the UK will now offer extended breakfast hours.

The restaurants will be serving favourites like Egg McMuffins and hash browns until 11 am at 120 sites following an earlier trial.

McDonald's breakfast menu has continued to surge in popularity and its original trial at just seven restaurants was hugely successful. The company’s sales of main meal and side salads surged by 55% as it said that its better tasting products struck the right notes with hungry customers.

Paul Pomroy, Chief Executive of McDonald's UK, said, “The launch of these products in June helped McDonald's to deliver another strong quarter of growth. The retail sector has always been fast-moving, and today's world is a challenging one due to a number of factors including more competition.”

“Together with our franchisees we've invested in new technology and a more convenient experience including table service, McDelivery and our My McDonald's app,” he further stated.

Burger and fries chain McDonald’s India posted its biggest ever loss of Rs 305 crore in the year to March 2017 after writing off investments in licensee partner Connaught Plaza Restaurants (CPRL) due to a five-year old legal dispute with the latter.

McDonald’s India’s northern & eastern business is operated by estranged partner Vikram Bakshi, also managing director of CPRL.

Westlife Development is the master franchisee of McDonald’s restaurants in the eastern and southern markets.

“Considering that CPRL is having significant accumulated losses as of date and considering that the company has terminated all its franchise arrangements in favour of CPRL, the management feels that its investments in CPRL are impaired and accordingly a provision of Rs 198.20 crore has been considered in the financial statements of the company for diminution in value of investments in CPRL,” McDonald’s India said in its latest regulatory filing.

In FY15-16, the fast food chain had a net loss of Rs 2.8 crore. Nearly 22 years after the burger chain entered India, the company is still in the red with accumulated net loss of Rs 422 crore.

The higher loss was also on account of one-time provisions of nearly Rs 105 crore made for the discharge of the tax liability arising from the prolonged litigation with the Indian tax authorities as well as the Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) proceedings. The company is involved in MAP proceedings in terms of transfer pricing additions made on the remittance of royalty to its US-based parent firm between 2004 and 2012.

“To finance losses arising from these one-time adjustments, the company proposes to seek infusion of fresh capital from its shareholders to support the company,” added the filing.

McDonald’s has also increased its authorised share capital to Rs 408 crore during the year by infusing new equity shares worth Rs 90 crore.

McDonald’s had terminated its joint venture with CPRL last August, directing the Bakshi-led CPRL to stop using its brand system, trademark, designs and associated intellectual property. The deadline for compliance ended on September 6, 2017. CPRL, however, continues to operate 164 stores across north and east India.

The Bakshi versus McDonald’s legal battle dates to August 2013 when the latter was fired as the managing director of the joint venture.

Trouble between Bakshi-led CPRL and the 50:50 JV between him and McDonald’s India escalated when Bakshi challenged his removal at the Company Law Board (now National Company Law Tribunal or NCLT), accusing McDonald’s India of mismanagement and oppression.

NCLT had reinstated Bakshi as managing director in July 2017. Bakshi’s allegation was that the termination of the JV by McDonald’s violated an earlier NCLT order which asked McDonald’s Corp to refrain from interfering in the smooth functioning of CPRL. This resulted in NCLT issuing a show cause notice to McDonald’s Corp, which the US chain challenged in the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).

MTR Foods Pvt. Ltd. has debuted in investment arena by investing from its Rs 50 crore seed fund in early stage start-up FirmRoots Pvt. Ltd., mainly for the latter's children-packaged food brand Timios.

Orkla Group, the parent company of MTR Foods, had set up the Rs 50 crore venture fund, christened MTR Seed Fund, last year to invest mainly in food tech-related startups in India over 2017 and 2018. The company had said it takes a stake ranging between 26% and 49% in the start-ups. It will also give the portfolio startups access to MTR Foods research and discussion team, as well as to the company's in-house group of chefs or common services such as branding, legal assistance, treasury, and accounting services.

FirmRoots was started as a solution towards age-appropriate nutrition and has a product range called Timios exclusively for children in the age group of 6 months to 12 years.

