US-based Little Caesars Pizza making its entry into India
US-based Little Caesars Pizza making its entry into India

Little Caesars Pizza is venturing into the Indian market by launching its first two restaurants in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

Paula Vissing, Senior Vice President of International, Little Caesar Enterprises, Inc, said, “As we continue to expand our global footprint, we are thrilled to bring Little Caesars Pizza's high quality, great-tasting pizza at an everyday value to India.”

US-based pizza brand will launch an all-Vegetarian menu in Ahmedabad, featuring a signature 10" HOT-N-READY Veggie Pizza for Rs 159 all day, every day, plus other delicious offerings. The HOT-N-READY concept permits customers to simply stop in and carry out a selection of freshly made, great-tasting pizza and side items without waiting or ordering ahead.

“India is an incredibly important new market for Little Caesars and we anticipate significant growth throughout the country in the next several years,” she added.

Founded in 1959, Little Caesars is headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. Currently, it is the third-largest pizza chain in the world in terms of the net number of stores in 2019. The brand has stores in each of the 50 states in the US and 26 countries and territories around the world.

Growing Pizza Market

The Italian food format stood third in preference after Indian and Chinese five to six years ago. However, recent studies show that pizza is the biggest and the most profitable segment in the Quick Serve Restaurant (QSR) format.

The Indian pizza market is dominated by Jubilant Food Works and Yum Brands, who own the widely recognisable brands Domino’s and Pizza Hut, respectively. However, other brands such as Sbarro, Papa John’s and Marco’s Pizza are also competing to spread their base in India. Thus, with the increase in the number of players, the market is ripe for investors.

Serving pizza via franchise route

Global and domestic pizza brands in India are expanding their stores through the franchise route throwing many opportunities for entrepreneurs in the country. Be it Domino’s, Pizza Hut, Papa John’s,  Sbarro, Neopolitan Pizza or any other pizza brand, the majority of them are spreading their footprints via a franchise model in India. Domino’s Pizza has Jubilant FoodWorks Limited as it Master Franchisee.

Prospects in smaller cities

The Indian fast food market, which used to concentrate only in the metropolitan cities, has been witnessing a robust growth pan-India over the past few years. Tier-II and III cities are the focus of the leading pizza makers due to huge opportunities there.

In the pizza segment, competition is getting intense as franchisors are significantly ramping up their presence across tier-II and tier-III cities of India. There exists a tremendous growth opportunity for franchisors in these areas as an educated middle-class population is becoming more sophisticated with respect to standardised food consumption.

 
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