Andrew Withers, Chairman, Southern Fried Chicken, said: “While the market is strong and large in India, there will be more competition compared with the UK. We will divide India into 20 regions and have master franchises to run the operations with Hyderabad being our first market with our first outlet this September.”
The company expects to have three formats — catering to high streets, food courts and drive ins.
“We expect to make an investment of ₹2 crore in each location, and have assigned a total of ₹100 crore in the next two years. We will be employing more than 2000 staff members in India”
Being the fifth-largest chicken-based brand in the UK, Southern Fried Chicken has created its USP by procuring fresh chicken. “We may have the same pricing as KFC in the UK, but our chicken is not frozen or processed like our competitors. Even in India, we plan to locally source fresh produce for our restaurants. Our chicken has less oil and strong chilly flavours, which will suit the Indian market,” Withers added.
In India, Southern Fried Chicken will be competitively priced to KFC.
The fast-food chain expects to cover South India first before venturing into the metro markets of Mumbai and Delhi, with a plan to have 300 restaurants across the country. There are also plans to to have locally adapted offerings to cater to regional taste buds.
“There is an opportunity in India as the market is still under-served with not too many chicken brands. The UK market has become saturated, and we want to show something different in chicken to new markets in Asia like India, and soon will take our restaurants to China as well.”
With revenues in excess of ₹1,000 crore, Southern Fried Chicken’s largest markets outside the UK are Russia and South Africa, where too it has divided the market into smaller regions.