Along with the investment, MTR Foods will also mentor the brand on various aspects of the business including marketing, sales and distribution strategy, food safety standards, management of resources among others.

"As the first investment from the seed fund - FirmRoots is a great start, as the company has brought forth a range of snacking products that are apt for the nutritional needs of children – a space that is hitherto untapped. We are pleased to be their partner in their journey," Sanjay Sharma, CEO, MTR Foods, said in a statement.

"Along with the investment from the MTR Seed Fund, we will also value the mentorship and strategic advice given by them. In a short period of time, Timios has managed to become a brand known in the market for its honest, healthy products that are great for the snacking needs of children. The funding would be primarily used for development of our range within the Timios brand and for expansion into other geographies. This investment will surely provide us with the strategic support required to grow further," Aswani Chaitanya, founder, Timios said in a statement.

An entity owned by one of the promoters of Barbeque Nation is in advanced talks to acquire Bengaluru-born Italian casual dining restaurant and wine bar Toscano in a rare M&A deal on the gastronomy street, people directly aware of the matter said.

Samar Retail, part of Sara Futura Group, controlled by Barbeque Nation managing director Kayum Dhanani, wants to build a national network for Toscano, founded by two chefs Jean Michel Jasserand and Goutham Balasubramanian more than a decade ago.

The deal-making is independent of Barbeque Nation, the country’s largest grilled buffet restaurant chain. Sara Futura of Dhanani operates several other businesses including footwear brand Ruosh and an exporter for brands such as Clark’s, Bugatti and Kenneth Cole.

The two Toscano founders would stay on to build a chain of 30-40 stores in the next three years. Toscano operates five-six restaurants and wine bars in the country’s technology capital. When contacted, Samar Retail and Jean Michel of Toscano declined to comment.

The financial details of the impending transaction could not be ascertained. Toscano, owned by Red Apple Kitchen Consultancy, reported nearly Rs 33-crore revenue in FY17.

The country’s $50-billion eating out market is poised for faster growth, riding on the rising spends of the country’s young population and changing lifestyles. Italian cuisine had a 4.5% share, while pizza on its own had 6% share of this market, according to India Food Services Report 2016, jointly published by the National Restaurant Association of India and consulting firm Technopak.

Samar Retail already operates a pizzeria and cheese business under Onesta brand. Toscano will be run as a standalone company after the deal and is unlikely to compete with Onesta, which is a value food chain catering to different customers, sources said.

The domestic food services industry has not been a happy deal-making space despite its huge macro potential. Several global investors have burnt money in the sector, while consolidation deals have often tripped on details. Private equity investor L Catteron’s investment into Riyaz Amlani-led Impressario Entertainment & Hospitality, owners of Smoke House Deli and Social, was one of the notable deals recently.

After months of slump because of a bitter legal battle, quick service restaurant chain McDonald’s India (MIPL)’s north & east business, operated by estranged managing director Vikram Bakshi-led Connaught Plaza Restaurants (CPRL), has reported a 6% increase in March 2018, compared with March 2017, according to internal numbers by CPRL, a person directly aware of the development said.

McDonald’s had terminated its joint venture with CPRL last year in August, but the Indian venture is operating even as a legal spat between the two continues. “We can’t compare the January-March 2017 quarter with January-March 2018, with many stores being non-operational in January and February this year. But from March onwards, CPRL has been operating 164 stores,” the CPRL official said.

In December last year, over 80 McDonald’s stores in the north and east had shut down after CPRL’s logistics partner Radhakrishna Foodland discontinued supplies, citing “reduction in volumes and uncertainty of the future”. At the same time, McDonald’s India had issued a health advisory on the ‘quality’ of food being served at stores operated by CPRL in the north and east.

Last year on August 21, McDonald’s India had directed CPRL to stop using its brand system, trademark, designs and associated intellectual property, the deadline for which ended on September 6, 2017. CPRL, however, continues to operate the restaurants, and has since, made alternate arrangements with a new logistics partner.

