The world’s largest restaurant company Yum! Brands Inc, with chains such as Pizza Hut and KFC, will invest in opening new outlets in India and speed up expansion as it targets more than $1-billion revenues in the country within five years.
Yum! plans to double its overall investments and store count in the country in three years by bringing in $100 million and opening 500 outlets by 2015. Industry experts feel Yum!’s move could be a game changer in a market where most global restaurant chains follow franchisee models, and trigger a foreign investment boom in the restaurant market.
Yum! has 138 Pizza Hut dine-in stores, 98 Pizza Hut delivery stores, 181 KFC outlets and three restaurants of Mexican inspired QSR chain Taco Bell in the country. Yum Restaurants India owns about half of KFC outlets. All other Yum! stores are run by franchisees.