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Lite Bite Foods Ltd, promoted by Dabur scion Amit Burman and entrepreneur Rohit Aggarwal, has inked an agreement with Florida-based QSR chain Burger King Inc to set up the latter’s stores in airports and other travel retail platforms.
The company said it is also exploring to take the partnership to high street location.
Burger King entered India in 2013 through a joint venture with PE firm Everstone Capital. The PE firm had signed a long-term master franchise and development deal that includes sub-franchise rights in India.
Rohit Aggarwal, Director, Lite Bite Foods, told BusinessLine that, “We have entered into an independent agreement with the Burger King Inc directly to set up outlets in airports. We plan to have three outlets to begin with”.
As part of the agreement, Lite Bite Foods will soon be launching the first franchise outlet of Burger King at the Mumbai airport. This will be Burger King's first outlet at an airport in the country.
Aggarwal said that the three outlets will entail an investment of ₹8-9 crore with stores ranging from 1,200-1,500 sq feet.
Asked if the company is also looking to set up stores in high streets, Aggarwal said the company is evaluating the possibility. “We may look at it but will have to do that in conjunction with Everstone who is the master franchise for Burger King in India,” he added.
Travel retail segmentLite Bite has significant presence in the travel retail segment and earlier formed an entity called Lite Bite Travel Foods to expand its travel food and beverage segment.
Last year, it had formed a joint venture with HMSHost, a US-based highway and airport food service firm, to develop and operate outlets at domestic and international airports across India and Asian countries.
In India, HMSHost already has F&B contracts for Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Lucknow airports, while Lite Bites has F&B concessions at Terminal 2 of Mumbai airport and Terminal 1D and T3 at New Delhi airport.
Aggarwal said the company is looking at travel segment in a big way and hopes to open more Burger King outlets in other locations. “We are bidding for more locations and hope to cover those airports too,” he said.
Burger King is the world’s second largest burger chain after McDonald’s.
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