Till 2017, CPRL, which ran 169 stores, was category leader in the quick service restaurant space, riding on affordability and aggressive entry-level pricing. However, post mid-last year, sales at McDonald’s north and east had slumped, with stores shutting down intermittently, uncertainty about the future, a key vendor ending its contract with the chain, and supply constraints, helping rivals such as Burger King and KFC report higher sales.

Bakshi had alleged that the termination of the JV by McDonald’s violated an earlier National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) order which had asked McDonald’s Corp to refrain from interfering in the smooth functioning of CPRL. This had resulted in NCLT issuing a show cause notice to McDonald’s Corp, which the US chain had challenged in the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).

Arguments for the two hearings, both by National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and NCLAT, scheduled for hearing on Tuesday, remained inconclusive. McDonald’s India had also moved the Delhi High Court for enforcement of an award in its favour by the London Court of International Arbitration, even as Bakshi moved Delhi High Court, challenging the arbitration order.

Bakshi and McDonald’s have been involved in a bitter legal battle since August 2013, when the burger-and-fries chain had ousted him as managing director of their joint venture. Trouble between Bakshi-led CPRL, the 50:50 joint venture between him and McDonald’s India further escalated when Bakshi challenged his removal at the Company Law Board (now NCLT), accusing McDonald’s India of mismanagement and oppression. NCLT had reinstated Bakshi as managing director in July 2017.

With the launch of its B2C brand ‘Popodax’ that has a range of flavoured appalams, Lanson Group has confirmed its venture into ready-to-eat snacks segment in the Indian market with the

“The products will be available in mom and pop stores, clubs and e-commerce websites such as Amazon from May, at packs worth Rs 10 and Rs 30. The group exports appalams and variants to the UK, holding 80% market share. It also exports to the US and Australia,” says Lankalingam, chairman and innovation head, Lanson Value Added Services.

The company also supplies to FMCG brands globally, manufacturing variants of the snack in five manufacturing units spread across Chennai and Thiruchendur.

“Lanson alone makes 1.5 million appalams a day for its global customers. With the vision of ‘consumer loyalty nourished by consumer delight’ our aim is to put a smile on the faces of consumers of every age by providing them innovative snacks for their unmet needs. This is one of the main reasons, we have decided to launch our own brand of ready-to-eat mini appalams – Popodax,” added Lankalingam.

“Popodax will initially be offered in Tamil Nadu markets in stages, beginning with markets such as Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem and Trichy and will be available in retail shops from May 2018.Within the next six months, the brand will be available in about 50 towns in Tamil Nadu and will be present in 20,000 outlets within the first year. With Popodax, we would like to garner about 2% of the ready to eat snack segment in the outlets that we will be present” Popodax will be available in 6 SKU’s- 3 flavours - Classic, Tomato & Chili, and Sour Cream & Onion,” added B Nandakumar, chief mentoring officer, LVAS.

The homegrown leading bread and biscuits maker Bonn Group has decided to foray into fast food restaurants business with the launch of its brand burger outlet chain La Americana.

The Ludhiana-based company operates outlets in Delhi and plans to expand the chain across many states in the next 12-18 months.

The market for the fast food business in India is currently pegged at around Rs 8,000 crore and growing at a sizzling pace of 30 percent CAGR.

“The outlets we have started in Delhi are getting very good response from the people as the taste of the burgers is very different. We will replicate the success of these outlets in others. We are confident people will love our American style burgers in other cities too. The thrust is one healthy eating and we have only fresh buns being served in the outlets,” said Amrinder Singh, Director, Bonn Group of Industries.

The outlets will also offer different types of vegetarian and non-vegetarian wraps, mojitos, iced teas, shakes, and fries. 

 “The market for fast food is growing at a very fast in India and since we are already recognized for the best of the breads and buns, we can use our long legacy in a related new business where we use our own buns for fresh burgers. The response we have got from our outlets in Delhi proves our entry into this business is right and going to be very exciting. What we are also doing with La Americana chain is that we are offering a whole range of eatables and beverages which makes us stand out from other burger chains” said Amrinder Singh said while commenting on the need to get into fast food business by the Ludhiana-based company.

