Plans a ‘lighter’ sub-brand for tier II, III cities
V RISHI KUMAR
Hyderabad, August 23
Casual dining restaurant chain Barbeque Nation is set to open its first international restaurant in Dubai within a fortnight as it sets out to operate stores in some of the countries in West Asia and the SAARC region.
It plans to follow up the Dubai restaurant with ones in Colombo, Dhaka and Nepal.
Sameer Bhasin, Chief Executive Officer, Barbeque Nation Hospitality Ltd, said: “The chain has had a fruitful journey over the past decade as it set out to popularise its restaurants with its casual dining format. We have set up 72 restaurants across the country and are looking at setting up restaurants in the existing cities and new ones.”
All the restaurants in India are company-owned and operated.
Speaking on the sidelines of the re-launch of its restructured Hyderabad restaurant, Sameer Bhasin told Business-Line that the company was also in the process of finalising plans for introducing its subbrand Barbeque Nation Lite, aimed at addressing the requirements of a huge latent market in the tier II and III cities. “The format will be slightly different and smaller from Barbeque Nation chain and will be rolled out across several cities over the next three-six months,” he said.
Known for its do-it-yourself cuisine, that is, have food made to suit individual taste buds, it serves a range of Indian, American, Oriental and Mediterranean cuisines, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian.
“We now have a chain of 72 restaurants, 23 of them in south India across eight cities. From our first outlet in Mum-bai a decade ago, we have grown rapidly.
“We expect to add at least 10 more restaurants during the current financial year, while also introducing our new brand for tier II and III cities during the year. Our plan is to take the number of outlets past the 100-mark by the next financial year and to 300 by 2020,” said Ritam Mukehrjee, Regional Manager South, Barbeque Nation. The revamped Hyderabad outlet was launched by Priyadarshini Chatterjee, Miss-India Universe 2016, donning a chefs hat.
Ritam Mukherjee, Regional Operations Manager South, Barbeque Nation Hospitality, and Miss India World 2016 Priyadarshini Chatterjee, during the unveiling of the new look and concept of Barbeque Nation in Hyderabad on Tuesday KVS GIRI
