The Hindu Business Line : Yo! China expanding thru different formats

Mr Ashish Kapur, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Yo! China, hopes to make the company “a Rs 100-crore business within a year or so. We want to do that through different formats — kiosks, dine-ins in malls, outlets in tech parks, international airports and Railway stations”.

“Our vision is to create a Rs 1,000-crore Chinese food company,” he added. According to him, the key differentiators for Yo! China would be its trendy appeal, international packaging, affordable price points (at an entry-level price of Rs 25), among others.

More outlets

The company hopes to open 200 outlets across the country by 2009. The restaurant chain, which runs 27 outlets across 15 cities, plans to add 30 more by the end of this financial year. Mr Kapur said that smaller cities were showing a lot of potential, “one reason being the booming mall culture”.

The chain, which recently opened four outlets in Bangalore, plans to add three more in the city, and is actively looking at Chennai, where three outlets would be opened in the next few months, Mr Kapur said.

VC funding

In November 2006, Yo! China received Rs 25-crore funding from venture capital firm Matrix Partners India. The chain’s same store sales has seen an year-on-year growth of 12 per cent.

The restaurant chain has won bids for running outlets at the international airport in Mumbai, and the domestic and international airports in Delhi.

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