Pizza industry travels to small towns

New Delhi: Nearly a decade after their entry into India, MNC pizza chains have finally started to think local, going as they are to smaller towns and cities with their kebab and chicken tikka pizzas.

From Vapi in Gujarat to Guwahati, Meerut and Jamshedpur, the list of places where these MNCs are opening joints is endless.

Once treated as an alien snack, the pizza is today being projected as a complete family meal.

"The organised pizza market, which comprises MNC chains and big brands is worth Rs 700 crore and is growing at a rate of 30 per cent annually. Innovation and localisation are the key to growth in the pizza industry," says Pizza Hut promoter Yum Brands India's Arvind Mediratta.

"The pizza is being projected as a complete meal and in the near future, it is going to redefine the whole dining experience," he adds.

"The pizza market is growing because of changing life styles and eating habits. Acceptance of the pizza as a meal is an emerging trend in recent years. With aggressive communication strategy, restaurant chains have been able to increase the industry size by generating demand," says Sandeep Madan of Nirulas.

Already pizza chains have moved ahead from just the pizza to add other Indian dishes like masala chicken, lemonade, kulfi and mango ice cream.

"The pizza too has been Indianised, the crust is Italian, but the toppings are essentially Indian," says Mediratta.

"The whole idea is to give familiar tastes and toppings. Indians relate more to kebabs, chicken or paneer tikka toppings than pepperoni," he adds.

Localisation of toppings has definitely led to the increase in the Pizza Market, says Madan, noting that cities such as Jaipur, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Indore, Bhopal offer good scope.

People there are now more open to trying new products.

According to estimates, the pizza industry is worth about Rs 2,000 crore and is showing a compounded annual growth of 20-25 per cent.

The MNC players in the market include Dominos, which is exclusively in deliveries, Pizza Hutt, which is present in dine-in, take aways and deliveries.

A third player, which has just entered India in big way, is Papa Johns. Others are Debonair's Pizza and Pizza Express.

Among the Indian pizza chains are Pizza Corner and Nirulas. Another entry in the list is Vierra Pizza, which has just opened its first outlet.

Key factors that will drive future growth in the market are franchisee-franchiser relationship, trained manpower, high attrition rate, quality suppliers and threat from the unorganised sector, says Taran Deep of Papa Johns.

Stressing on innovation and localisation, she says, "Innovation helps in higher recall. It gives options to the guests whereas localisation helps in reducing the cost majorly and also in attracting new customers who are averse to trying out anything new except their own staple food."

However, original pizzas will always remain in demand, she says and Mediratta agrees. "25-30 per cent of the sales are generated from Indianised pizzas, and the rest from the international range."