Chinese food chain Mark Pi sets up base here

AHMEDABAD: The US-based chain Mark Pi International has made inroads in India with restaurants in Gujarat. The Chinese food chain which operates over 75 restaurants in US now plans to serve markets in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Dubai and many more. “

Considering the growth potential in countries across this region, we soon plan to expand our presence in these markets," says Karana Verma, CEO, Mark Pi.

The group plans to come up with a total of 300 Mark Pi Crazy Noodles restaurant across India. The company operates restaurants on a franchisee model and each restaurant is spread over 1,000-1,200 square feet.

Mark Pi’s opened its first restaurant in Ahmedabad as it found the market most challenging. “Gujarat market is challenging as it is vegetarian. Unlike other cities, all our restaurants here will serve vegetarian dishes,” Verma said. “We will soon be reaching out to Agra, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Chandigarh, Jalandhar and Amritsar. There is a huge potential in tier-II cities, and we expect 80% of our revenues to come from these cities,” he said. The group will invest around

Rs 35-40 lakh in each restaurant. In Gujarat, the group plans to launch restaurants in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot. The group intends to cover smaller cities with a population of more than 1 lakh. “The total investment in all metros and mini metros will be over Rs 80-100 crore in the next five years,” he says.

Most of the company restaurants in India will be stand-alone outlets. “We are considering setting up restaurants at upcoming malls. However, as the retail sector is yet at a nascent state in India, we will mainly expand through stand-alone outlets,” says Mr Verma.