Growth of Pizza’s popularity in India:
Pizza, the most popular Italian savory dish, was ranked third in preference after Indian and Chinese varieties in 2017, according to a trusted source. Pizza has taken a large piece of the pie in the share, making it a highly profitable segment in Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) format. Industry pundits have indicated several factors fuelling the growth of Pizza’s popularity in India: increase in consumerism, growing number of women in the workforce, shifting lifestyle dynamics and the strong growth of incomes particularly in the middle class segment. Also, since the last decade, the populace of India, especially today’s millennial have developed a natural preference for pizza. This trend is only expected to grow in the future.
The growing popularity of pizza has set the tone for growth opportunities for major global Pizza players including the dominant brands: Domino’s, Papa John’s, Pizza Hut among others.
Take Pizza Hut, for instance, which considers India as one of the key markets for expansion and growth. It has planned to increase the number of stores to almost double that of any other region in the world over the next five years or so. This is generally the case with other key players in the Pizza segment that will be competing intensely for market share.
Franchising opportunities in the Pizza business:
Initially, Pizza was not considered franchisable in India by franchising experts, as entry barriers were pretty much high, and also scaling up in this segment was tough. But today, we find a number of new Pizza brands that are franchise-ready with some already established ones in a few regions. But remember not all will be able to sustain for a period of 10 to 20 years owing to severe competition with the global brands. The growth of this category will lean heavily on the number of franchisors—the higher the number, the better for the industry!
Competition in the pizza segment is heating up as franchisors are vying for their presence across tier-II and tier –III cities. There apparently exists considerable pizza franchising opportunities in these newly identified regions as educated middle class populace is opening up to sophisticated food consumption and lifestyles.
Another interesting aspect to note here is that franchisors have taken the online delivery route. Where there is heavy traffic such as tech parks, universities, railway stations and malls, this format has worked exceedingly well. Pizza Hut has reported increased online sales compared to last year. An estimated 35 percentage of its sales come through online channels and home delivery.
Thanks to today’s app delivery model—both web and mobile—franchisors have fully deployed its features to enhance their presence and sales online. New Pizza brands are also expected to amplify their space online to enjoy high-volume order. The penetration of delivery apps in tier-II and tier-III cities is another key factor driving the growth of the industry. Also, the Indian m-commerce sector is on a high-growth trajectory which will positively impact the Pizza business due to increased adoption rate and user engagement. Do you think your Pizza brand is franchisable? Just give us a shout for a one-on-one consultation to find out if your brand is franchise-ready. Iyyappan Rajendran, Founder & chief Strategist off Strategizer, is a leading franchise consultant in Chennai for proven and profitable food franchise business opportunities Chennai.
