Mac plans to set up food processing plant

Kolkata: McDonald's India is planning to set up food processing plants in North India and North-East in eastern India for local sourcing.

Vikram Bakshi, managing director and JV partner of McDonald's India (north and east), said, 'Currently we have the biggest food processing plant outside of Bombay from where we are sourcing supply for all over India.

As we expand our restaurant chain in each region, we will be setting up more food processing plants to cater to specific regions. This not only ensures quick supplies but is especially useful for products, like iceberg lettuce, that have limited shelf life.'

McDonald's food processing plant in North India and North-East in eastern India will come up within two years with an investment in the range of Rs 50 crore to Rs 200 crore. 'The idea is to process all food items in India and lessen dependence on imports. Currently around 70 per cent of McDonald's menu is Indian and is nowhere available in the world,' Bakshi informed.

The company will invest Rs 400 crore over the next three years in India. Around 40 per cent of the investment will be into expansion of the brand and introduction of new formats, while 60 per cent is directed towards the back-end operations. The new formats include the smaller 700 sq ft ‘Express' format as well as the 200 sq ft ‘kiosk' format selling desserts and beverages in high footfall areas like the railways and airports. The company also plans to take its total restaurants to over 150 this fiscal, from 136 right now.

McDonald's opened its second restaurant in Kolkata today, after the first one was shut down after a fire incidence last year. 'We have invested into new equipment which will run only on electricity and no gas, to avoid such fire-related mishaps,' Bakshi claimed.