Samosas in Europe, via Thailand

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Mumbai, Sep 30: Europe could soon enjoy non-veg samosas and rolls. The catch here lies in the fact that they would be exported to the continent from Thailand, by an Indian company.

United Pizza Restaurants Private Ltd, which runs the US Pizza chain in the country, has based anchor in Thailand to fulfill its dream of exporting Indian fast-food items to Europe. The company has joined hands with a Thailand-based company to manufacture Indian fast-food items, in order to overcome stringent laws that do not allow Indian meat and dairy products to enter the European territory.

“The first challenge of exporting to Europe has been met by tying up with a Thailand-based company for manufacturing fast-food items,” said Akbar Khwaja, managing director, United Restaurants Ltd.

He said that the company has started trial exports to Swedish supermarkets, which have expressed interest. The major challenge now will be making customers buy, he noted.

“We see a huge market abroad for Indian fast-food items and there is good margin as well compared to India,” said Khwaja.

While major ingredients for the fast-food items are being sourced locally from Thailand, some special spices and the expertise, of course, is shipped from India.

At present, the company exports pizza base from Bangalore to markets like Europe, Far East, East Africa, China and Dubai. It is setting up a new factory in Bangalore near its existing facility for exports.

United Restaurants has earmarked an investment of Rs 500 crore to be made over the next two years. The amount will be used to further the company’s domestic and international growth plans and build training centres.

“The investment will be made through debt, equity, joint ventures/ franchisee and internal accruals,” said Khwaja. The company plans to come up with an initial public offering by April 2009.

By 2010, the company is looking at 513 outlets across different formats. In a bid to achieve this target and make the presence of the brand global, it plans to ramp up its presence through the franchisee model.

“Of the 513 outlets looked at, we will own just 10%-15%,” said Khwaja. United Restaurants is looking at taking the brand to countries like China, Cambodia, Vietnam and Sweden.