Rituparna Chatterjee – Mumbai
Ammi’s Biryani, a Bengaluru-based quick service restaurant chain, with the concept of serving ‘Biryani in a box’, has plans to add 150 outlets by the end of 2015. Presently, the company has 71 operational outlets across four locations – Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai and Pune (entered in December last year). The company’s expansion would be focused around penetrating further into its existing markets and entering the Tier II and Tier III cities. An investment of Rs 125 crore has been earmarked for this expansion which will be funded by SAIF Partners, a private equity firm providing growth capital to companies in Asia. Speaking more on the expansion, Navaj Sharief, founder and CMD, Ammi’s Biryani opined, “This year we would focus on penetrating further into our existing markets and entering Tier II and Tier III cities followed by entering Delhi NCR next year. I would not be in a position to reveal the names of the Tier II and Tier III cities now but there is definitely a plan for that.” Ammi’s Biryani recently added the snacking range to its menu across outlets in Mumbai and Pune last year and would be incorporating the same in the Bengaluru and Chennai outlets by January. The snacking range (both vegetarian and non-vegetarian) includes rolls, kheema pav, beverages, roti and curry, to name a few.
When asked about the present capacity of their commissaries and the need to increase it to cater to the future requirements, he stated, “Our commissaries have been designed to take this kind of a load. Ideally a commissary serves 45 outlets and presently we have two big and two small commissaries across the four cities.” As for the company’s growth over the years, he revealed, “In May 2012 we had 10 outlets and now we have 71 outlets. We have been growing at a rate of 100 per cent and in 2015 we are looking at Rs 90-100 crore topline.” The company would also be launching its mobile application in January.