We have tried to bring hospitality into the QSR world: Wendy's India

Wendy's, the burger chain that opened shop in India in 2015, thinks there's a flight to quality - consumers in India are now willing to pay more for a superior product. Sanjay Chhabra, promoter at Sierra Nevada Restaurants Pvt Ltd, which holds the rights to Wendy's India, explains what he calls the "middle segment".  

Q. Wendy's opened its first store in Gurgaon in 2015. How has it done thus far?

Chhabra: It is a great milestone. Not just for us, but for Wendy's, internationally. We had the Wendy's leadership team come here.  It is an example that has been set in the "QSR ++" segment. Service is the new angle. You are served on the table. The products are not wrapped in paper. You are served in proper bone china crockery. The ambience is more like a fast casual and is not plasticky, red coloured QSR. Whether it is the ambience, the music that we play, or the products,  it is a change from the conventional stuff. At the same time, we have not allowed the prices to become prohibitive. We have tried to bring hospitality into the QSR world.

Q. Tell us about your price positioning.

Chhabra: The lowest burger is priced at Rs 59 and the highest price is Rs 199. We are in the middle segment. We are not in the category of McDonald's and we have not gone into fast casual pricing - those between fast food and casual dining.

Q. Are Indians now willing to pay more for a better burger?

Chhabra: I will draw an analogy. Look at what Starbucks did to the cafe space. It created a segment which people did not believe existed in cafes. It created a slot which is higher in price but the experience was also superior. There was a segment of customers who were willing to upgrade themselves. We have sort of entered that space in the burger business.

Q. What is the difference between the model Wendy's follows in India versus the US?

Chhabra: In the U.S, it is not table service; there is no crockery, they don't have warm, earthy interiors. The experience is QSR in the U.S.

Q. Would you position your brand based on demographics?

Chhabra: We don't want to classify based on age. Our client is the more discerning consumer.