Biryani is the single biggest product category in the Indian Food Services market. This is ratified by data published by the PAN India food delivery aggregators for the last 5-6 years. It is estimated to be about 10 percent of the market at around $5B annually. Not only this, about 90 percent of the Biryani category is unorganized creating a great opportunity for a brand to also spearhead the unorganized to organized shift. Started as a small Canteen and a Café in a cinema theatre called Paradise in Secunderabad in the Year 1953, Paradise Biryani is today one of the fastest growing and a name synonymous with Hyderabadi biryani in the world. Excerpts from the interview:

It was in news recently that Samara has taken hold of the biryani chain completely, leaving only 3-4 percent with the owners. What’s your say on the same? And. Where do you see the brand growing with this development?

This is just a reflection of the high level of Trust and Belief that our Investors have in Paradise Brand and the professional management team which has been at the helm for a number of years now. With this, we have even a stronger mandate to grow the Brand rapidly. Our growth plans are captured well by our Purpose, Vision, and Mission Statements below:

Purpose: TO SERVE THE BEST HYDERABADI BIRYANI TO THE WORLD

Vision: TO BE THE BEST INDIAN-AUTHENTIC QSR IN THE COUNTRY

Mission: TO BE A 500 RESTAURANT COMPANY BY 2027

We are targeting a 10X restaurant growth and 6X revenue growth over the next 5 years. We say we are “BUILDING AN INDIAN MULTINATIONAL”

We have seen that delivery has emerged as an important element of the food service market in the last two years... How will it Pan out in the next year and how is Paradise Biryani building on it?

Yes, it is true that home delivery has been growing in salience in the industry for the last 5-6 years with the advent of PAN India aggregators. We have been working closely with the aggregators and have a very strong relationship with them. In addition, we have launched our OWN PARADISE APP which enables the customers to order from Paradise directly. On our App, our customers can enjoy exclusive benefits like the Paradise loyalty program and a plethora of promotions on an everyday basis. While Biryani travels well in Delivery – we have also been continuously innovating and upgrading our packaging to provide a great home consumption experience to customers. We believe that home consumption will remain strong along with dining out as the pandemic situation stabilizes.

It is said that biryani is the fastest grown business in India. How are you dishing out your growth?

Today we are present in 54 locations across 13 cities. Over the next 5 years, we want to be in 500+ locations in 100+ cities in India. We are also looking at an International foray in the next couple of years. So the growth will be driven by store expansion across the geographies where we are not present.

The restaurant business has changed a lot with innovation and technological advancement. What innovation have you done?

Technology is no longer a nice-to-have theme; it has now intrinsic to our growth plans. We have always been thinking about technology and have innovated in many areas. As mentioned earlier – we have launched our Own Paradise App from scratch. Our loyalty program PARADISE CIRCLE is based on cutting-edge technology. We use sophisticated data analytics tools to drive a best-in-class CRM system. We use high-end technology to understand customer feedback across a plethora of platforms to create VOC (voice of customer) scores to drive continuous improvement in execution. All backend systems are fully integrated on a real-time basis with our restaurants and various partners. As we look ahead, we see many opportunities to embrace technology more and more to rapidly evolve the business in a dynamic world.

The brand has seen a decline in sales growth. When do you see a turnaround in it?

The 2 years of pandemics have been tough for the entire Industry. Due to the customer love for the brand and our focus on basics, we have been able to reach the Pre-Pandemic levels. Now we see the multiplier effect kicking in with rapid expansion across various cities.

What according to you will be the topmost trend going forward that will change the way people have been eating out?

I think the topmost trend is consumers becoming more and more comfortable with ordering food at home. A few years back restaurants were seen as destinations – which will now need to adapt and go close to the customer so that the convenience of home delivery is enhanced. The 2 years of the pandemic have accelerated this trend and it is here to stay.

Are you also planning to revisit your menu?

Innovation is a key part of our growth agenda. For many years we have staged quarterly innovations across the menu like Kebab Festivals, Jashn-e-Haleem, Chef’s special Biryani menu, etc. This agenda with continuing and get strengthened over the years. We continually research consumer habits and trends to identify opportunities for innovation or Menu augmentation.

What are your expansion plans for the new financial year?

In line with our five-year plan, this year we will open more than one store a week! We have an omnichannel model which we will adapt to various formats like High-street, Malls, Highway, Corporate Parks, etc. This year our focus is the South market, and from next year onwards we will move to the other regions of the country.