Gourmet Investments, the Bharti family-owned, master franchise for PizzaExpress in India, has said it plans to revamp the brand in the country through its existing nine-strong estate and upcoming openings.
According to the Economic Times, the group will launch eight more restaurants in Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Delhi and Bengaluru over the next six to nine months.
Gourmet Investments is looking at investing Rs 4.5-6 crore per outlet, and formats will range from 1,800sq ft to 6,000sq ft for the flagship outlets.
Ramit Mittal, chief executive of Gourmet Investments, said: “We re-evaluated our journey till date and realised there is a massive opportunity if we were to make an international brand for India. That’s a transition phase that we are in. The first example of this would be the Bandra project in Mumbai. We believe it will be the best representation of how we believe brand journeys should be written in the F&B business for India.”
“We are looking at transitioning all our existing outlets as well. The new, revamped brand will have a much larger play in terms of menu, personality and vibe than what Pizza Express has today,” said Deepinder Batth, chief operating officer
The company said that the new PizzaExpress outlets in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Pune will have a design, vibe and experience that “reflects their local catchment in terms of popular imagery, art and culture”.
In Mumbai, the outlets will be rolled out in Bandra, Kurla, Palladium, Khar and Kamla Mills.
