Broaster recipes to set taste buds tingling in metros

KOLKATA: Fried chicken recipes of US fast food chain Broaster may soon be available in Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Indore. At least, 10 licensed Broaster outlets will be launched in these cities by March ’07, according to the company’s sole regional distributor in India, the Coimbatore-based EssEmm Corporation.

Currently, Broaster’s chicken products are sold by licensed partners in India through 12 outlets across New Delhi, Chennai, Coimbatore and Salem. They are priced between Rs 30 and Rs 350.

“We plan to make Broaster recipes available in other markets like Asom, Bihar and the North East,” said M Sathish Kumar of EssEmm. Mr Kumar was talking to newsmen in the city on Saturday.

“We’re adding more spices to customise the food to suit Indian taste. Each market will offer local dishes that is popular there...like a special biryani will be introduced in Kolkata,” Mr Kumar said.

Broaster globally markets products via a zero-cost licensing arrangement with local partners, wherein the partner doesn’t pay any licence fee to Broaster, but needs to buy pressure fryers, marinades & seasonings developed by the US firm.

Local partners then cook the chicken products in Broaster’s pressure fryers using such proprietary marinades and seasoning. Broaster’s Indian partners also need to source the raw chicken locally.

There’s no revenue-sharing arrangement between Broaster and its Indian licensed partners. Globally, there are close to 65,000 Broaster outlets running on this model.

Typically, the average turnover of each outlet in India is about Rs 60-Rs 65 lakh pa. Apart from the space, the investment required to set up an outlet is about Rs 4-Rs 15 lakh. “Each outlet is witnessing nearly 30% growth,” Mr Kumar said.