South Korea’s Genesis BBQ, the parent company of bb.q Chicken, is bringing the flagship brand to India through a master franchise partnership with Vellore-based SrikG Group, the companies told FE.
The first two outlets will open in Bengaluru in June, followed by a store in Hyderabad in July. The brand plans to have seven stores operational across south India by December, with locations planned in Chennai, Vellore, Kochi, and Visakhapatnam.
The target is to scale up to 30 stores by 2027 and 150 by 2031. SrikG will invest Rs 15 crore in the first year and plans to deploy Rs 500-600 crore over five years. The group, a conglomerate of six companies that started as an IT services provider in 1999, also operates in medical device distribution as a partner for Johnson & Johnson, and is making its foray into F&B.
“India is the most important growth market in the entire globe right now,” Genesis BBQ Founder and Chairman Yoon Hong-guen said. “It is no longer just two giant powers, the US and China. India is the third, with almost the same level of capability.” Yoon highlighted India’s demographic profile, noting that roughly 70% of the population is under 30. “When your core demographic takes over the world in the next 5 to 10 years, we want to be a part of that growth story,” he added.
On pricing, SrikG said the chain will be positioned as affordable. “The pricing will be slightly above KFC but below Popeyes. What consumers will taste is not fast food, it will be Korean comfort food prepared with the best culinary experiences,” said SrikG Chairman Srikanth Purushothaman.
K-Drama Hype
bb.q Chicken, which stands for “best of the best quality”, is known for frying its chicken using recipes developed at its proprietary Chicken University R&D facility in Seoul. It operates over 3,500 outlets across 57 countries, including over 2,300 in South Korea and close to 500 in North America. The company has a stated global ambition of reaching 50,000 stores and is also expanding into Europe and China this year.
Duhyeon Yun, global CEO of Genesis BBQ, said the company is targeting India to account for 15-20% of its international store count, excluding South Korea, by 2027. “We are ready with IT infrastructure, we have a halal sauce and powder supply chain ready, and K-culture through Korean drama product placements is already building brand awareness in India,” he said. The brand has gained significant international visibility through placements in hit Korean dramas on Netflix, including Crash Landing On You and The King: Eternal Monarch, with Yun adding that more integrations are in the pipeline.
The India operation will start as company-owned, company-operated stores for the first year before transitioning to a franchise model for further expansion. In South Korea, only 11 of bb.q Chicken’s roughly 2,300 stores are corporate-owned.
Localizing the K-Taste
Batter and sauces will initially be imported from Genesis BBQ’s Asia Pacific halal centre, with plans to set up local production within two to three years. Chairman Yoon said about 20% of the menu will be localised for Indian palates, with ingredients and formats adapted but the core Korean taste preserved. The company has also developed a plant-based chicken product at its R&D facility in Seoul, which will be introduced for India’s vegetarian consumers.
The stores will launch in the quick-service restaurant (QSR) format, though SrikG has plans to eventually introduce chicken-and-beer/pub outlets and fine-dining fixed seven-course menu formats once the brand is established.