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Ahmedabad: Bikanervala,
the Rs150-crore Indian snacks and family restaurant chain has embarked on an expansion
plan, and is preparing to double the number of its outlets to 50 in India and
abroad by 2010. The
New Delhi-based, century-old Bikanervala at present has 25 sweet shops-cum-restaurants
mainly across North India, Kathmandu and Dubai. According
to Shyam Sunder Aggarwal, managing director, Bikanervala plans to open shops in
New Zealand, Canada, the UK, and Kuwait over the next two years. New outlets in
India will come up in Surat, Hyderabad and Meerut. The
traditional Indian fast-food company shifted base from Rajasthan to New Delhi
in 1950, and has over 500 varieties of traditional and ethnic snacks, vegetarian
Chinese fast food and continental food on its menu, with some of its offerings
boasting a shelf life of even a year. A favourite with north Indians, the chain
has an average of 40,000 to 45,000 per day across its outlets. Each
outlet of Bikanervala, according to the company, has a food technologist, a laboratory
and a chemist to test ingredients and other raw materials used. Finished products
too are tested before being marketed. The
company also has regular specialised training programmes on cooking hygienic food
for its cooks and ''halvais'' (sweets and snacks makers), which are union ministry
of labour approved, and have been adopted by the ITIs and food-craft centres. The
company is looking to adopt a franchisee model to beef up its expansion plans,
wherein its will assist small road-side fast-food kiosk owners to adopt the Bikanervala
banner and provide standardised, hygienic, centrally-supplied wares that ensure
quality and price.
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