Cavinkare is all set to foray into the restaurant business. The FMCG major is mulling a fast food joint in Puducherry and has almost frozen the venue, sources close to the development told.
“It is being planned as a chain of fast food joints, the first of which is being planned in the union territory,” the source said. The location is nearly final and it should be operational by June, he added. The investment in the maiden venture is said to be around Rs 1 crore.
When contacted, CavinKare chairman and managing director CK Ranganathan refused to comment. The Rs 700-cr FMCG player has products in the personal care (hair care and skin care categories, including Fairever, Meera and Chik) and food segments (Ruchi and Chinni’s being a couple of them).
It also recently forayed into the packaged liquid milk segment, acquiring a dairy plant in Kancheepuram district. Trial productions are on and the product will be available soon across retail outlets in the metro.
“While Puducherry has some established names in the hospitality segment (GRT Sunway, Appaswamy’s Richmond, Sarovar Group’s The Promenade) with good eating joints, there are few good standalone restaurants. And absolutely no established names in the fast-food segment,” a hospitality industry expert told ET.
He added that the town, although small, had immense potential in this segment and had started to attract big names only in the last three to four years. The floating population is very high in the town and people on the way to other nearby temple towns (Velankani, Swamimalai) and tourist destinations make quick stopovers here, he said.
So, next time you travel to Puducherry and feel like tucking in some snacks, you know where to head to!
Source: The Economic Times
