When the McDonald’s Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) arrived
in India around 20 years ago, the earliest strategy by the company to please
its clientale was to create a menu that would be familiar to the local
customers. Viola! the McAloo Tikki burger was born!
This desi addition
to an otherwise international menu, thrilled the customers and helped the
restaurant to quickly increase footfalls inside its restaurants.
McDonald’s (West & South) recently took efforts to
replicate its success story in the southern city of Hyderabad by launching a
range of new products with
local flavours – it was a kebab
inside a burger!
So, what’s the connection between Hyderabad and kebabs? Hyderabad is as famous for its kebabs as it is for its biryanis. The kebab, which originated in Iran and the Middle East, was inspired
by culinary methods from faraway places like the Mediterranean. Today, a huge variety
of kebabs are cooked using a variety
of exotic spices. Then, when the kebabs
came to India, the city of Hyderabad added its own Mughlai tradition by cooking
it with hot South Indian spices. The kebabs
of Hyderabad bore the smokey flavour of skewered meat and vegetables, topped
by the unmistakeable flavour of Indian spices.
Now, McDonald’s India (South & West) has launched not
one but three new kebab dishes. The
new meals launched in Hyderabad are: the Chicken Kebab Burger, the Kebab Wrap,
and the Chicken Kebab Double Patty Burger. Just the names can make you feel the
whiff from the kitchens.
The three new flavours were first launched at the McDonald’s
restaurant at the busy City Centre Mall in Hyderabad. Today, the menu has been
extended from one store to 22 stores across Hyderabad.
In the words of Kedar Teny, Director, Marketing and Digital,
McDonald’s India (West and South),
“We aim to delight our customers in
Hyderabad by offering them their favourite kebabs
in a unique recipe. We continue serving innovative dishes in South India, which
has been a major market to adopt and cater to the changing consumer trends. We
are testing here, and if it gets a good response, we will expand it pan-India.”
The new menu is a blend of the familiar with the new, which
makes for an exciting combination. It’s certain that Hyderabad’s locals will
welcome the new flavours, as they are a city of food lovers who love new tastes
even they appreciate traditional flavours.
This sentiment was echoed by Amit Jatia, Vice Chairman,
Westlife Development Limited and owner of the McDonald’s (West and South India),
when the franchise reached the 20-year milestone, recently. He said the 20-year
journey had been about “thinking global, but being local”, which meant keeping the
international chain relevant to a global visitor, yet having a lot of appeal to
a local customer.
“Our menu has evolved unbelievably in the last 20 years. We
have built a solid foundation with our menu and succeeded in building
sub-brands like McSpicy and McAloo Tikki. When other burger companies come in,
these brands really help to differentiate our offering,” he said.
Moreover, established brands help in new products succeeding.
For instance, McAloo Tikki - which is the biggest brand for McDonald’s India -
has aided the success of new flavours like Mexican and Lebanese in the AlooTikki burgers. “The people’s faith in the brand make them try out new menus,
which have a positive impact on same-store sales,” adds Jatia.
So, what makes a McDonald’s kebab different? It is a traditionally cooked, spicy, square-shaped
patty, made of minced chicken and seasoned with Indian spices, breadcrumbs and
chickpeas, and accompanied by sliced red onion. The Chicken Kebab Burger is accompanied
by a spicy Hariyali sauce, which has the taste of green chillies, mint and
coriander leaves, which lend a typical local flavour to the tasty dish.
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