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Ritika Sharma / Emirates Business
Casual-dining Indian restaurants are reaping good dividends in the Emirates, thanks to a huge number of Indian expats and die-hard fans of authentic Indian cuisine across the country. Despite revenue slumps in various sectors due to oil fluctuations, the industry is flourishing rapidly in the country and is expected to grow.
Around 19,000 extra restaurant outlets are expected in the UAE by 2019, according to Euromonitor International report. The positive outlook is encouraging restaurant companies in UAE to set high revenue targets for this year.
Dubai-based Kings Hospitality Group’s Kulcha King, one such chain that started from scratch and flourished business-wise in mere few years is eyeing a double digit growth in 2016 and project a year-end turnover of AED 30 million. One of its kinds, Kucha King also gets whopping revenues as it is the only one that is serving North Indian Specialty, the ‘Amritsari Kulcha’ in the Middle East.
Vicky Sethi, Managing Director of King Group Hospitality says that the expected growth is fuelled by the recent achievement of serving 2 millionth Kulcha and that he aims to open 14 new branches of the Kulcha King brand spread across UAE by end-2016, early-2017.
He says, “I think it will be tough to not develop an affinity for Indian cuisine, as it is among the top 5 cuisines of the world. Our mission has been to have a global presence right from the beginning, and we are steadily working towards that.â€
The company also envisions 52 express models of Kulcha King over the next 3 years and looks to take the brand to entire GCC, the UK and India by 2018.
“Since 2010, when I opened the very first Kulcha King outlet in Dubai, the business has grown from strength to strength owing to aggressive marketing, a loyal customer base and a refreshingly authentic menu,†Sethi who was helping his father in his business prior to Kucha King which he calls his dream project recalls.
Today, Kulcha King has 9 outlets in Dubai and 1 in Sharjah, with a combined staff of 300, with a healthy double-digit growth and is a market leader with in the F&B sector as the only Amritsari restaurant in the UAE.