The Hindu Business Line : Track Services to invest Rs 15 cr in Mark Pi outlets

AS if the onslaught from food retail chains such as McDonald's, Domino's, Subway and Dixy Chicken, Yo! China was not enough, the Rs 500-crore organised Indian fast food retail industry has yet another contender from China. Chinese fast food retailer, Mark Pi International, is on course to take the Indian gourmet oriental.

Track Services, master franchisee for Mark Pi in India, opened its first outlet in the country in February this year and said it was looking at opening 20 such outlets within the first year of operation. Nine months down the line the number of outlets has been halved to 10 but the proposed investment has been hiked to Rs 15 crore and the company says it is upbeat about potential of the Indian fast food market.

"We plan to open 10 outlets within the first 12 months. Three are already functional in Delhi and NCR region and the fourth one is slated to come up in Chennai soon. The company plans to pump in Rs 15 crore in establishing two own outlets, setting up the Central Food Processing Unit and in adding plant and machinery," Chief Executive Officer of Track Services Pvt Ltd, Mr Karana Verma, told Business Line here.

After NCR and Chennai, the company plans to reach places like Ludhiana, Jammu, Kanpur, Lucknow, Agra and Bangalore.

He said the company has not only seen increased footfalls in all the three outlets functional till now, it has also bucked the trend of price reduction prevailing among fast food majors. Pizza Hut, Domino's and McDonald's have either slashed prices or altered meal combinations to offer more value for the customer.

"Competition has had to rationalise prices since they began at artificially high ones. We have in fact taken a price increase of up to seven per cent in October since we were operating at very thin margins," Mr Verma said.

He said the company has identified four platforms for the Indian market: health, freshness, authenticity and value-for-money — and hopes to see its plans materialise. Mr Verma said the company has introduced several products customised specifically to the Indian palate, including momos, schezwan and manchurian.

As per initial plans, the company will invest Rs 160 crore within five years to open 240 outlets using a combination of company-owned and franchisee- owned outlets. Track Services will pay a fixed royalty to Mark Pi for using their brand name over a period of 20 years.