Vikram bakshi, Managing Director, McDonald’s India (North and East) is a happy man. Sitting at the McDonald’s outlet in Central Delhi’s Janpath since early morning to mark ‘National Breakfast day’ he is particularly pleased about the fact that the fast-food outlet’s breakfast offerings have sold out in several outlets.
But he is looking beyond the occasional breakfast. McDonald’s India which is split into two franchises, Bakshi’s operations cover the northern and eastern part of the country, with Amit Jatia of Hardcastle Restaurants handling operations in the west and south is looking at expanding aggressively. “There are only around 2500 quick-service restaurants (QSR’s) in India right now. In China there are 15,000 such outlets and in the United States there are 175,000 such outlets. The organized food industry has a long way to go in India”, he says.
McDonald’s India which saw sales climb over 125 per cent last year is expecting another bumper year this year with over 100 per cent growth claims Bakshi. He expects his operations with currently stand at around 140-odd outlets to climb to over 300 outlets in the next three years. “There are huge opportunities in Delhi alone. We have six outlets in the Connaught Place area and I feel that we can open five-six more outlets. The same in South Delhi, I do not want my customers to be travelling a long distance to get to a McDonald’s”, he says when talking about his aggressive plans.
McDonald’s breakfast menu which started a couple of years ago is also picking up in India, claims Bakshi. “Indians do not have a culture of eating out at breakfast, and we are trying to change that. I believe as nuclear families grow, more people will have to rush outside and will grab breakfast on the go”, he says. Today. McDonald’s sells breakfast in only half of its outlets, “as we do not sell breakfast in many malls as we are often part of the food court. However, we are trying to change that.”
What makes Bakshi the happiest is when he meets young people who started out their professional careers at McDonald’s. “We employ over 15,000 people today, many of them are youngsters for whom this is their first ever job. I have lost count of the times that people walk up to me and tell me that their first job was in the kitchen of a McDonald’s. If I look at the managerial staff across the food industry in India, I find a large number have been trained and have worked for McDonald’s. That makes me really proud.”