PremiumJubilant FoodWorks Limited (JFL), which operates the Domino’s Pizza and Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants in India, on Wednesday announced the launch of a new restaurant chain selling biryani under the Ekdum! brand, capitalizing on the popularity of the rice-based dish among Indian diners.
Ekdum! is starting with three restaurants in Gurgaon that will be operational for delivery, takeaway and dine-in.
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More restaurants are planned in the NCR over the next few months, the company said in a statement to the press. The brand will also be available to order via an app, a mobile and desktop website.
Jubilant FoodWorks operates 1,264 Domino’s Pizza restaurants across 281 cities. It has the exclusive rights to develop and operate Domino’s Pizza brand in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. Apart from that, it also operates 26 Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants in eight Indian cities.
The new brand is part of the company’s strategy to expand its portfolio in India’s food services market that has diversified to include home-deliveries, dine-ins and takeaways. It is also filling gaps in cuisines that are popular among Indian diners.
Last year, the food services company announced its foray into casual Chinese dining with the launch of Hong’s Kitchen. The brand has five restaurants in two cities. JFL has also tried to capitalize on the growing instances of in-home cooking as the pandemic led to rise in demand for ready-to-cook meals and dishes. In August this year—the company also forayed into the ready-to-cook sauces, gravies, and pastes market under the ChefBoss brand.
To be sure, Biryani trumps all foods to be the most popular dish across food ordering platforms such as Zomato and Swiggy—giving a peak into the Indian consumer’s allegiance to the rice-dish that sells in varied styles across the country. Biryani remained the most-ordered dish for a third year in a row, online ordering platform Swiggy said in its 2019 food ordering trends.
Meanwhile, Jubilant FoodWorks said that in addition to biryanis, its new format will offer kebabs, curries, breads, desserts and beverages. Ekdum! Will offer biryanis starting from ₹99.
The announcement is in line with JFL’s portfolio expansion strategy.
"In line with our strategy of portfolio expansion, we are delighted to introduce Ekdum!,our new venture in the Biryani category. We see strong potential in this segment and are confident that Ekdum!, with its sharp and differentiated proposition will create a strong position for itself in the market," Shyam S Bhartia, chairman, and Hari S. Bhartia, co-chairman, Jubilant FoodWorks Limited said in the media statement.
