By Ankit Sinha
Noida, April 6 (IANS) With American burger chain Wendy's foray into the Indian QSR (quick service restaurants) segment last year, fast food lovers in the NCR region have reason to rejoice. In an already clogged market, Wendy's is making its presence felt in Noida, with a new outlet that combines taste, innovation and hygiene.
"We opened our first restaurant in India in May 2015 followed by another restaurant in November in Gurgaon and then Noida in February. The response has been great and we've been improvising our model as we move along," Arvind Dixit, COO, Wendy's India, told IANS.
Unlike other QSR stalwarts, Wendy's has eliminated self-service at its restaurants and serves its customers right on their tables.
Even the kitchen has separate divisions for non-vegetarian and vegetarian food with a strong focus on maintaining international standards of hygiene and sanitation. Eighty percent of the non-vegetarian food products are grilled. No emulsifiers or binders are used.
When it comes to the food itself, Wendy's offers uniquely titled food items such as the railway cutlet and the Greek falafel burger.
"The thought behind Greek falafel was to offer to vegetarians proteins that are beyond the usual suspects, 'aloo' (potato) and paneer," Dixit said.
As the name suggests, the railway cutlet burger "plays on the nostalgia of the railway cutlet we've all fondly had on trains across north India".
"The patty is the railway cutlet recipe in a burger avatar and customers have shown a positive response towards the same. These products in fact have a broad appeal and are not considered niche by vegetarians," he added.
Besides these two, Wendy's also offers the spicy aloo crunch (Rs.59), baconator (Rs.199) and crispy chicken burger (Rs.79), among others.
Even their desserts and drinks section is worth giving a shot, especially since the harsh summer season is ready to unleash a heat wave across the region. The 'fruitails' priced at Rs.95 include the cucumber fizz, lychee delight, watermelon cooler, vanila cola and cherry cola.
The desserts include shakes and frosties like the cookie crumble frosty and banana caramel frosty.
Moreover, Wendy's also "hopes" to build the brand as "a place of preference for customers not just for lunch/dinner but also when they are looking for a quick snack, a place to co-work, a place to get together for events and to be accessible to our customers not through just dine-in but also through delivery, remote ordering, food festivals and food trucks," Dixit said.
After setting up restaurants in Gurgaon and Noida, the chain is now planning to expand its presence in other cities too.
"We are looking at expanding to other cities and the aim is to open 40-50 stores in the next four-five years," Dixit said.
"After our successful three launches in NCR, we are a few weeks away from opening our Cyber Hub restaurant. The restaurant will offer something different in terms of experience and menu," he added.
(Ankit Sinha can be contacted at ankit.s@ians.in)
