In a global first, Wendy's cloud kitchen tie-up with Rebel Foods gives it a chance to come back in the game in India. Can the world's third biggest burger brand flip the bun?
Jasper Reid, chief executive officer of Sierra Nevada Restaurants, the master franchisee for Wendy's in India. Image: Amit Verma
Gurugram; May, 2015
It was a majestic welcome, befitting a ‘queen’. Wendy’s, the world’s third biggest burger chain, was making its India debut in a massive 2,500 square feet restaurant. “The reception was sensational,” recalls Jasper Reid, chief executive officer of Sierra Nevada Restaurants, the master franchisee for Wendy's in India. The peak of a sweltering Indian summer couldn’t stop hundreds from jostling for space to take a juicy bite of the queen. “Huge queues remained for over a month,” says Reid, who managed to get the American burger brand from Columbus, Ohio, just seven months after rival Burger King set up shop in India.
Wendy’s had done its homework by rolling out entry-level burgers suited to Indian taste and pocket—spicy aloo crunch and junior chicken for Rs 59 and Rs 79, respectively. Yet, most of the crowd rushed for the premium non-vegetarian offering—Baconator and Double Baconator—which started from Rs 199 and went up to Rs 365. The queen—Wendy’s got its name from the nickname of Melinda, daughter of founder Dave Thomas—was mighty impressed. It made her feel exclusive, and pricier. In a market where quick service restaurant (QSR) big boys—McDonald’s, Domino’s, Burger King, and KFC—were fighting for the mass, the queen stood out. A big challenge in QSR, Reid underlines, is to ask this question: Can you get a bit of premium out of consumers? Can you get her to pay just a little bit more? Wendy’s, it seems, had cracked the Holy Grail in one go.
Unfortunately, it turned out to be a false sense of accomplishment. In India, Wendy’s appealed to an inverted pyramid of consumers—premium, core and value. “What we didn't really have enough was the value bet,” recounts Reid. When contrasted with McDonald’s aloo tikka burger and chicken McGrill—starting at Rs 20—the queen lacked mass appeal, and mass pricing. “Hats off to competition,” says Reid. Giving credit where it’s due makes sense. Reason: Indian QSR is a value, volume and mass game.