BEER CAFE TO EXPAND MORE CITIES

Eyeing a share of the growing quick service restaurant (QSR) business in the country, food and beer lounge 'The Beer Cafe' today said it would add 30 outlets over 18 months and take the total number of outlets to 100 by the end of 2015. "We want to be the neighbourhood place where friends get together to share a drink and catch up. We serve 54 kinds of beer. We have five outlets in the Delhi-NCR region. "By November, we will add 10 more outlets across Mumbai, Thane and Punjab. By the end of 2014, we would have 35 outlets," The Beer Cafe CEO Rahul Singh told PTI at the India Retail Forum here today. The company, which is also looking at cities like Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad to set up shop, has already commenced work on some stores and is awaiting necessary approvals to start operations, he said. The Beer Cafe had received a funding of about Rs 25 crore in May from Mayfield. "Funds we raised will go into the expansion across the country. In phase two, we would enter small towns. We think there is a huge potential there. We are confident of growth opportunities here," he said, adding that the Eastern region would be part of its third phase. The domestic food service industry is around Rs 247,680 crore and is projected to touch Rs 4,08,040 crore by 2018 clipping at compounded annual growth rate at 11 per cent, according to a report by NRAI. Currently, the company's revenue run rate is about Rs 12 crore, but it is eyeing a topline of Rs 300 crore, once the 100 planned outlets become operational. "About 10 per cent of our revenues come from other liquor sales, 25 per cent from food and the remaining from beer," he said. When asked about investments, he said the company would invest around Rs 80 lakh per outlet.