US hamburger chain Wendy's to make India debut in 2015, ties up with Sierra Nevada

NEW DELHI: You will soon get Wendy’s hamburgers in India. The third largest hamburger chain in the US is entering the country in partnership with Sierra Nevada, one of whose founders is the new owner of Barista Coffee.

“We plan to bring a basket of brands into India and Wendy’s being the prominent one,” said Sanjay Chhabra, director of Sierra Nevada, the equal joint venture between London-based emerging markets investor International Market Management and Haryana based packaging company Rolltainers, which is getting Wendy's to India. Rolltainers had acquired Barista from Italy’s Lavazza earlier this month.

Wendy’s outlets are likely to come up the first quarter of 2015, Chhabra said, adding that Sierra plans to bring more global food brands into India, including Jamie’s Italian Restaurants.

An email query sent to Wendy’s remained unanswered till as of press time. Wendy’s joins a long list of food chains that are competing for a share of India’s $2.4 billion quick service restaurant market.