The company already has a very good stronghold in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Himachal and Jammu & Kashmir for its other products like breads, biscuits, and cakes and will expand its fast-food business in these states before entering new geographies. 

The company has also launched La Americana range of gourmet cookies. These are premium cookies that are being sold in most North Indian cities and the new range has seen the overwhelming response from the customers.

The gourmet pizza delivery chain Pan Pan has started its day-time delivery service in Gurgaon outlet.

The fast-food brand Pan-Pan has gained prominence for delivering scrumptious Pizza and Pasta during night hours.

This move by Pan Pan is in line with its strategy to enter the mainstream food industry. It has already created a benchmark in the fast food industry with its delightful range of gourmet pizza and pasta.

"we are extremely happy to announce that Pan Pan is now available for daytime delivery. The love and demand we received from our consumers have played a substantial role in our expansion plan, shares Ashish Bahukhandi, Co-Founder, Dudleys.

Launched in September 2017, the pizza brand has left a good mark in the entire fast food industry across the country.

In the last six months the brand has emerged as one of the major players in pizza food industry and has been constantly giving a tough competition to its fellow brands.

The people in Wall Street are losing fans to McDonald's new Dollar Menu, believing that the items provided in the menu are not appealing enough to get them to the McDonalds. For the last year the shares have fell to 5%.

Fast food companies have introduced value menus to generate traffic. In January, McDonald's revived its popular Dollar Menu, with items priced at $1, $2 or $3.

But competition for mouths has never been much fierce. Rivals Taco Bell and Wendy's responded with their own value meals and they've won some converts.

David Palmer of RBC Capital Markets lowered his expectations for the company because of the lack of excitement over the Dollar Menu, on top of a worsening picture for the entire industry.

Palmer wrote that McDonald's may have cannibalized its own sales with promotions for the Dollar Menu, pulling customers away from its popular breakfast foods. He also thinks the Dollar Menu doesn't have a "hero" item on it, something that will pull people into a McDonald's restaurant, rather than a Burger King or Taco Bell.

Palmer lowered his expectations for comparable-store sales by more than two-thirds, to 1%. Those sales, from restaurants that have been open for at least a year, are watched closely by industry analyst because they're a good barometer of the company's health.

Palmers said there are reasons that McDonald's can rebound, for reasons that are both internal and external, including recent, sweeping tax changes that put a little more money into the pockets of consumers.

While Palmer cut McDonald's Corp. price target to $170 from $190, he remains optimistic that the hamburger chain has time to make changes and reaccelerate same-store sales in the coming quarters. He expects fiscal stimulus from tax reform, improving wage growth, low unemployment and food-at-home inflation to bring more people into McDonald's restaurants in the remaining quarters.

Shares of McDonald's Corp., based just outside of Chicago in Oak Brook, Illinois, dropped to $146.84 in early trading, levels not seen since last summer.

Himalaya Food International that works as  food processing, manufacturing, and exporting company has announced its entry into the Indian fast food market with the launch of its first fast food brand ‘BURGERS'N'FRIES - It’s Not Junk Food!

The company also aims to open 500 brand outlets following franchising business model by 2019.

Along with a range of veggies, mushrooms and cottage cheese burgers, as well as rock salt, masala and garlic pepper fries BURGERS'N'FRIES will serve specially made healthy, therapeutic, anti-inflammatory soft drinks.

According to Himalya Food, the products have been recently soft-launched at a company owned retail outlet in Delhi-NCR.

Man Mohan Malik, founder-CMD of Himalaya Food International Ltd said, “Himalaya is already catering to globally renowned B2B clients with its range of products with healthier innovations. With Indian food preferences changing in favour of greater health consciousness, we think that the time is right to manufacture and market these products in the country under the banner ‘BURGERS'N'FRIES’. We want to establish the brand as “It’s not junk food" and a healthier alternative to popular fast foods, and are building a pan-India franchise chain that can reach out to consumers directly via B2C verticals. We plan to open 500 outlets under the BURGERS'N'FRIES Franchise Model by next year.”

