McDonald’s sees potential to double restaurants in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: McDonald’s India [West & South Region] has 26 restaurants in Hyderabad today. Having set up its first outlet in the city in IMAX in 2005-06, the company is looking for rapid expansion here. There is a potential to double the number of its restaurants in the city, according to a top official. From a […]

Hyderabad: McDonald’s India [West & South Region] has 26 restaurants in Hyderabad today. Having set up its first outlet in the city in IMAX in 2005-06, the company is looking for rapid expansion here. There is a potential to double the number of its restaurants in the city, according to a top official.

From a market perspective, the company is seeing good growth across tier-2 cities in the west & south region, where it operates. In south alone, from about 10-20 per cent ratio in small towns, the company is expecting the small towns to account for 50 per cent of all the future outlets that will be opened in the coming years.

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In the west and south region, the company is going to double the store presence in the next 4-5 years from 320 outlets now, with an investment of Rs 600-Rs 800 crore. The company, which has completed 25 years of its operations, is looking at long-term business and growth across all its markets. Within the south, Telangana will remain a key region for growth, with larger concentration in Hyderabad.

Saurabh Kalra, COO, McDonald’s India [West & South Region], told Telangana Today in an exclusive interview, “McDonald’s today has 320 outlets in west and southern geographies with 50:50 presence, respectively. Having begun our journey in 1996, the company has made foray into smaller towns after 2008 onwards. In the last 4-5 years, small towns have really done well, more so in the southern region. The company is in 44 cities in the west and south, and a lot of them are in tier-2 cities.”

Focus on innovation
“We have consistently been focusing on innovation. We started with 5-6 products initially. In 2006-07, we began a delivery business. In 2012, we introduced a separate menu for breakfast. Last quarter, we introduced gourmet burgers. When Covid hit, we were the first to bring a 42-point contactless checklist for business to continue and to ensure safety for customers,” Kalra added.

On the digital initiatives, he said, the company has started on-the go service to minimise the turnaround time for delivering an order. The company also provides tailored offers based on what a customer has ordered in the past. There are also efforts towards CRM (customer relationship management) to improve seamless experience and ensure customer stickiness.
Driving sustainability

In terms of sustainability, the company has always believed that what is good for the environment is good for the company. For instance, McDonald’s in 2015-16 converted oil into biodiesel. The company also reduced utility units, reducing CO2 emissions across its outlets. There are stores now with solar panels on the roof top and some sores where ACs are run through solar power.
“The company has made efforts towards waste management and water conservation across its outlets. Some of the fleet (trucks) is using biodiesel, and the company is exploring electric and CNG as well,” Kalra informed.

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