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McDonald’s 15 outlets break their previous sales record in May

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NEW DELHI: Sales at McDonald’s North and East have hit an all-time high at 15 outlets in May, breaking their previous sales records, Connaught Plaza Restaurants (CPRL) MD Vikram Bakshi said.

A bitter legal battle between Bakshi and McDonald’s India is currently on, and health advisories have been issued by the latter against purchases at restaurants run by CPRL. McDonald’s India is not involved in operations of the CPRL-run outlets.

“In terms of sales, this is an all-time high since the opening of these restaurants,” Bakshi said, without commenting on specifics. “The numbers prove that the consumer doesn’t care about the controversy. There is nothing different or unique being done other than staying with the basics, which is ensuring regular supplies, quality of product and service. All this despite the situation and conditions not being perfect for operating the restaurants,” Bakshi said.

Sales are up anywhere between 2 and 17% across restaurants in Delhi, Kolkata, Gwalior and Lucknow, CPRL data showed.

McDonald’s, among the first US quick-service restaurant chains to set up locally, has always played in the aggressive entry-level pricing space for over two decades to garner volumes and edge past rivals such as KFC and Burger King.

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CPRL presently operates 164 stores, many of which had been shut down over the past one year, including a 140-seater store in New Delhi, among McDonald’s biggest in India.

In August 2017, McDonald’s announced termination of its joint venture with CPRL, and had said CPRL could no longer use the McDonald’s brand system, trademark, designs and associated intellectual property. While the deadline for the termination ended on September 6, 2017, CPRL continued to operate stores.

McDonald’s India had also issued a health advisory on the ‘quality’ of food being served at stores operated by CPRL in the north and east.

The legal dispute between the two started in August 2013, with McDonald’s ousting Bakshi as managing director of the joint venture.

The spat escalated with Bakshi challenging his removal at the Company Law Board (now National Company Law Tribunal or NCLT), accusing McDonald’s India of mismanagement and oppression.

While NCLT reinstated Bakshi as managing director in July 2017 and issued a show cause notice to McDonald’s Corp, the US chain challenged the verdict in the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).

“The NCLT has directed McDonald’s not to interfere with the smooth functioning of CPRL and the restaurants it operates,” he said. The NCLT is hearing the case where it had issued McDonald’s a show cause notice for contempt of its order.

McDonald’s, on the other hand, had moved the Delhi High Court for enforcement of an award in its favour by the London Court of International Arbitration.

Late last year, over 80 McDonald’s stores in north and east India had been shut down after CPRL’s logistics partner Radhakrishna Foodland discontinued supplies citing “reduction in volumes and uncertainty of the future.”

Bakshi said all investments in CPRL have been internally accrued since early 2013.

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