The Indian food services sector is finally beginning to see some consolidation. Mirah Group, a Mumbai based company with presence in food and beverages (F&B), among others, has bought out 'Rajdhani Thali' a Rajasthani food chain run by Encore Hotels Pvt Ltd, for an undisclosed amount. The company had also acquired Falafels Veg Hummus House, India’s first Mediterranean-Lebanese chain, the release said, without specifying details. Mirah group, which has interests in real estate, travel and education, was founded in 1986 by Omprakash Goenka.
The group already owns brands like Manchester United Café Bar, Falafel’s, Palette, Café Mangii & Nouvelle. Along with this acquisition, the group is strengthening its foothold in the Indian F&B segment with an investment of over Rs 100 crore by 2012, a release said.
The group has planned to launch a complete brand makeover of 'Rajdhani' by opening over 60 outlets pan-India by March 2013, Gaurav Goenka, Director, Mirah Group said. “With the Indian F&B market projected to reach $580 billion by 2013, we see this as the perfect time to expand our local and international F&B formats including Rajdhani, Manchester United Café Bar, Falafel’s, Palette, Café Mangii & Nouvelle.”
Manchester United Café Bar, which started its operations in February ’10 in Mumbai at Palladium, is now present in Delhi & Gurgaon as well.
The group plans to introduce it in Hyderabad, Goa, Chandigarh, Pune and Kolkata. Additionally, Mirah Group recently acquired a stake in Café Mangii which has one outlet in Mumbai and now plans to increase this to five in the city within the next 6 months, followed by outlets in markets such as Goa as well.
In the quick-service restaurant (QSR) segment, the company has launched Palette, a multi-cuisine food court and is also revamping Falafels Veg Hummus House, its recent acquisition in Mediterranean-Lebanese segment.
