INDIGENOUS FOODSERVICE BRANDS COME OF AGE AT 8TH ANNUAL COCA COLA GOLDEN SPOON AWARDS

SIGREE GLOBAL GRILL, HIGH ULTRA LOUNGE MATCH GLOBAL RETAILERS IN OFFER AND BUSINESS PERFORMANCE
Innovative Indian foodservice concepts are coming of age, as evidenced by the multiple honours bestowed upon some of the country’s most exciting new restaurant brands at the 8th Annual Coca Cola Golden Spoon Awards — the IMAGES honours for excellence in food retailing and foodservice — on January 15th at Mumbai.
Organised by IMAGES Group, the 8th Annual Coca Cola Golden Spoon Awards felicitated outstanding achievements of food service operators and food & grocery retailers for the calendar year 2014 in a lavish ceremony hosted at The Renaissance Hotel in Mumbai.
While Domino’s and Dunkin’ Donuts, along with their parent company Jubilant Foodworks Ltd, gathered up the most number of awards at the ceremony, other foodservice awardees included new-age indigenous concepts such as Wow! Momo, Masala Library by Jiggs Kalra, Sigree Global Grill and the spectacular High Ultra Lounge in Bangalore. All of them proved that the home-grown foodservice industry is not just alive and kicking, but is also throwing up world-class experiences.
Among the new restaurant launches in 2014, a category that also split in two segments to honour global and domestic successes, Bangalore’s High Ultra Lounge stood shoulder to shoulder with global giant Burger King, which opened its first 10 Indian restaurants within 52 days.
High Ultra Lounge – the spectacular fine-dine restaurant located 421 feet up from ground level — is the highest point for food and beverage service in India, outside of Mumbai. It also has one of the fastest growing and most liked pages on Facebook, with more than 12,500 organic fans in just 10 months since launch. It also ranks in the Top 5 Likealyzer scores across restaurants in the country.
Sigree Global Grill from Speciality Restaurants, has nine outlets in six cities. The chain recorded 174% growth in sales turnover, with 64% growth in retail space in 2014. Sales per square foot grew by 72% in 2014 over the previous year. These achievements led to it being declared the recipient of the “IMAGES Most Admired Restaurant Chain of the Year: Dine-in: (Home-grown retailer)” award, with Pizza Hut taking the honours in the ‘Global Retailer’ segment in the same category.
Jiggs Kalra’s Masala Library, which was awarded the honour of “IMAGES Most Admired Stand alone Restaurant of the Year: Dine-in”, recorded a phenomenal growth in sales turnover in 2014, growing by Rs 3 crore to touch Rs 32 crore last year.
Wow! Momo, recipient of the “IMAGES Most Admired Food Service Chain of the Year: QSR Indian Origin” award, currently has 44 outlets located in five cities. The chain recorded a 76% growth in sales turnover, with 57% growth in retail space emanating from 11 new outlets, in 2014 over the previous year. Sales per square foot grew by 12% and same store sales grew by 14 % in 2014.
Jubilant Foodworks Ltd. was declared the “IMAGES Most Admired Food Service Group of the Year” for the 2nd consecutive year. With 797 Domino’s and 37 Dunkin’ Donuts outlets, Jubilant increased its retail space by 34% and sales by 18% during Oct 13 – Sep 14 over the same period in the previous year.
Domino’s, the serial awardee, having opened 165 new stores and operating 797 stores located in 167 cities, grew its sales by 16% in Sales and 33% in retail space over the previous year was adjudged the best performer among ‘QSR Foreign Origin’ chains.
Dunkin’ Donuts was awarded not only the title ‘IMAGES Most Admired Food Service Chain of the Year: Cafes & Juice Bars’ but was also honoured for its innovative approach to its positioning, product development, consumer connect and consumer-led concept via the “Most Admired Foodservice Retail Innovation of the Year’ award.
The Coca Cola Golden Spoon Awards 2015 selection process involved inviting entries from the nation’s leading food service and food & grocery retailers across multiple categories. The jury analyses key performance metrics such as growth in top line sales and retail presence, sales per square foot, same store sale growth. Jury also studies the impact of IT application, innovation, marketing, supplier relations and employee practices. The Coca Cola Golden Spoon Awards (CCGSA) jury – comprising distinguished personalities in the field of research and consulting with thorough insights into the business of foodservice/ food & grocery – went through the presentation and gave scores based on their own understanding of the nominees. The jury for Coca Cola Golden Spoon Awards 2014 included JYOTI BHASIN, Country Manager, NFS, SEEMA CHANDRA, Food Editor, NDTV, ANUJ PURI, Chairman & Country Head, JLL India, HARISH BIJOOR, CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc., AMIT LOHANI, Convenor, Forum of Indian Food Importers (FIFI) and AMITABH TANEJA, Chief Convenor, India Food Forum.