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: KFC wants to grow its network to 100 stores by 2010, up 43 restaurants in 10 cities currently. Setting up the logistics infrastructure has been keeping Unnat Varma, marketing director, KFC India, occupied these days. An MBA from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Varma joined the company in 2006, and was instrumental in launching 19 of the 43 stores in the country. He spearheaded KFC’s entry into the three big metros—Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. Varma took time off to speak to Alokananda Chakraborty of FE about how the chain plans to grow in India and about the lessons KFC learnt from its early mistakes. Excerpts:

What are the challenges of operating food retail business in the country when the environment is not congenial, given the looming food activism?

India is a country of fried food from breakfast to dinner—people prefer their food to be deep fried. Unfortunately, most people associate obesity more to the kind of food than the eating habits. It is actually the other way round. There are healthy oils available, particularly the ones with zero transfats, which most mom and pop restaurants and street vendors aren’t even aware of.

In this environment, KFC has taken several initiatives to deliver food that is not only healthy but also safe. As a global responsible restaurant brand, we use only zero transfat oil. Our food technology and science of food preparation ensures minimal calories despite being deep fried. We are working with Indian research labs to ascertain the calorific value of our products and plan to share the information soon. We also work with some of the largest and the most reputed suppliers to ensure that we deliver absolutely safe, hygienic and real food at KFC.

The company seems keen on underplaying Kentucky Fried Chicken’s ‘fried’ and ‘chicken’ (read non-vege-tarian) proposition in India by abbreviating the brand name to KFC. What is the gameplan?

The migration to KFC happened almost a decade ago for reasons linked to consumer trend of abbreviating—as has been seen in the case of other brands as well. KFC was a more efficient way of communicating on our signage. You would see a lot of reference to Kentucky Fried Chicken inside our restaurants.

Any global brand operating in India, especially in the food and beverage space, faces a dilemma of localisation both in terms of palate and pricing. How have you managed to strike the balance?