Rebel Foods plans to add 300 outlets of Wendy’s in three years

American burger chain Wendy’s is bullish on the India growth story, which is the fastest growing market in terms of store additions in the Asia-Pacific region. Rebel Foods, the master franchise holder of Wendy’s in India, opened the 200th outlet of the brand on Wednesday. It now plans to more than double the brand’s outlets count in the next three years with an investment of ₹100-150 crore.

Chris Conway, Senior Vice-President, APMEA & Europe told businessline, “We are very bullish on India. India is the fastest growing market for us in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of number of touchpoints and will be a major part of our growth plans moving forward in the region. We are building a high performing, differentiated QSR brand in India. Growing to 200 restaurants demonstrates that Wendy’s is winning in the market by delivering what customers want.”

Delivery-only outlets

Rebel Foods is building the brand in India with a strong focus on delivery-only outlets. Out of the 200 locations across more than 50 cities, 185 outlets are delivery-only while 15 are dine-in restaurants.

Ankush Grover, Co-founder and CEO, India and MENA, Rebel Foods said, “This has been one of the fastest expansion for a restaurant brand in the country as we have hit 200 outlets in just about three years. We want to continue with this momentum and plan to add about 300 outlets with an investment to the tune of ₹100-150 crore over the next three years. Going forward, about 30 per cent of the 500 restaurants will be dine-in, while rest will be delivery-only outlets”

Untapped potential

He added that Wendy’s has a huge untapped potential for growth. “We are focusing sharply on an omni-channel strategy. We have seen strong growth for the brand especially in the last two years,” Grover said.

Rebel Foods, which is a leading cloud kitchens operator, is known for various brands including Faasos, Behrouz Biryani, Oven Story Pizza, Mandarin Oak, The Good Bowl, SLAY Coffee, Sweet Truth among others. It currently runs over 450 cloud kitchens in 75 cities.

At a time when Indian consumers are increasingly looking for quicker deliveries in top cities, Rebel Foods recently launched its 15 minute-delivery app called “QuickiES” in Mumbai. The platform also offers Wendy’s food products. Grover said the brand has plans to scale up the offering in other top cities.