Known for its flame-grilled menu with peri peri sauces, Rohit Malhotra, Business Head- India Operations, Barcelos India, says that the brand has been able to create a distinct positioning and is looking to expand through the franchise route by partnering with enthusiastic individuals that can drive the Barcelos brand.
What is the customer and value proposition of your brand?
As the Indian unit of the South African casual dining restaurant chain, the Barcelos brand brings to the Indian customer a world-class casual dining experience with a great option for the health-conscious Indian youth to look at healthy and nutritious food sans saturated fats like oils and butter, with virtually no adverse effect on taste.
What is the market positioning that your brand has created over the years?
Barcelos is a household name for its flame-grilled menu with peri peri sauces, which brings the ‘best in class ‘ spicy fare that would naturally tickle the Indian taste buds. It has created its own unique following by introducing to the discerning Indian foodie its own brand of innovation. The Black Burger is the best selling product of Barcelos F&B offerings in India. From revolutionizing the concept of ‘burger’ in India by presenting it in different colors to introducing India’s first Sangria Bar offering 21 flavors of Sangria, we have been able to create a distinct positioning for the brand and our products. Barcelos has won many people’s heart with its very own gourmet innovations.
Tell us about your establishment’s menu offerings, price, format, and amenities on offer.
The menu at Barcelos offers a mix of five different cuisines – Portuguese, Mexican, Italian, Spanish, and American. The food is reasonably priced and the tab for two people dining at our restaurant will come to about Rs. 1,600 with non-alcoholic drinks. We entered the Indian market through the company-owned outlet route and, last year, we appointed a master franchisee for India. Currently, we are also expanding through franchise network by partnering with enthusiastic individuals who can drive the Barcelos brand. We are not considering any investor model as of now.
Barcelos is determined to find the perfect balance between the traditional, healthy, homestyle cuisines and the fast-lane demands of the modern world. The Barcelos brand is famous for its flame-grilled peri peri menu and has carved a niche for itself by introducing it to the discerning foodies with our own brand of innovation.
What are your other offerings and novel products? With the trend in vegetarian and healthy eating picking up, how are you bringing these trends to reflect in your menu offerings?
The company recently introduced a new menu that has a better choice of mouth watering dishes with a unique mix of signature and innovative international dishes. The menu focuses on authentic Portuguese flavors, catering to a predominantly vegetarian segment that accounts for about 40 percent of our footfall. We offer grilled food without oil and butter, healthy breads for our burgers, and a variety of salads and soups. Guests can enjoys offerings like Chicken Parmesan, Espetada, Quesadilla, Fajitas, Mexican Burritos to Italian Pasta, Sizzlers and many more exciting dishes from our new and expanded menu, designed to take the guests on a culinary world tour with international dishes inspired from South Africa, Italy, Spain and Mexico. Our new menu offers great options for the health-conscious Indian youth though the focus is on international cuisine.
What do you think of the market potential for the kind of cuisine your chain specializes in?
It’s certainly not one of the most preferred cuisines but Indian consumers seem to be patronizing South African cuisine and it’s the fastest growing industry due to the rising disposable income, a greater population of younger people, growth of consumers in smaller towns and the widening exposure to new cultures and cuisines besides an increased propensity for eating out of home.
What marketing and sales tools are you using to promote the brand?
Barcelos’ target age group is 4 to 40 years. We are active on social media, provide offers like special lunch offer, 1+1 on drinks and appetizer, pizza 1+1 on Monday and Tuesday, which attract different age group at different times and days. We also run contests from time to time and have special menu for different occasions. We are using both ATL and BTL methods for brand promotion.
How are you bringing technology to bear on your logistics, supply chain and innovation?
We have tie ups with many table booking and food delivery apps and we are in the process of launching a new digital wallet, which will be part of our loyalty program.
What are your plans and targets for the future?
Barcelos is planning to add up to 20 more outlets in India by the end of 2019 as part of its expansion plans with a projected turnover of Rs 200 crore. The current focus is on metros and Tier I cities and, only after that, the company would focus on Tier II cities.
The new outlets will be a mix of company-owned and franchises. As part of the expansion plan in India, the company is looking to set up 5-6 outlets in 2017-18 in Tier 1 citiesThe brand is alsoeyeing Mumbai ,Chennai, Kochi, Pune and Delhi NCR for more outlets. The company is also looking to open up to 12 smaller outlets in food courts in the country.
Besides these expansion plans, Barcelos is all set to bring two new exclusive models into the Indian market which lets a CDR to enter into the QSR market. It will be having a retail counter with sauces, nuts and wafers being retailed at select Barcelos outlets. Barcelos is targeted at younger consumers, from the 14 to 40 age group. Barcelos is also looking to add franchise restaurants in 3 star and 4 stars hotels and resorts.
