Fast-food chains in India are seeing quicker recovery with a hybrid model. It is set to gain huge response as consumers prefer familiar and favourite restaurants to dine in and order from. People are driven to a particular food station because of its inherent strength and value for money.
One such food franchising brand and the dine-out place is Angrezi Dhaba. When people want to have an authentic Dhaba experience but with a hint of modern delicacies, then Angrezi Dhaba is the perfect place to visit. With years of experience in some of the most popular Dhabas in India, the chefs have created a unique and innovative menu to delight people’s taste buds.
Angrezi Dhaba is a place full of life and several offerings. It provides franchise options and also owns a few of the outlets in Mumbai. Read ahead to know more about Angrezi Dhaba.
Describe Angrezi Dhaba in detail.
Angrezi Dhaba is a concept-based resto-bar that caters to the cool recreational entertainment quotient of the generation next. With an innovative menu, unique ambience, and amazing F&B offers, there are already multiple operational restaurants in Mumbai, Pune, and Amravati. Angrezi Dhaba has several awards and accolades to its credit.
At Angrezi Dhaba, the mouth-watering fusion of global and Indian cuisines perfectly blending with the rustic feel of Dhaba has captured the hearts and the taste buds like nowhere else. The quirky visuals, Bollywood theme, and lively music add to the charm, making it a fun place for the partyers and equally pleasant for a family get-together. The exciting menu and breathtaking visuals have sparked people’s interest to great heights.
Today Angrezi Dhaba is one of the most sought-after dining destinations in Mumbai.
It all started with one outlet in Dadar in 2017, post that there was no looking back. Today, Angrezi Dhaba has a presence in three cities with 12+ outlets with the vision of having 50+ outlets in the next five years.
Brief us about the featured person/s and shed some light on their professional tenure.
Three words to describe me! Passionate, Motivated, Curious. These traits express me, Pravesh Tripathi, better in my professional work, consulting, freelancing, philanthropy, and personal life. Since my childhood, I have been passionate about food, so I thought to make my career in the food industry. As time passed, I gained my management degree and started my career with leading brand in bakery segment.
Since then, there has been no turning back. With a career spanning over 18 years where I have worked with top leading brands in India and internationally in retail, F&B industries across the spectrum of business where I have worked with start-ups and launched them successfully in the market.
In my free time, I love to read, travel, and meet new people. This helps me expand my knowledge about my passion – food, and meeting new people, learning more about the diverse culture, nationally and internationally.
What made you venture into a food franchise business?
Venturing into the food franchise business helped us become a brand and recognized by being present in new markets. It was the best way of expanding our business through the franchise route due to the brand value factor and reputation that a brand holds. It also provides a platform to those who want to get associated with the restaurant industry but do not have prior experience by providing them complete support at every stage of the business.
What kind of offerings does Angrezi Dhaba provide to its clients?
The concept of bringing fun Dhaba-style dining with a contemporary twist is unique and amazing. Angrezi Dhaba is fulfilling this promise by offering unique and unforgettable experiences through its chain of restaurants.
Owing to the value for money offered, clients get to experience the best of both worlds – traditional and modern, nowhere else but here. This is the only reason we have a 75% retention rate of our customers, which is exceptional in the restaurant business.
What kind of challenges have you faced while entering a food franchise business?
Using franchising to access new markets comes with challenges, and it requires more than just a franchise agreement. Becoming a franchisor is the biggest challenge of running a franchising company where a whole new set of concerns arise. These include the right business format, franchisee training and support, financial modelling, right marketing strategies, hiring the right management team, the right software, developing the manual, and documentations. Most importantly, it should be a proven business model.
We started Angrezi Dhaba to open company-owned restaurants in prime locations of Mumbai to make our system as foolproof as possible. With transparency, we wanted our franchisees in every business decision.
The biggest challenge was to maintain the uniformity and standardization across franchisees’ outlets concerning the look and feel of the outlet. Food quality, customer service was our top priority. We made our system easily replicable by the franchisees, and we kept it straightforward as it is important to remove as many barriers to the franchisee’s success as possible.
How was your firm/business affected in these pandemic times, and what were the steps you took to curb the damages, all the while helping your clients and maintaining the safety of your employees?
With the restricted operational timing, there was high pressure on the restaurant business. There was no clarity during the pandemic for restaurants. It hampered the complete ecosystem of the restaurant business in relation to operation efficiency, cost burden, customer experience, and inventory management.
Post the lockdown, we reopened with very sharp cost-cutting, having a centralized kitchen and changing the way of work. It kept Angrezi Dhaba afloat, helping us get back on our feet as we got complete support from all the stakeholders, including landowners, vendors, and employees.
