Global Franchise Architects (GFA), Switzerland-based restaurant group that owns popular brands like Pizza Corner, Donut Baker, Cream & Fudge, and Coffee World, announced their expansion plan for the Indian market. GFA, is a subsidiary of Synergia One, a company founded by entrepreneur and a philanthropist, Fred Mouawad. It operates in over 250 stores in 16 countries. As per the plan, the group would open a total of 40 stores across brands in India this year, in addition to the 101 stores they already have.

Talking to Hospitality Biz, Joseph Cherian, CEO, GFA Global said, “We have very recently put together an investment of 40 crore which will be primarily channelized into opening up Pizza Corner outlets in south India. We currently have over 100 outlets in India and we are in the process of opening up 25 additional outlets to the Pizza Corner portfolio this year. Cream N Fudge is also expanding and it will see some good growth this year. We will add about 10 more stores to the Cream N Fudge portfolio. GFA has established a loyal customer base with quality offerings that has helped its growth. We aim to continue this and build a very strong market share.”

With a constant growth rate of over 25 per cent in the last couple of years and having crossed 100 outlets in India this year, GFA share holders are investing Rs 40 crore to support their further expansion in the market. Currently, 75 per cent of the 60 Pizza Corner outlets are under the franchise business model and the remaining are company owned outlets. However, Cherian said that at least 45 per cent of future outlets would be company owned.

Talking about the challenge faced by the food service industry due to the inflationary pressures in the food cost, Cherian said, “We witnessed seven to eight per cent increase in food products since past month. When it comes to our pizza outlets, we buy food items from local suppliers and vendors but for our Cream N Fudge segment, we have no option but to import food products to maintain quality and standards of our brand.” However, he considered the phenomenon, a temporary one with no impact on long term business prospects.

Mouawad sees enormous opportunities in the India market in coming times. “The food service segment has been growing consistently over the past few years. Quick service restaurants and dine-in formats are estimated to have about 70 per cent penetration in the Indian food services industry. Delivery and take-away formats are also witnessing an increase in share. Capitalising on this fact we aim to tap the market by investing significantly into Pizza Corner and opening more stores. We are confident that India would contribute substantially to the overall group in the coming years and hence we have committed this investment in India,” he informed.