It’s literally a world of opportunity to build brands: Micky Pant, CEO, Yum Restaurants International

Micky (Muktesh) Pant, a 57-year-old fitness freak born in Nainital, is a man on the run. Within a week of being elevated as CEO of Yum! Restaurants International-—which runs the international operations of US quick restaurant chains Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurants— Pant flew into India on Tuesday morning for a week-long series of review meetings.

The IIT Kanpur alumni, who had started a yoga training and fitness business in the US after quitting Reebok and before joining Yum!, succeeds Graham Allan in his new role. In an exclusive email interaction with ET Pant said his immediate priority will be to build a culture of innovation and disciplined execution in Yum!’s operations in more than 100 countries that he will oversee. Edited excerpts:

What’s your immediate task at hand in the new role?

Unlike many competitors, we at Yum tend to have extremely empowered management and franchisees in every region, and we provide them with freedom within a framework to interpret our brands in the local context. This has led to the creation of global brands with a local heart. Therefore the role of central leadership is geared towards hiring and retaining talented local leaders and franchisees, providing freedom for innovation, encouraging risk taking and building a corporate culture that is free from bureaucracy and pomp. That will be the biggest priority — to build a culture of innovation and disciplined execution.

You have become the global head of international operations but the two most important emerging markets, India and China, are not part of it. Why?

While India and China are two markets where Yum! Brands are growing at a fast pace, there are other emerging markets like Africa, Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, Middle East to name a few, in YRI which have a huge potential to grow and scale up. My current mandate is to rapidly grow these high potential markets.

How is the Indian restaurant market evolving, compared to say China?

If you compare the stats of the two countries, the consumer class of 300 million in China has an access to 3,000+ KFCs, while the consumer class of 100 million in India has access to only about 140 KFC outlets. Hence, there is a huge potential for us to leverage our expertise in the untapped market. Our aim is to have 1,000 outlets in India by 2015 and China has helped us provide a blueprint for this rapid growth.

What is the specific role of emerging markets in the YRI portfolio?

These are the markets of the future, and we are lucky to have so many: Africa, Brazil, Russia, Indonesia and the Middle East are just a few of the many emerging markets in YRI. We are small but growing rapidly in Western Europe. We want to grow very rapidly in all these markets.

When will you ramp up Taco Bell in India?

Taco Bell is a vibrant, energetic and youthful brand. We launched it in India in 2010 and currently have three outlets in Bangalore that witness over 30,000 footfalls weekly. We aim to open 100 Taco Bell stores across the country by 2015.

Will invest $100 million by 2015

Niren Chaudhary, the new president of Yum! Restaurants India, will be reporting directly to Yum! Brands, Inc, Chairman & CEO David Novak after the world’s largest restaurant company last week made India only the third country after the US and China with a standalone reporting division. In his first media interaction after his elevation, Chaudhary, who was India MD earlier, told ET Yum! will invest $100 million (around Rs 522 crore) in the country by 2015. Excerpts:

Has the elevation of India operations as a standalone division surprised you?

Yum! has been in India for well over a decade and we have got encouraging response for our brands. The division status is a reflection of the inherent belief that Yum! has huge potential in this exciting market.

Will it translate into faster expansion and more hires?

Our goal is to double our store base to at least 1,000 stores, employing 50,000 people, in three years. The new structure is a change in reporting relationship and reflects the importance of India as a future growth opportunity. Yum! is a decentralised company that empowers its market teams to design and execute appropriate strategies to make our brands most relevant to local consumers. That will continue to be the case.