Dine-in has come back quite well, says Westlife Development's Amit Jatia

Mumbai and Maharashtra were among the last to resume dine-in services in the country. Maharashtra is also an important market for Westlife Development, which runs McDonald's outlets in the west and south of India. In an interview with Viveat Susan Pinto, Amit Jatia, vice-chairman, Westlife Development highlights the trends in dine-in and convenience channels. He also speaks about the turnout during the festive period for quick-service restaurants (QSRs). Edited Excerpts:
 

How have sales been in the September quarter?
 

Sales have come back quite well. Month-on-month things are getting better. We exited the month of September at 70 per cent of pre-Covid sales. Which is good recovery in my view. Our observation is that the ramp-up of dine-services in stores outside of Mumbai and Maharashtra has been quite rapid. In other words, dine-in has come back pretty well in all those places where our stores were open for over four to six weeks. Mumbai and Maharashtra, however, saw dine-in services begin from October. However, we remain positive about the sales trend in these markets too.
 

How is the festive period turning out for QSRs? Are people walking in to eat?
 

Sentiment remains good. I am hopeful that by the time we exit the October-December period, we will be at 90-95 per cent of pre-Covid sales. There are two aspects here: one is dine-in and the other is convenience channels. Even as dine-in recovers, sales from our convenience channels hasn't dropped. That gives you an indication of the demand that exists in the market and the effort we are putting in to address this need. The work we've done with regard to our convenience channels is exemplary.  A consumer has multiple options available if he clicks into our delivery app. The idea is to take convenience to the next level and this has really helped us.
 

Will you be adding stores this year, given that it has been a difficult period for retail due to the Covid-19 pandemic?
 

This year we will add a few stores. I don't see any reason not to do it. While consumer behaviour is changing and the preference for convenience channels is growing, at the same time, these channels have to be firmly anchored within my stores. That is one part. Second, we've always taken a long-term view of the business. That is how you stay ahead of the curve. We are clear that we do not want to catch-up by going slow on store expansion now due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Business is looking up and we remain committed to it.
 

You were among the first players to introduce drive-through restaurants in the country. Now most food service players have stepped into this segment. Will this be the next leg of growth for the sector?
 

Direct-to-consumer is already ticking up and convenience channels in any form will grow, not just in food services, but other consumer-facing businesses too. Having said that, I don't think we can write off in-store or dine-in completely. It will remain an important part of the business. Which is why players like us are investing in both convenience and dine-in operations.
 

Are your convenience channels located within all your stores in the west and south of India?
 

Our convenience channels are pretty much at all restaurants. For instance, delivery operations are in 260 stores. So is the case with take-aways and on-the-go operations. All of these are spread out across our outlets because it gives us the ability and reach to service our consumers. We will continue with that strategy.