In North and West India, Himalya Food has been in operation since the past four decades through its two modern (ISO 22000 certified) facilities in North & West India.

Fast-food chain KFC has been asked to shut its almost 900 outlets across the Britain and Ireland owing the chicken shortage in the area.

The company is blaming "teething problems" with its new delivery partner, DHL.

KFC says the operating have shortened their menu and working time.

Last week, the company had apologized for the problems their customers are facing. The company on Monday issued and update listing more than 200 stores which will remain open, but did not say when the rest might reopen.

DHL, which recently took over the KFC contract from Bidvest Logistics, said that "due to operational issues a number of deliveries in recent days have been incomplete or delayed."

Popular Russian waffle chain 'WAFL' today said it will soon venture into the Indian market by opening two outlets in the city.

WAFL, which has over 50 Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) outlets all over the world apart from Bengaluru, will also open stores in New Delhi and Surat in the first phase launch.

The company noted that WAFL is already present in Russia, CIS countries, USA, Czeckoslovakia, Ukraine, Mangolia, Gulf countries and was now entering India, through a joint venture between 'MYBusiness Russia' and 'MBC Hospitality Pvt Ltd'.

The first outlet will be thrown open for public on February 3 here, company officials said in a statement.

"We are going to be present in each state of India by 2020. Apart from Gujarat and Rajasthan, all other states will also have non-vegetarian items in the menu. Apart from franchisee stores, we will also come up with our own flagship, company-operated stores”quoted My Business Russia International Business head Adzhai Sharma.

On the company's revenue target, he said in another three years, WAFL proposes to have 250 stores pan India, with a target of Rs 200 crores, and the expansion will also lead to employment generation.

On expansion plans, WAFL said it is set to open 80 outlets with franchisee module, pan-India in 2018.

Stating that the USP of WAFL is its corn based products, it is targeting the untapped Indian breakfast market as well as the conventional fast food market, by serving foodies trendy food at most reasonable prices. “Products like J-Tube, Wafl Pie will enter the Indian market for the first time,” the company said.

"We are positive that Indian market will like our products, we are eyeing pan India expansion" stated Executive Partner Rajeev Chawla.

Demiurgic Hospitality gives another reason to Gurugram people to smile and enjoy the home cooked food with the launch of their new brand “iDabba”. iDabba is the next gen lunching solution for the corporates and millennial currently available in Gurugram only through website and app orders. It removes the mundane of daily eating and gives you nutritious meals at comfort of your work. The cost of iDabba starts at Rs.99/- only.

“With the derth of eating out options, nobody is able to fill the gap of homely cooked food for lunch which has been an integral part of us growing up. With introducing iDabba we aim to fill this gap at very reasonable prices” says Chef Gautam Chaudhary, M.D. Demiurgic Hospitality.

Demiurgic Hospitality is already serving Gurugram people with their other brands like: World in a Box, Deseez, Bitez. With a plethora of options available to choose from every day, you really don’t need to repeat your meal ever. The food is made in state of the art kitchen situated in Gurgaon, in most hygienic condition using fresh produce from local farms and farmers, all this at a price which is cheaper than you procuring ingredients and making at home.

“The biggest challenge at such low ticket size is building unit economics green. We are hopeful that we are marching in right direction and we do not build business which grows profitable only at volumes but also at unit level”, says Nitish Jha, VP, Operations, Marketing & Sales.

There is a new menu everyday and have multiple options to customize your meals the way you like it. All this comes at affordable prices, making it possible to eat your every meal from outside. Offices can also pre order for large group of employees thus removing the need for maintaining cafeteria and outsourcing to third party vendors. Individuals can order as less as 1 dabba with nominal delivery fees.

Angel network platform Venture Catalysts has facilitated an undisclosed amount of investment in food tech startup The Bohri Kitchen. The seed round in the specialised cuisine startup has seen participation from Anuj Puri of Anarock Consultants, Abhishek Agarwal of Rockstud Capital, Anirudh Damani of Artha India Ventures, F&B veteran Riyaaz Amlani and food chef Rahul Akerkar amongst others.

