UP finds popular noodle brands substandard

Cybiz Super Brands signed a Master Franchise Agreement with Faarsi for opening 50 stores in 5 years.

Faarsi is a Middle Eastern diner serving Persian, Turkish and Lebanese Cuisines.

"We are very excited to be partnered with Cybiz Super Brands for our Expansions, we started the brand with an idea to expand pan India" said Rajinder Bagga, Chairman, Faarsi.

Faarsi started in 2013 in the bustling lanes of the now so popular area of Hauz Khas Village has carved a niche for itself.

"The fact of Faarsi being the only Stand Alone Restaurant which has been able to replicate the taste of the Middle East in its Food speaks volumes about the place and not only that but also the Food that is being served" shared Amit Bagga, Director, Faarsi.

"A Middle Eastern diner with take away & home delivery service that serves authentic Persian, Turkish and Lebanese cuisine, including shawarma, Falafel wraps, Pilafs, Baklava and a delicacy for the first time in Delhi and the ‘Koobideh Kebab’ "added Manan Chawla , Director Faarsi.

“The first phase of expansion would be in Delhi NCR and we will follow the FOCO Model (Franchise Owned and Company Operated) for expanding the Brand and there would be different formats such as standalone café, take away-delivery counters and food courts” pointed Sam Chopra, Chairman, Cybiz Corp.

A sister concern of Cybiz Corp, Cybiz Super Brands specializes in franchising mainly in the Food and Beverages industry and Retail.

Cybiz Super Brands has the Master Franchising rights of various brands like Café Out of the Box and Boom Box Café.

Apart from this the company also represents several national brands like The Embassy & The Chatter Hub.

“The Franchise will get the entire training and detailed operations manuals for smooth operational flow and the format are such that it’s an easy entry for food and beverage business aspirants” added Puneet Verma, Director Cybiz Super Brands.

Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which sells dairy products under the Amul brand, is planning to set up a processing unit in the Northeast.

"We are setting up two processing units in UP - one in Kanpur and one in Lucknow - which will be operational in five- six months. We are also planning to set up a processing unit near Kolkata and in Northeast. We are investing Rs 200 crore for each of these units," R S Sodhi, Managing Director, GCMMF's told PTI.

"Our main focus is on the domestic market for expansion. Of the total revenues, we export only about Rs 250 crore . We are expecting Rs 23,000 crore in sales by the end of the financial year. The rise in revenue is only due to increase in volume," he added.

GCMMF has 60 milk processing units spread across the country and exports its value-added products to over 50 countries.

The federation procures about 14.85 million litres of milk every day from 18,536 village milk cooperative societies and 17 member unions covering 31 districts and 3.37 million milk producer members.

Chennai based Peepul Capital has acquired complete control of Innovative Foods Ltd., brand owners of Sumeru from India Equity Partners for an undisclosed amount.

The group has acquired almost the entire share capital in the company while a small portion is with employees of the company who make Sumeru range of products.

The financial details of the transaction are not known, but it is learnt that the Peepul could have pumped in less than Rs 100 crore to take over the company.

Innovative Foods is a player in the frozen foods category. It has a wide ready-to-cook product basket from vegetables, vegetarian /non-vegetarian snacks (breaded products), poultry, seafood and non-traditional meats (such as pork).

"Sumeru" brand is available across India and select overseas markets. IFL also serves customized products for food service businesses across India and has built long-standing relationships with marquee chains such as McDonalds and KFC.

Sumeru was carved out of Amalgam Foods of Kochi and the Tatas bought into the company from whom India Equity Partners took the company over.

Presently the company operates at four locations and a consolidated installed capacity of 10,000 tonnes a year.

Franchise India, was awarded the title of Indian Power Brand at the glittering ‘Franchise India presents Omaxe Power Brands Glam 2016' held in the Capital recently.

The power packed function also saw the launch of the 2015-16 edition of Power Brands where Franchise India got felicitated. The function was presided over by Ms. Najma Heptulla, Minister for Minority Affairs.

