Prateek Sachdev: The Master Franchise Owner of Döner and Gyros Indian Chapter

A country with a population of 1.33 billion, India easily can be termed as the capital of food on the world map, owing to its richness in different spices and culture-based cuisines. The diversity of food is not the only interesting thing about India when it comes to cuisines; rather it is about adding an Indian touch to international dishes as they arrive in the country. Interestingly, India ranks among the top 5 in obesity where over 9.8 million men and over 20 million women fall under this category. For a country with merely 90 million health-conscious population, healthy food is a dire need with not many options to choose from. Adding to the issue is the COVID pandemic that the world is dealing with, where healthy habits and diet is not anymore a choice, but a necessity to survive.

Under such critical conditions, Prateek Sachdev, one of the leading young entrepreneurs of India, shares his vision of enabling India in getting a healthier alternative for food. The master owner of Döner and Gyros' Indian Chapter, he speaks of shifting towards a healthier lifestyle for preparing your body for the deteriorating environment.

From 2014 till 2020 – The Backstory

Döner and Gyros is a Dubai based food company, established in 2014 by Nabi Naseeb. With its success, the brand grew across different countries including U.A.E., U.S.A., Canada, K.S.A., and by 2018, reached India. The brand has 60+ stores across the globe and is exponentially growing thanks to the quality of food it offers. Prateek Sachdev, a health enthusiast, was introduced to this brand by his friend and current business associate - Nikhil Mukhi.

After learning about this health-friendly Mediterranean cuisine from the streets of Berlin and Chicago, he decided to bring this brand to India. Prateek introduced Döner and Gyros in the year 2018 to the country, with its first store in the Worldmark-1 of Aerocity, Delhi. With its success, the second store was opened at the Bangalore Airport, run by the Karnataka Cricketer Abdul Majid. Currently, there are 30 stores of Döner and Gyros pan India and each store is based on the franchise model. The master franchise of the brand runs under the private limited firm – Erica Ventures, owned by Prateek and his partner, Rannvijay Singha, the famous celebrity popularly known for hosting MTV Roadies. Prateek holds the franchise master owner position, while Rannvijay is the master rights partner to the company.

About the Master Owner Himself

Prateek Sachdev was born and brought up in Haryana and raised under the guidance of his wise father, loving mother and caring sister. Meeting his soul mate, he married Heena Sachdev in the year 2014 and is blessed with a son – Krishant, and daughter – Erica. Prateek gives the complete credit of his success to his father, who has been supportive of his dreams throughout.

Being a health enthusiast and gym lover, he is disciplined in following a daily routine of two hours for working out and maintaining his physique. This is one of the prime reasons that attracted him towards Döner and Gyros, for he always wanted to add value to the country and bring a new concept to India. The brand’s offerings were promising enough for Prateek to bring Döner and Gyros to the country. Apart from his business, he lives a kind life, taking care of his staff and help in a very interesting manner. Prateek takes the full responsibility of schooling and clothing for the kids of all his staff members and help at home. This is because he believes in giving back to society through quality education for future generations.

Project Döner and Gyros

With the inception of Döner and Gyros' Indian Chapter in 2018, Prateek Sachdev hasn’t looked back, and has continuously evolved the business through constructive innovations. In order to penetrate the Indian market and compete with the existing food giants, he has changed the menu to soothe the Indian taste buds, where he has introduced different dishes as per the requirements. Further, he keeps on adding or improving the menu as per the demands and inclination of the consumers. Considering the vegans, Prateek has even introduced Jackfruit and Tofu based Döner and Gyros to cater to their needs. With the Indianized version of the brand, the core value of serving healthy food remains intact as the served food is completely oil-free and even fries are prepared using air fryers.

Prateek recalls the opening of the first store of Döner and Gyros at Aerocity and the efforts behind it. While it was a completely new concept to India, the raw materials weren’t available in the country. He didn’t want to compromise the services and for the same, used to import fresh raw materials directly from Dubai via flights on a daily basis, where his staff would fly every day and fetch the materials from the brand’s country of origin. This went on for a month until Prateek arranged all the materials in the country that matched the standards of Döner and Gyros, and, reflected to perfection.

The Way Ahead

Döner and Gyros proved to be a turning point in Prateek’s life, where his vision to provide his people with healthier food options became a reality. With 30 franchises successfully operating pan India on a royalty-based model, Prateek aims to penetrate further by setting up 200 stores across the country in the next 5 years. The continuously growing success of Döner and Gyros in India strengthens Prateek’s aim as inquiries to acquire franchises are growing exponentially. The growth from 23 stores in the pre-COVID times to 30 stores in the current is testimony to the same. The latest addition to the list of Döner and Gyros is its store in the DLF Cyber City, Gurgaon. With completing this milestone of setting up 200 stores, Prateek believes to reach a turnover of 180 crores for the brand in the Indian market. Further, he looks ahead to introducing more of such novel concepts to the country and serve his nation in a progressive manner.

Disclaimer: The views, suggestions and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Forbes India journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.