Reliance brings UK’s Pret a Manger to India to take on Starbucks

NEW DELHI: Reliance Manufacturers (RBL) is about to tackle Tata Starbucks by bringing to India British sandwich and low chain Pret a Manger.
RBL, a subsidiary of Reliance Retail, plans to launch and construct the Pret a Manger restaurant chain in India with a long-term grasp franchise settlement. The contours of the deal weren’t disclosed.
With the consolidation of Cafe Espresso Day (CCD), as soon as the biggest cafe chain in India, Tata Starbucks, an equal three way partnership between Mumbai-based conglomerate Tata Group and Seattle-headquartered Starbucks, has emerged because the strongest contender within the house with 272 shops throughout 28 cities.
Whereas Pret a Manger is perceived as predominantly a food-led model globally, Darshan Mehta, MD at Reliance Manufacturers instructed TOI that the chain boasts an exhaustive beverage play together with espresso.
“In contrast to different cafe chains, the place the meals gadgets should be microwaved, this model may have a sizzling part the place contemporary meals will probably be served contemporary,” mentioned Mehta. “One can use the eating places for meet-ups, work and even selecting up espresso on the go.”
A serious space of focus for the Reliance-led model will probably be airports, the place Tata Starbucks presently dominates. “The variety of home passengers is simply set to develop quickly,” mentioned Mehta.
RBL will open the meals chain throughout the nation beginning with main cities and journey hubs. Pret A Manger, which first opened in London in 1986, is owned by Germany’s billionaire Reimann household, which acquired the chain from personal fairness agency Bridgepoint and different minority traders in 2018 to problem the dominance of Nestle within the espresso enterprise.
The model launched into a worldwide enlargement spree final 12 months aiming to double the dimensions of its enterprise in 5 years. Pano Christou, CEO at Pret A Manger mentioned throughout an interplay with TOI that in markets the model enters, 20% of the menu is saved native whereas the remaining follows international tendencies.
Pret A Manger presently has 550 retailers globally throughout 9 markets together with the UK, US, Europe, and Asia, providing natural espresso, sandwiches, salads and wraps.