Zorawar Kalra-led Massive Restaurants eyes listing, timing not yet decided

Massive has brands like Made in Punjab, Farzi Cafe, Pa Pa Ya, Masala Bar, and BO-TAI; has lined up expansion on brick-and-mortar side of the business, as well as the delivery vertical

Enthused by the success of Barbeque-Nation initial public offering (IPO) earlier this year, Zorawar Kalra, the founder and managing director of premium dining firm, Massive Restaurants, is keen on taking the company public in the long run.

“It’s definitely on the cards. It’s something we are not only aiming for, but are planning for, in the future,” said Kalra.

The timeframe is yet to be decided, though. Kalra said that it would happen once the company reached a critical threshold of top line and bottom line.

Kalra is the original promoter and other financial investors are Gaja Capital and Everstone Capital; Gaja Capital invested Rs 160 crore in 2017.

Massive, which has brands like Made in Punjab, Farzi Café, Pa Pa Ya, Masala Bar, BO-TAI, among others, has lined up expansion plans on the brick-and-mortar side of the business, as well as the delivery vertical, which will be serviced out of cloud kitchens, largely.

In the past year and a half, Kalra realized that “delivery” as a vertical was far more important than what he had ever thought it would be. Typically, delivery was about 10-12 per cent of the company’s sales, which is now at 30 per cent.  

As restaurateurs are getting back to business after the localized lockdowns in the second wave, the importance of scaling up cloud kitchens is not lost on any of the big chains.

Massive Restaurants has three cloud kitchens now, and by the end of the next 30 days, it would stand at 7. By December 2021, the plan is to take it to 25.

“I am already in nine cities with dine-in restaurants. I expect to be in 12-13 cities with the cloud kitchens by the end of this calendar year,” said Kalra.

The investment is very low, but margins are very high and so are returns,” he explained. The company is tying up with cloud kitchen infrastructure companies that have kitchens across the country.

On the cards are virtual restaurants like Louis Burger, which will start in Delhi and Mumbai in about 15-20 days. Then there are plans to start Skinny Pizza that will offer guilt-free pizzas under 500 calories.

On the brick-and-mortar side, it will shortly launch Farzi Café in Kolkata, a franchise partnered outlet.

Kalra said that with cities opening up, the demand curve is going to grow pleasantly. “There is going to be a huge amount of revenge consumption,” he added.

In Mumbai, where restaurants are currently open for four hours (12pm to 4pm), sales from lunch have doubled.

But Kalra cautioned that a third wave would be catastrophic for the restaurant industry and vaccination was the only way out.

“We offered up to 25 per cent discount on full meals in Delhi to start off the restaurants,” he said, adding that vaccination should be incentivised.

Massive Restaurants has 17 company-owned outlets and 19 franchise-partnered. The brands are present across India, Dubai, London, Doha, Kuwait, Riyadh, Dhaka and Oman. This year, Farzi Café will be opening in Canada.

There are plans of opening outlets in Puerto Rico, Singapore, Istanbul, going forward. The expansion plans will be funded internally and through existing financial investors, said Kalra.