Amul enters quick service eatery biz today

Quick service restaurant companies like McDonalds are set to see a new competitor, one with a name. Amul, brand name of the Rs 10,000-crore Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), is entering this segment by launching its first two quick-service restaurants, here and at Bangalore, tomorrow.

Unlike its existing retail outlets, which offer the entire range of Amul products under one roof, the new cafes will offer consumers pizzas, burgers, sandwiches, dosa, pavbhaji, sundaes and milk shakes, apart from the milk products that Amul makes.

Spread over 1,000-1,050 sq ft areas at Drive-In Road in Ahmedabad and Indiranagar in Bangalore, the Amul restaurants will be run on a franchisee basis. “Amul plans to roll out 10 such quick-service restaurants across India by March 2012,” said a senior company official. Earlier, managing director R S Sodhi had told Business Standard they planned to roll out 10 such cafes in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. “We are working on our pan-India network expansion plan,” he had said.

Amul enjoys a strong retailing network for marketing its range of products. The retailing business contributed around Rs 406 crore to total turnover during 2010-11, growing 37 per cent. It has 6,000 outlets and has plans to reach 10,000 outlets.