NEW DELHI: Restaurant chain Yum! Brands global chief executive Greg Creed said India, which delivered same-store double-digit system sales for its KFC and Pizza Hut brands in the January-March quarter, is supported by “snacking, weekend groups and delivery.”

The chain runs close to 700 KFC and Pizza Hut stores in India, in addition to a minor presence of Taco Bell stores. “India and Turkey have grown their assets base; these two markets are examples of why we continue to believe KFC has significant runway for growth,” Creed said at a post-earnings analysts call.

On Pizza Hut, he said: “While we are seeing pockets of strength, such as seven consecutive quarters of same-store sales growth in India, we have a lot of work to do to turn sales around,” and said that India used “both digital and TV to advertise value”.

KFC saw system sales grow 19% in India for the quarter, while for Pizza Hut it was 21%, signalling a revival of the eating out segment and mirroring the trend of consumer goods firms that are reporting double digit growth after over five years.

Yum! follows a growth measure of system sales, similar to same-store sales, where growth is determined by sales at stores that have been operating for at least a year.

The quick service chain, which competes with McDonald’s and Jubilant FoodWorks’ Domino’s, runs its Indian operations through two franchisees — Sapphire Foods and Ravi Jaipuria-promoted Devyani International.

Globally, it reported system sales growth (excluding foreign currency translation) of 4%. It said it has refranchised 144 stores, including 52 KFC and 43 Pizza Hut outlets.

In India, of the 345 existing stores KFC operates, 250 are franchised while the remaining 95 are equity (Yum!-owned) stores.