Known to every household, ‘Tibb’s Frankie’ has maintained itself as a strong trustworthy brand due to its main pillars namely value for money proposition and consistency of offering. By Kahini Chakraborty

Serving since 1969, the name ‘Tibb’s Frankie’ is synonymous with not only quality and taste, but also with value for money. The company was founded by Amarjit Singh Tibb, a self-confessed foodie, who while returning from England via Beirut in 1967, tasted an innovative Lebanese preparation made from pita bread and a variety of stuffing. On returning home, he decided that the Indian palate was ready to experience this innovative roll, and worked with his wife Surinder Tibb to create a perfect blend of curried meats and vegetables to stuff the wrap. This went on to form the ‘Frankie’. “My father wanted to start something of his own and make a name in the food industry. 46 years ago with the help of my mother, the magic masala, which is the USP of the product, was developed. In 1969 he started off by selling mutton flavoured frankie for Rs two per piece and delivered the product using his second hand fiat car,” reminisces Charanjit Singh Tibb, the elder of the Tibb brothers who run the business.” He adds, “Tibb’s Frankie became a success story in Mumbai, and after a few years he began to add new flavours. Every six months a new flavour would be added, but it was restricted to four-five flavours. The word ‘Frankie’ is a registered trademark of Tibb’s.” Charanjit joined the business in 1981, after which expansion took place, dealership increased and publicity began. Tibb’s popularity can be gauged by the fact that it has thrived, despite minimal use of advertising or aggressive expansion.

The company set up an outlet in Chennai in 2002, after the younger brother Jasmit Singh Tibb, entered the business in 1990. He completed his graduation at the Institute of Hotel Management, Mumbai, followed by a degree in Business Management from Hendon University (UK), and dreamt of running his own Tibb’s Frankie outlet since the age of 17. “Our father wanted us to earn our surname. He spoke of how we can achieve anything we wanted as long as we created it with honesty, humility and hardwork,” mentions the younger brother. Jasmit’s first official stint was in Tibb’s central kitchen, and he is the one who is instrumental in introducing new vegetarian flavours. With its current footprint spread across over 260 locations in Mumbai, Goa, Pune, Gujarat, Nagpur, Tamil Nadu, Chennai, Madhya Pradesh, Hyderabad and Delhi, Tibb’s Frankie is now all set to enter international waters under the leadership of Jasmit, first via UAE, followed by 25 other countries that it will now franchise to, across the globe.

Heading one of India’s most indigenous, legendary and respected family businesses, Jasmit believes that, though this may be a product that all of us have grown up on, it definitely is no child’s play. “Today we are ready for globalisation as our strategies, infrastructure, manpower, technology are at par with current market trends. We have been quick to adopt the market changes as we value the price that a customer pays for our product,” adds Charanjit.

What’s special

“’Freshly prepared’ is a word that my father coined for the product and it is this that makes us stand out,” emphasises Charanjit, adding, “The ingredients of the magic masala includes years of the Tibb family’s hardwork, coupled with my father’s blessings and thousands of our loyal customers.” Sourcing of fresh ingredients and not compromising on the quality at any circumstance be it inflation, logistics etc, is the quintessential parameter for the brand. The chefs are trained for a minimum of 15 days in product-making, appropriate attire, communication with customers and maintaining hygiene standards, and then they are tested.

“The magic masala is made only in the purview of myself and Charanjit in Mumbai and is then transported to other states. Food trials take place everyday to ensure that the masalas are ground and refined properly and the dough used has a certain percentage of protein in it, as well as the packaging standards are looked into,” points out Jasmit.  Tibbs’ current offering includes mutton, chicken, vegetarian, paneer, cheese and schezwan frankies. The company has evolved with the adoption of using minimalistic ingredients so that availability of products is never a problem. “The word ‘out of stock’ hurts me, as for me, it is like a flow of energy. We are strict with our marketing team as we respect all our customers as there are some who even save money to buy a Tibb’s Frankie, while there are some who take our product for granted, but irrespective of this, it is a good feeling for us. We try to evolve our systems so that we are never out of stock. There are organic farms where sourcing of organic ingredients can be done, but we have always stuck to our basic ingredients. In terms of packaging we have introduced the ‘twist and turn’ concept for convenience of customers who wish to grab a frankie on the go,” says Jasmit.

Market growth

The Tibb family is very particular about choosing franchisees, as they believe that their dealers need to be ready to put their heart into the business. “We are selective because we are not concerned about the competition as we believe that they are copying us and not vice versa. We cannot undervalue our product,” stresses Charanjit. Sharing his learnings of his 31 years, he says, “To grow in life you need not just money, but you also need to have big ideas and believe in yourself and the product that you are handling. As an entrepreneur you grow with ideas. Our father was the one who left behind a goldmine called ‘Frankie’ as a business which started with nine outlets but now has expanded to over 200 over the years.” The company is looking at crossing over 100 outlets in Mumbai in the next two years. “For us proactiveness of the dealer is imperative,” says Jasmit adding, “We are working on introducing combo packs where there is value add for a single product. We are also trying to introduce new concepts like ‘make your own frankie’ or maybe establish our brand in larger QSR formats, in Mumbai to start with. There are a couple of new flavours that we are working on to introduce in the near future.”

The biggest challenge is intense market competition. “In the fast food industry there has to be a minimum of 15-18 per cent growth every year. The company’s  expansion should not be only in books but in ways of working as well. To cope with situations like market inflation, we have strategies in place, as we cannot push a Rs 60 frankie to Rs 100. We try to control inflation without overvaluing  our MRPs,” says Charanjit.