Bangs Fried Chicken cashes on growing Indian chicken consumption; scaling to 500 outlets by 2017

In 1995, KFC almost quit India due to the protests led by the animal rights and health activists across the country. The recent 500 outlets expansion plan of this multinational fast food brand speaks otherwise. The fast food industry is in its upswing with increasing domestic consumption of chicken across the country. Cashing on this boom is Bangs Fried Chicken, a local player in the Indian fast food industry. Asvin Simon, an IT graduate, started Bangs Fried Chicken as India’s first fried chicken brand with a local twist in its flavor in 2009. Started in a small kiosk measuring 80 sq.ft. in Chennai, Bangs Fried Chicken offers a wide range of fast food menu for its customers apart from the traditional fried chicken.Bangs enters Gujarat with a Bang

Focused on providing low cost, fast food options right out of India, Bangs has set up its own research and development facility creating new menu to cater to its growing market base. As witness to the growing number of non-vegetarians across India, Gujarat is one of the 13 states in which Bangs has set up, 3 out of its 35 outlets in the country. Though well-known for its vegetarian fast food market, Bangs sees an increasing demand for non-vegetarian fast food owing to its young population in the coming days.

Franchise model – Hot Favourite of the Fast Food Industry

Apart from the revenue generated from the outlets owned by Bangs, the business also generates its revenue through the franchise model which has been in operation since 2010. The company has developed 3 franchise models (restaurant, kiosk and express outlet) collecting a fee of Rs 5-8 Lakhs, depending upon the model that is adopted. Once a franchisee, Bangs would provide them with the required training and management support to independently manage the franchised outlet.

Owing to fast adoption of the franchise model in India and the rise in the consumption of chicken across the country, the fast food industry is seeing a massive expansion plan from multiple players including KFC, Pizza Hut etc. Bangs is obviously following the biggies and is headed down the same road with an increase in the number of its outlets across the country to 31 within the span of a year. Featured among India’s top 100 brands by Franchise India Corp and an annual turnover of INR 9 crore, Bangs is aiming at 50 more franchisees by December 2012.

Thanks to the good old franchisee route that Bangs is looking to expand its network across the country with a plan of opening 500 (matching the figures of KFC, one of its International competitors) in the next five years. While 100 outlets are likely to be owned by the company, the rest shall be franchise outlets. With plans to foray overseas as well, Bangs would be opening its first overseas outlet in Doha (Qatar) by July this year. The Company is planning to open three more outlets in Doha by the end of this financial year. Besides the upcoming location in Qatar, Bangs plans to open more outlets internationally targeting the Middle East Region.Franchise model has been one of the hot favourite scaling options for companies in the fast food industry for decades now. Although, it would be interesting to watch Bangs, a local player, scale addressing the major scaling issue of consistency in taste and customer service across its outlets across the country and globe.