A focused expansion strategy, prudent pricing plan and menu strategy have helped fast food chain Burger King India to register a 66% growth in sales in the year to March 2019 (FY2019), says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

According to GlobalData, the Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) & Fast Foods segment in India has witnessed steady growth and reached US$45bn in 2018 and is forecast to reach US$63bn in 2023 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7%.Though the market is very fragmented, with smaller chains together holding 97% of value share in 2018, the growing inclination towards branded chains makes it lucrative for international fast food joints.

Shagun Sachdeva, Consumer Insights Analyst at GlobalData, says: “Right from the time when the US chain opened its first outlet in November 2014 in Delhi, it took utmost care in its store locations, localization of menu including vegetarian options and pricing of food items to gain the competitive edge.”

Burger King has over 200 restaurants across 50 cities in India at present, which is far behind the more than 400 stores of rival McDonald, but with strategic investment and improvement in supply chain, the former aims to narrow down the gap.

The company took some time between opening new outlets to understand the consumer responses and tweak the strategies to make them more consumers’ centric.

The calculative move to invest in brand building and address the supply chain and operational inefficiencies is in line with the company’s growing interest in Indian market.

Sachdeva concludes: “What worked in its favor is the right blend of strategies centered on aggressive expansion. Despite a two-year lag, Burger King outperformed its US rival Starbucks in terms of revenue.”