London Bubble to operate in select OYO Townhouse properties across India

Bubble waffle franchise brand London Bubble (LBC) will operate in flagship OYO Townhouse properties across India, according to a strategic partnership between the two companies.
 
The combined advantage of LBC's growing online sales coupled with OYO Rooms’ network of properties “will cement LBC’s position as one of the most sought after dessert brands in the country,” said Saurabh Vasraj Rathore, the company’s founder and chief executive officer.
 
The tie-up will help OYO monetise its assets better and help add more value to its guests. 
 

Established in 2017, LBC has set up close to 52 retail outlets across the country in 19 months. The menu includes bubble waffles, pocket waffles, gelatos, bubble tea, bubble shakes, and other continental desserts.  LBC claims it sells one waffle every seven minutes and has presence in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Indore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, and Pune. With the new range of waffles at Rs 59 across all outlets, LBC aims to turn waffles into the staple dessert of India, a market where traditional desserts have ruled the roost.

 
The tie-up will unlock the potential of cloud kitchens in the patisserie segment and contribute significantly to the profitability of both brands through optimal utilisation of resources, said Rathore, adding that the association would help the two-year-old start-up scale up faster and reach 200-mark by 2022. He expects the $2 billion continental dessert market in India to grow at an exponential rate. On partnership with London Bubble, an OYO spokesperson said, “As the largest hotel chain in India, operating franchised and leased assets, we have an active play in the food and beverage business, including partnerships with select brands in this space that serve as our suppliers. With customer experience being priority, culinary design and good food experience are valuable to us.”

 
According to the agreement, LBC will use around 100 square feet area in 350 to 400 flagship OYO Townhouses by 2020. At least 15 per cent of the Townhouses, particularly the ones located in prime locations, will have full-fledged retail outlets of LBC.
 
In addition to catering to the OYO guests, it will also address walk-in customers and those in the five kilometre radius through food delivery applications like Swiggy, Zomato and Uber Eats, said Rathore. The remaining 85 per cent will have plug-and-play formats that will deliver select items on the menu to OYO guests, besides delivering through food delivery apps. LBC will share a certain percentage of the revenue generated by these operations with OYO, which in turn will help OYO monetise its assets better. “It will be a win-win for both,” said Rathore.  The investment and operations of the LBC operations will be the responsibility of LBC’s master franchise.