Started by Munaf Kapadia and his mother in 2014, The Bohri Kitchen offers dishes that are unique to the Dawoodi Bohra community to food connoisseurs through a home dining experience. The start-up makes available legacy family recipes to specialised small groups of gastronomes.

Munaf Kapadia, Founder & CEO, The Bohri Kitchen said “When I first thought of the idea that would materialise into The Bohri Kitchen, I was confident of the viability of such a concept in the market. The response that we’ve had so far has just strengthened that belief. A former Googler, Kapadia is the recipient of the title of Forbes ‘30 under 30’ for creating The Bohri Kitchen (TBK).

Anuj Puri, Chairman of Anarock Consultants who is an investor in the company said “The brand has grown from strength to strength, setting up a delivery kitchen and slowly expanding into the restaurant vertical as well. We are confident that TBK will continue to set new benchmarks in the experiential dining space and garner exponential success.

Through this investment round, Kapadia is also looking to widen the reach of TBK by hiring more skilled workers to help standardise the menus along with his mother.

Director General of Health Services (DGHS) Jagdish Prasad has called for small and big fast food chains in India to stop using antibiotics in chicken and other food products.

Prasad also called for strong guidelines for the fast food chains in India so that the burning issue of health hazards by antimicrobial resistance (AMR) can be tackled.

Jagdish Prasad said "All big and small companies should take the initiative against using antibiotics. There is a need for deadline for small and big fast food chains. In US, there is a restriction to big companies such as McDonalds against using antibiotics”.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the ability of a microbe to resist the effects of medication previously used to treat them. The term includes the more specific "antibiotic resistance", which applies only to bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics.

As part of the government's initiative to tackle AMR, the Health Ministry on November 20 has called for suggestions and observations from all the stakeholders for the amendment to Food Safety and Standards Regulation, 2011.

According to Food Safety Security Authority of India, maximum permissible limits of 37 antibiotics and 67 other veterinary drugs are prescribed for chicken.

This notification contains maximum permissible limits of various antibiotics in meat and meat products including chicken.

A green body alleged that fast food majors in India were adopting "double standards" by committing themselves to eliminating misuse of antibiotics in meat supply chains in a time-bound manner in the West but not in India.

Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) released an assessment report based on data in public domain and response obtained from several multinational companies and three Indian firms selling fast food in the country.

Deputy Director General of the CSE, Chandra Bhushan said “Our study shows that these fast food MNCs do not have any India-specific commitments to eliminate misuse of antibiotics in their meat supply chains. Surprisingly, these global giants have made ambitious, specific and time-bound commitments in the US and other countries to eliminate antibiotic misuse owing to growing pressure from regulators and other stakeholders. This is sheer "double standards".

Jubilant Foodworks, a domestic franchise for the US-based popular chain Domino's Pizza, said "We follow global standards and processes, and ensure that the highest standards of quality and food safety and hygiene are maintained across our supply chain. It has a formal policy in place on usage of antibiotics in poultry birds' health management to guide their sourcing of poultry.  We have always had a set of standards followed while sourcing poultry for our products, ensuring that our suppliers follow the right farm practices”.

KFC said in a statement “it adheres to all laws and regulations regarding the use of antibiotics. Furthermore, as part of our strict adherence to robust safety practices and processes, chicken supplied to KFC India is free from any antibiotic residue, as our chicken supplies are subjected to a withdrawal period specific to each medicinal treatment”.

Head, Food Safety and Toxins programme at CSE, Amit Khurana said "Fast food is not good for health and on top of that if the meat is sourced from an animal injected with antibiotics for growth promotion (non-therapeutic use), then it's a double whammy for the consumer. A person may or may not get affected after consuming such food. While some others shared their practices of sourcing and testing, they did not specify any timelines by which they planned to eliminate antibiotic misuse”.

Hotels and malls in Mumbai will finally be able to legally run open terrace restaurants. BMC approved the controversial rooftop restaurant policy and issued circular stipulating norms. The policy would be implemented with immediate effect. Rooftop restaurants operating now are illegal and recently the BMC had shut down many of them. The new policy will help such hoteliers regularize their illegal restaurants.

