BMWs of Burgers
A CLUTCH OF FOREIGN
PREMIUM BURGER BRANDS ARE TAKING THE MARKET THAT McDONALD'S CREATED TO ANOTHER
LEVEL
For Shilpa Wadhwa, shopping is
incomplete without having a `Divine Delhi' experience at her favourite American
fast-food joint at DLF Promenade, an upscale mall in the south Delhi
neighbourhood of Vasant Kunj.
Divine Delhi is a burger, but
perhaps not like any Indian consumers have experienced in a long time. For one,
it's packed with grilled tandoori spiced chicken supreme, iceberg lettuce,
tomato, onion, flavoured curd and masala mayonnaise. For another, it costs all
of `400 at least five times what one has been used to paying for a patty
squeezed into a sliced bun.
Only, as Wadhwa will tell you, this ain't
no plain patty in a bun. “It's not a burger, but a meal,“ grins the 32-year-old
communication designer, adding that she has also demolished burgers with a tag
of `575! “If the low-priced ones are the Nano, then these are Mercs.“
Don't look, but the good old
bun-patty burger now dons a premium avatar, thanks to a clutch of global burger
giants such as Johnny Rockets, Carl's Jr, Barcelos and Wendy's that have
recently set up shop in India.
So while a non-veg burger starts
from `350 and goes up to `575 at the Californian fast-food chain Johnny
Rockets, the vegetarian counterpart starts from `325 and goes up to `475. Not
to be left behind is Carl's Jr, another Californian burger gi ant, which will
open its first outlet in India next month. The top-priced veg and non veg
burger are likely to priced at `400 and `500, respectively.
“We are talking about burgers which
are a meal,“ says Bakshish Dean, CEO of Prime Gourmet, the Indian franchisee of
Johnny Rockets, which opened its first outlet in January last year.
For his part Dean says there's no
rocket science involved behind the high price. He goes on to explain the
economics. The buns are at least five times as expensive as the ones used by
the mass burger makers, and the fresh produce filled is disproportionately more
than what anyone offers.“Quality does come at a price,“ says Dean.
Barcelos, the South African brand
that made its debut in India in March this year, recently launched red and
black burgers.
Rohit Malhotra, general manag er
operations of Barcelos India, says their organic colourful buns stuffed with
grilled stuff and Peri Peri sauces are more of a health play.
Marketing experts say premi
umisation of the burger is here to stay. If bottled water can have Rail Neer at
the bottom, Bisleri in the middle and Evian and Perrier at the top, then why
not burgers, asks brand strate gist Harish Bijoor. “There will be a caste
system of burger munchers.“ While acknowledging that the real burger revolution
was led by McDonald's, Bijoor believes that the market in the future would be
driven by the premium players. The brands offering value for money burgers
dished out in outlets which smell alike, look alike and behave alike would be
at a loss, he contends. “To an extent, McDonald's has today become the ration shop
of burgers.“
Carl's Jr too is betting big on its
quality. “One can no longer sell a burger with just ketchup inside. People
won't bite into that anymore,“ says Sana Chopra, executive director of Cybiz
BrightStar Restaurants, the Indian franchisee of the California-based premium
burger chain.
The new players may be charging a
premium but there are some who are aware of the limitations of the Indian
market. Wendy's is one of them. The American burger brand opened its first
outlet in India in May 2015.
“We are conscious that India is a
price-sensitive market,“ says Sanjay Chhabra, director of Sierra Nevada
Restaurants, a joint venture company which brought Wendy's to India.
Probably that's the reason why
Wendy's entrylevel burgers starts at `59, although they go up to just under
`280. Clearly, Wendy's believes it can be Walmart as well as Armani in
burgerland
Coke's no-label cans in Middle East
Coca-Cola is removing its logo from
its cans of soda in the Middle East to encourage people not to judge one another.The
no-label cans will run throughout Ramadan.One side is blank, other than the
brand's iconic coloring. The other side reads: “Labels are for cans, not for
people.“ The campaign, created by FP7 and Memac Ogilvy, launches with a film
that depicts a group of strangers who have been invited to a dinner party in
the dark. The men chat about various subjects, and what they have in
common.When the lights come up, it reveals a diverse group: A guy with facial
tattoos, two men in Arab dress, a man in a wheelchair, and another man in smart
business dress. The group are then asked to reach under their chairs, where
they pull out the Coke cans and their “Labels for cans“ messaging.In a
statement, Coca-Cola explains the thinking behind campaign: “In a time when equality
and abolishing prejudices is a hot topic for discussion around the world, how
does one of the leading brands like Coca-Cola join in the conversation? In the
Middle East, during the month of Ramadan, one of the world's most well known
labels has removed its own label, off its cans, in an effort to promote a world
without labels and prejudices.“
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Rajiv Singh
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Businessinsider
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