“Franchise India has been making its mark is felt all over the nation and it totally deserves the title of Indian Power Brand for its great brand,” shared Arindam Chaudhuri, Founder Planman Media.

Planman Media also launched the 'New Look' version of its News Magazine, "The Sunday Indian" at the event.

The guests of honor at the event that was conducted in association with Times Now and Gitanjali, included Sudhir Chaudhary - Channel Head and Editor in Chief of Zee News, Archana Dalmiya from Congress, Chandan Mitra of BJP, Shahnawaz Hussain - current spokesperson of BJP and former Cabinet Minister BJP, Atul Kumar Anjaan - CPI - National Secretary,  Arun Kumar - National General Secretary, JDU, D.P Tripathi - General Secretary, NCP, Manjari Fadnis - film actor,  Gaurav Marya -Chairman, Franchise India, Mohit Goel - CEO of Omaxe and Dr. J.K. Mitra, former Dean of FMS. The event saw brand owners of the most Powerful Brands of India receiving their honours for being present inside the special - by invitation - only brand compendium, Power Brands 2015-16.

It also saw the announcement of the "4ps Most Recognizable Brands of Indian Origin" and a select list of their brand owners being felicitated.

The research was done jointly by IIPM Think Tank and Franchise India. The event partners included, Bright Outdoor Media, Ravish Kapoor Innovative Invitations, RG Urology and Laparoscopy Hospital, Mandate and Brand Serve.

Manpasand Beverages Ltd, has partnered with ice cream major Baskin-Robbins to sell its products’ via Baskin Robbins outlet.

The Gujarat based brand will be selling its flagship drink 'Mango Sip' and recently launched 'Fruits Up' via 250 ice cream parlours and outlets of Baskin-Robbins across India.

"This is a significant moment for us as for the first time an Indian beverage company is entering into an exclusive tie up with a global major such as Baskin-Robbins,” shared Dhirendra Singh, Chairman & MD of Manpasand Beverages.

Offering delicious and fun treats across 150 cities & towns with 550 plus stores, Baskin-Robbins is one of the largest ice cream retail chains in India. Baskin-Robbins entered India in 1993 through a joint venture with the Graviss Group and today it is present across 150 cities with close to 550 outlets.

"We are excited about this new partnership as this is Baskin Robbin's first association with a fruit beverage company. We hope that this association will add to our available array of delicious fun treats and give consumers a wider choice" added Sanjay Coutinho, CEO of Graviss Foods Pvt. Ltd.

This alliance marks the continuation of the aggressive expansion strategy adopted by Manpasand Beverages to tap the fast growing urban markets. With this foray, Manpasand's flagship brand 'Mango Sip,' which is extensively spread out in rural and semi-rural regions, will now be available in urban areas through Baskin-Robbin's outlets.

Recently, Manpasand Beverages entered into a tie up with ice cream and food retailing major Havmor Ice Cream Ltd as well as Metro Cash & Carry. In the coming days Manpasand is going to forge more such alliances to increase its urban market penetration.

Jubilant FoodWorks promoter group entity Weston Investment Ltd has reduced its stake in the company by 2.44 per cent by selling 15.97 lakh shares in the open market, as per a PTI report.

Weston along with other entities had 51.34 per cent stake earlier, which now stands at 48.90 per cent after the transaction, Jubilant said in a filing to the BSE.

Jubilant FoodWorks, which runs QSR brands like Domino’s Pizza and Dunkin’ Donuts in Indian market, ended at Rs 1400.55 a piece, up 0.81 per cent from their previous close on the BSE.

Jubilant’s promoter sold these shares on multiple dates till December 4, 2014, it added.

Meanwhile, the company had reported 12.75 per cent decline in standalone net profit at Rs 29 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2014 as against net profit of Rs 33.24 crore in the same period last year.

Its net sales during the second quarter of 2014-15 were at Rs 501.07 crore, up 14.76 per cent, against Rs 436.6 crore in the year-ago period.
 