Under the new policy, existing malls and hotels in the city can have a dining place on the terrace if there’s no residential building within 10 metres. The eateries should have a 1.5 metre parapet, and no cooking will be allowed using an LPG stove or an open flame.

Till now, there has been no policy for rooftop restaurants, but hoteliers would have not only restaurants, but also bars, illegally in connivance of corrupt civic officials. For instance, the BMC found 36 illegal rooftop eateries in Ward A, which comprises Colaba and Cuffe Parade. Most such dining places are set up in sea-facing buildings to attract tourists. Restaurant would take BMC’s permission to set up a monsoon shed on their terrace, but convert the area into a rooftop restaurant. Following the municipal commissioner’s direction, the BMC recently demolished many illegal rooftop restaurants.

Adarsh Shetty, president of Ahar, an association of over 8,000 restaurants and bars in the city, said “the decision would open up ‘skylands’ for not only the hoteliers but also customers. Rooftop dining is not just a luxury but a necessity owing to space crunch in Mumbai. It will open up a new economy and also be a source of revenue for the state. It will also decongest the crowded hotels. Of course, fire and peripheral safety measures will have to be in place”.

Dilip Datwani, president of the Hotel and Restaurant Association-Western India (HRAWI), said “International tourists will appreciate the move. Rooftop restaurants offer a unique dining experience and are popular across the world and a city like Mumbai was missing it so far.”

Association’s spokesperson Pradeep Shetty said “We are happy that the government is doing its bit for tourism. It has been our plea that huge spaces on terraces need to be unlocked to create leisure/recreation zones for citizens and tourists. There has been an emerging trend of ‘sky bars’ and ‘rooftop cafes’ the world over and Mumbai, being the commercial capital of India, lacked policy for allowing such activities. We are happy that tourists and citizens will now have additional avenues for entertainment.”

National company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Monday adjourned the hearing of plea filed against fast food major McDonald’s and its Indian Partner Vikram bakshi.

During the proceeding, lawyer of McDonalds informed that the Delhi High Court on October 25 would hear a petition in which it has challenged the show cause notice for contempt issue by the tribunal.

NCLT bench headed by Chairman Justice MM Kumar adjourned the matter to November 7.

MIPL, a subsidiary of McDonald’s had filed a writ petition before the High Court questioning the validity of the contempt notice issued by the NCLT against it. On September 5, NCLT had issued show cause notice to fast food major McDonald’s and McDonald’s India over the contempt plea filed by Bakshi.

Vikram Bakshi had alleged that by terminating its licence the US- based food giant has violated the NCLT order dated July 13 which reinstated him as the managing director of CPRL and also refrained McDonald’s Corporation to interfere in the functioning of CPRL.

McDonald’s, world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, began to launch a premium range of burgers in Britain to head off growing competition from rival chains such as Five Guys and Shake Shack.

The Signature Collection burgers will include the thickest ever patty sold by McDonald’s. They have been developed in conjunction with chefs from Michelin-starred restaurants.

The new burgers will be trialled at 28 restaurants in London, the south and Manchester before being rolled out to 400 McDonald’s restaurants by next summer.

They could also be sold in McDonald’s restaurants around the world if they prove popular in the UK. The company is facing growing competition from gourmet burger chains, particularly in the US where Five Guys and Shake Shack were founded. These burgers will be served in brioche-style buns and will cost £4.69.

McDonald’s is taking advantage of its new table service system to launch the burgers. The extra thickness of the meat means customers will have to wait for their burger to be served, in contrast to the company’s traditional hamburgers and Big Macs.

Duncan Cruttenden, food development director said the burgers had been developed with the help of customer feedback and with the company’s internal chef council, which includes those who have worked at Michelin-starred restaurants.

“When the chef council started to develop this new premium offering, we worked with a brief generated by our customers – they told us they wanted thicker beef patties and high quality ingredients, freshly prepared.

“We’ve crafted a range that is a truly exciting permanent addition to our menu – every product has to earn a place and our customers have told us the signature collectionmCd has done just that.”