Global Franchise Architects to expand Pizza Corner outlets in South

Quick service restaurant (QSR) company Global Franchise Architects will invest around Rs.40 crore over next two years to add 35 outlets across brands Pizza Corner, Cream and Fudge, The Donut Baker and Coffee World, a top company official said Tuesday.

"The Rs.40 crore investment will be mainly in the southern market where the company owns and also franchisees its QSR brands. Major portion of the investment will go towards owned Pizza Corner outlets," Joseph Cherian, CEO, told reporters here.

He said the company is on the look out for master franchisee for the northern and western regions.

According to him, the current expansion will be on its own Pizza Corner outlets.

Global Franchise Architects has 61 Pizza Corner outlets in South India and 75 percent of them are owned by franchisees.

According to Cherian, the company earns 54 percent of its revenue from the Chennai region and a sizeable portion of the fresh investment will be made in this market.

He said 30 percent of the business is derived from delivery while the remaining from dining in.

While the Rs.1,200 crore pizza industry is growing 25 percent, the first two quarters of the calendar year 2013 saw a dip in sales as compared to revenues logged during comparable period in 2012.

Cherian said the company's back end infrastructure - commissary and others- located in Bangalore have enough capacity to cater to the new outlets planned and the investments will be on the front end.

Interestingly, the company looks at expanding the Cream and Fudge outlets through franchisee route. The company plans to increase the number of Cream and Fudge outlets to 17 from the current seven.