As the Angrezi Dhaba brand, we have tweaked and refined our business model from asset-heavy to asset-light. We are now expanding through the franchise model and targeting the micro-market to save 15 to 20% operational cost. We want to capture the aspirational value of the market with the right strategy. We are also identifying additional revenue streams like increasing more revenue through online sales by a hybrid model.
There is a change in the way we function now. We are focusing more on the safety of our employees and customers. Our staff is fully vaccinated, and we are following all the Covid SOPs with a contactless system to serve our customers better.
What would you like to advise the young generation of entrepreneurs and enthusiasts who want to venture into the food franchise space?
It certainly is a good time for passionate young food entrepreneurs. Doing thorough groundwork before venturing into the food franchise business brings good results. There should be clarity in the business goals, understanding how the business works, and building a robust business model. The task is challenging but an interesting one for the young food entrepreneur. Today, we also see young and energetic entrepreneurs taking the food industry by storm.
The food franchise business has its own set of challenges. However, it is an excellent opportunity to expand business from the ‘Asset Heavy to Asset Light model’. It can target the micro-market to capture the aspirational value of the market with the right strategy. It is also identifying additional revenue through online sales by adopting a hybrid model.
Last but not least, the success of a franchise business largely depends on its franchisees’ quality.
Where do you envision your firm/business in the long run, and what are your future goals? How do you plan to embrace the changes happening in the food franchise industry?
We are very optimistic about the future of the restaurant industry, and it will bounce back gradually as more people are getting vaccinated. Established brands like us see a better recovery as we work on the strategy that every Angrezi Dhaba restaurant should be profitable.
We are planning to build our delivery brand called ‘Pataya Street.’ There is enormous scalability with enormous possibilities for growth. Also, we have launched a fast-food brand in QSR format called ‘CRUNCHY’ in Mumbai in March 2021 and ‘Angrezi Dhaba Express’ as we believe the small format has a big future in India.
Although the industry faces a lot of heat, we are expanding through the franchise model (FOCO). We have our presence in three cities Mumbai, Pune, and an upcoming outlet in Amravati. We are looking for a pan India presence in the next three years with all our formats.
To stay competitive in the marketplace, we have implemented innovative ideas and technology like online ordering, contactless services, QR code menus, waitlist applications, and social media advertisements.
A strong digital maturity, digital loyalty programs, and robust customer-relationship-management systems have been lifelines for the Angrezi Dhaba brand. As levels of digital engagement among consumers have soared, we are soaring with it.
What is the current industrial scenario of the food franchise industry?
We are seeing a surge and witnessing a good demand as more people are getting vaccinated. The predicted pent-up demand paints a bullish future for an industry that has resiliently shined as a franchisor, shifted, and adapted to meet this moment at every turn. Also, it is clear that people miss socialising and are willing to trust their favourite restaurants to meet their friends and family.
As Angrezi Dhaba brand, we continue to predict the potential for the record-breaking franchise sales in 2022, if the Covid-19 pandemic is contained. Brands of all sizes and industries are poised to capitalize on the opportunities. However, prospective franchisees are holding pandemic concerns, and other uncertainty ranks high before investing. But it is a good time to invest in food franchising to save at least 20 to 25% operation cost concerning quality real estate at a negotiated rate with a long-term lease on our terms, quality manpower, etc.
As Angrezi Dhaba brand, we are back to 75 to 80% pf pre covid levels, and we see that number only growing in this coming quarter. I agree there are fundamental shifts in consumer behaviour in the 4.2 lakh crore organized restaurant and food service industry. However, the F&B industry has been growing at an astonishing rate over the last decade, and the trend seems to be going upwards only.
“The vibrant ambience, delicious fusion cuisines, and heart-warming services offered will ensure every patron leaves with a smile and happy memories”
Words of Worth
“At first, we were not sure about the restaurant industry whether it will sustain in this hard time or not but after meeting the brand ‘ANGREZI DHABA’ the brand co-founders and the team we got some confidence about the industry. Speaking about the food quality, making of any dish in the menu is top notch. Trust, honesty, transparency, and accountability are the key aspects for any business, which they are best at.” Mr. Prathmesh Kanase (Franchise owner of Bandra west outlet)
“My experience with the Angrezi dhaba brand is amazing, it’s more like my business family! Opportunities like these can really help you to kick start your business. I started with one outlet now I am working for multiple units. Mr. Tushar Khandare (Franchise owner of Bandra east and Panvel outlet)
“I came from financial background from a fortune 500 company and knew very little about the restaurant industry. Co-founders Team at Angrezi Dhaba franchising have greatly exceeded my expectations in terms of getting me stated and providing complete support with my multi units. Without their help, it would have taken me years to have grown my business to the point where I am after just a few months. Mr. Nilesh Tankkar (Franchise owner of Dadar and Andheri MIDC outlet)
