McDonalds, the American casual dining restaurant has crossed 400 outlets in India recently. Specifically, the 400th outlet has come up at the domestic departures area of Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad.
Mc Donalds entered India in 1996 through a Joint Venture with Vikram Bakshi’s Connaught Place Restaurants for operating in the Northern and Eastern India markets and with Amit Jatia’s Hardcastle Restaurants to run its outlets in Western and Southern India.
Both the JVs were created to run the stores on a franchised model.
India is one of the countries where Mc Donalds doesn’t serve pork or beaf as the base meat on its hamburgers (burgers, simply said). T
o please the Indian palette, the company created its desi version of menu items including the now popular “Mc Aloo Tikki Burger”, “Chicken Maharaja Mac” among others.
The first Mc Cafe was launched in India in 2013 at the erstwhile SOBO Central Mall in Mumbai. Currently, there are over 300 Mc Cafe outlets in India, most of which are part of the Mc Donalds cafes.
The concept of “hamburgers” has always faced still competition with the equivalent of its Indian fare, the humble “Vada Pac”. A staple diet in Western India, Vada Pav is simply the go-to snack across day and night for those who reside in the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat.
However, the key competition for Mc Donalds across India are not just the direct category competitors such as Burger King, but also other fast food and QSR chains such as Dominos and Pizza Hut.
It’s common to see Gen Z and Millennials spend a lot of time (and money) across QSR outlets, which fuels consumption.