Kenny Rogers Roasters, Jollibean to enter India market

The Kenny Rogers Roasters and Jollibean food retail brands are to launch in India.

Malaysia’s Berjaya Food has signed a preliminary franchise partnership deal with India’s World Iconic Brands Hospitality (WIB) to take the banners into the new market.

WIB will invest US$50 million to open 30 Kenny Rogers Roasters restaurants and 75 Jollibean kiosks in India over the next five years.

Berjaya Food owns the two chains as well as operating Starbucks in Malaysia and Brunei.

CEO Sydney Quays describes India as “a stepping stone” for the company to expand into more foreign markets.

“We have a lot of interest from Southeast Asian countries,” he told the Sun Daily.

With 970 shopping malls and more than 200 airports, India represents a strong potential market for both the brands, said WIB MD Gaurav Marya.

“We’ll spend the next six to eight months to get the model right, understand the preference of consumers and we will scale up the business,” he said.

The first new outlet will open early next year.

WIB is a subsidiary of Franchise India, Asia’s largest integrated franchise solutions company, which manages 400 brands.

Kenny Rogers Roaster restaurants already operate in Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Bangladesh, India and Dubai, while India is only the second offshore market for Jollibean, after Singapore.