With the QSRs and standalone restaurants mushrooming in the country, the single product concept is gaining ground in the food and beverage market in India, says Sahil Arora, Executive Chef, Mariott, Jaipur. For eg. Mc Donald’s started with only burgers in the country but now has extended its menu offerings. Initially, restaurants used to have a lot of items on their menu. Now, restaurants and QSRs specialise in a particular food product like pizza, donut, burger, pasta, etc.
The food and beverage players are opting for the single product concept because they want to create a niche plus managing a wider menu to begin with is a big challenge operationally. Today, brands want to gain expertise in one particular food item and then expand the offerings gradually. Also, reduced cost implications and carbon footprint are other key reasons for the growth of the QSR category. The food items move very fast so there is no need of a dry store which draws extra expenses. Central kitchens producing food items in small batches and supplying to all the outlets, is again a cost effective measure with the QSRs.
The younger generation is driving the QSR growth in India as they want food which they can eat with ease anywhere.
In the F&B space, the Chef opines that India does not have any written standard recipe, every chef has his own cooking method and so the taste varies.
According to Arora, Lebanese and Korean cuisine is also picking up in the Asia Pacific region. Fusion food is again becoming popular, “When I say fusion food, I mean Indian food presented in a modern way,” he said.
