Pav Love

With 37 joints in Mumbai and nine in Gujarat, Jumbo King Foods, one of India's first vada pav chains, has just reported a turnover of Rs 15 crore and is aiming for Rs 20-24 crore this fiscal. But owners Dheeraj and Reeta Gupta have no plans to go national: "Vada Pavs are essentially a Mumbai snack and our core focus is the city."

Dheeraj, a graduate of IHM Mumbai, and his wife Reeta, a microbiologist, started Jumbo King with one outlet in suburban Mumbai in 2001 and one thing in common: both love vada pavs.

"Today, we sell over 10 lakh vada pavs a month, each priced between Rs 8 and Rs 20," says Dheeraj, who is the CEO. "Nearly 65 per cent of our customers are in the 16-25 age group, and we are confident that business will boom."

And why go national when Maharashtra is big enough? "We are looking at a 35 per cent year-on-year growth for the next three years, which roughly means opening 100 outlets in Mumbai alone. By 2017, we hope to have 200 stores-one every two km across Mumbai," he says.

But scaling up at this rate could be a challenge, he admits. "We have raised Rs 6.75 crore last year, which is funding a large chunk of our expansion plans. We own all our stores and there is no franchise involved as of now, which basically means we spend a lot of money on building infrastructure and choosing the right location," he adds.

Jumbo King is also thinking of repositioning its image from just a vada pav store to a "snacks-on-the-go" chain offering traditional fried vadas as well as steamed and grilled versions served inside pavs, kathi rolls or simply as standalone vadas.

Why did they go for Indian fast food? "The potential was there. We figured if McDonald's could be so successful, so could we. People want street food but increasingly they want hygienic snacks as well," he says. Jumbo King supplies its eateries from two kitchens, one in Mumbai and the other in Ahmedabad. The staff is trained to turn out exactly the same stuff across the chain.

The toughest challenge though was changing the Indian mindset. "The idea seemed to be that customers would want 100 varieties like what a Haldiram offers. But look at McDonald's or Pizza Hut. Do you ask for a burger at Pizza Hut or a pizza at McDonald's? We have managed to show that having only 10 similar products can still draw thousands of customers every day," says Dheeraj.

JUMBO KING

• COMPANY: Jumbo King Foods Pvt Ltd
• STORES NOW: 37 in Mumbai, nine in Gujarat
• GROWTH PLANS: To have 100 stores in Mumbai by 2013
• BUSINESS MODEL: Owns all its stores
• FUNDING: Dheeraj Gupta
• HOT PRODUCTS: Grilled Jumbo King, Butter Jumbo King