CHENNAI: Quick Service restaurant chain McDonald’s has started to aggressively push its new coffee-house- style food and drink chain — McCafe, with a target of doubling the number from 95, within the next 12 to 15 months.
Speaking to Express, Smita Jatia, Managing Director of Hardcastle Restaurants, which holds the McDonald’s franchise for India’s western and southern markets, said that testing period for its model and customer preference is now over. “When we first started it in Mumbai in 2013, we had to get experiment to get the product and business model right. We had to make sure that our customers were ready for the concept because this was not like our restaurant’s value concept. So even though McCafe’s pricing is very value for money we had to ensure that our offering was right before we scaled,” pointed out Jatia.
According to her, this testing period is now over and over 90 McCafes have already been rolled out. Being a ‘store-in-store’ concept is also working out well for the chain, she pointed out, because the concept perfectly complements the offerings of the main restaurant chain.
“It complements our standard offering. A kid and a mom can have both their preferences satisfied — with a happy meal from the restaurant and a cup of coffee. We consider being a store in store concept a big advantage,” she said. Of 245 restaurants, only 95 have McCafes currently.
McCafe however, is not going to run on a coffee strategy, though Jatia says that their cappuccinos are priced 10% lower than competitors. “We are looking at it as a complete beverage destination. The beverage market is growing fast and it is mostly coming from the non-aerated segment. Now, our front counters offer aerated drinks and McCafes will offer the non-aerated range,” Jatia said.
McDonald’s plans to invest a total of `700 crore to double presence in the next five years.