Jubilant FoodWorks To Replicate Its 20-Minute Pizza Delivery Promise For Popeyes

Domino’s dominates India's pizza sales, thanks in part to its innovations in delivery. Its operator, Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd., is now looking to replicate its 20-minute pizza delivery promise for its fried chicken brand, Popeyes.

"Delivery has become the most preferred channel, driven by consumer preference for convenience and it is here to stay and grow," according to Sameer Khetarpal, chief executive officer and managing director, Jubilant FoodWorks. "Popeyes already has a well-functioning own app, and the stores have their own biker fleet, but currently we rely on aggregators. Within this quarter, we will be able to start our own delivery for Popeyes."

Jubilant FoodWorks launched the first Popeyes store in New Delhi on Wednesday—its 33rd store pan-India. It has plans to add four more stores in the national capital region, including Gurgaon and Faridabad, next week.

Chalking out a multi-year expansion plan for the U.S. fried chicken brand in the country, Khaterpal said it expects to hit the Rs 1,000-crore sales mark in four years. The Noida-based company is targeting opening 30–50 stores annually to take Popeyes' store count to 250 by 2028. "We're confident of making Popeyes India’s fastest QSR [quick-service restaurant] to achieve this milestone," he said after inaugurating the Chandni Chowk store.

Fast food chain operators have done everything from rolling out cheaper offerings and increasing discounts to slashing packaging costs in a bid to shore up demand, but have failed to get Indians to eat out more often amid high inflation. As for Jubilant FoodWorks, it reported a surprise profit fall in the third quarter of fiscal 2024. It has been seeing pressure on same-store sales growth for the past four quarters. In Q3, sales for Domino's fell by 2.9% as weak dine-ins offset the growth seen in the delivery business.

Khaterpal expects Popeyes to be the company's "speedboat" for growth at a time when pizza sales are slowing and inflation-wary Indians are preferring affordable burgers.

He, however, said that the current slowdown appears cyclical, mirroring the impact of inflation on mass discretionary consumption.

"Popeyes in the U.S. is now the number two player behind Chickfil-A and ahead of KFC. So, clearly, there is something; the bold Cajun flavours lend themselves well to the Indian palates and we have innovated fast," Khetarpal told analysts in a post-earnings briefing, indicating the brand's potential to take on KFC in India. Rival KFC currently has a store count of 1,000 outlets in India.

For fiscal 2025, Jubilant FoodWorks has lined up capital expenditures of Rs 600–700 crore to expand both Domino's and Popeyes outlets, improve digital infrastructure and add back-end units that service its restaurant kitchens. The operator plans to open 200–225 Domino’s stores in the next 12–18 months and 3,000 outlets of the pizza chain in the medium term.