Tata Global Beverages Ltd (TGBL) is planning to jostle against Hindustan Unilever’s in green tea segment, reports Hindu Business Line.

The company recently launched green tea under its Tata Tea brand with smaller packs to compete Lipton brand by HUL.

 While Tata Tea has priced a pack of 5 tea bags at Rs 20, Lipton’s pack of 10 tea bags is priced at Rs 55.

TGBL also has green tea in the premium segment under Tetley brand. The brand is also planning to enter into e-commerce platform to promote its product.

“The idea was to offer green tea at a better price point to consumers in smaller towns. Till now green tea was perceived as a premium product with a few players such as Twinnings, Typhoo and Tetley in fray” said, Ajoy Misra, Managing Director, TGBL.

The company feels that there is lot of growth in the tea segment and is growing at a very fast pace. “We are planning to expand this portfolio and launch more flavours in the coming months. We expect about 10 per cent of the total sales in the tea segment to come from green tea in the next few years and establish a leadership position in the market not only in India but also globally”, he added.

 At present, green tea contributes to 3-4 per cent of the overall sales for Tata, while tea contributes to about 70 per cent and coffee about 20 per cent. About 10 per cent sales come from water.

Smoothie Factory, the US based health and wellness cafe which offers a wide variety of smoothies, freshly squeezed juices, frozen yogurts, gourmet panini’s, salad and waffles is planning to open 90 outlets by 2019.

The group is planning to invest around Rs 50 crore on opening 40-45 company-owned stores in India within five years. In all, including the franchises, it is looking at having up to 90 outlets by the end of 2019. The company would explore the North and East regions and would open at places like Chandigarh, Jaipur and Kolkata.

"In the next five years, we would have around 90 outlets, in which 40 to 45 would be company owned and the rest would be franchise based," Smoothie Factory India Chief Brand Officer Arjun Khera told ET Retail.

Out of total 90 outlets, 50-60 would be bigger cafe formats spread between 1,200-1,500 sq ft and rest would be mini formats with 400 sq ft, Khera added. The company would be looking for investment as angel investors in future

The company is targeting 15-40 year age group consumers, who are very health conscious and take high quality and nutritious ingredients. Each cafe format store would have an expected revenue of Rs 15 lakh per month and the smaller one would have of around Rs 9 lakh per month," Khera said.

The company is also working on localised flavours in its menu and are launching shakes more suited for the Indian tastes. In the food section, sandwiches have tandoori options, which suit more of localisations.

Smoothie Factory entered India in September 2013 with opening outlet at Nehru Place and Gurgaon. The company is also launching a new outlet at central Delhi's Connaught Place later this month.

After its success in Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore, California Pizza Kitchen has started its operation in  DLF Cyber Hub in Gurgaon, Haryana.

The new outlet, opened by the exclusive master franchisee JSM Corporation, India’s leading restaurant group.

With this launch, the total number of California Pizza Kitchen outlet stands at eight outlets across the country (three each in Mumbai and Bengaluru and one in Chennai). The 130 seat restaurant is tastefully decorated with warm colours and rich textures.

Chef Justin Parras, International Brand Ambassador for Franchise Operations, CPK, said, “We want our guests to be as inspired by the food as we aim to create the best dining experience possible for them.”

California Pizza Kitchen will also be launching a line of gourmet products called ‘Deli by CPK’ in addition to the flavoured offerings, the Deli also offers unique breads and confectioneries that include San Francisco Style Baguette, Basil Pesto Bread, Toasted Sesame Bread, Cranberry Butter Loaf, all baked in wood fired hearth oven and a variety of cakes, pastries, macaroons, cookies, cupcakes, cake balls and specially crafted ice-creams. 

The brand is known for a unique combination of sweet and tart fruity flavours. Jolly Rancher Lollipops will be the first Jolly Rancher candy introduced in India in three flavours: green apple, watermelon and mango.

Atul Razdan, GM, Marketing, Sweets and Refreshments, Hershey India, said, “The Jolly Rancher brand is a perfect line of products for sweets-loving consumers in India.”