Food and beverage companies eye global tieups as business revives

A dramatic comeback of the food and beverage (F&B) industry and booming consumption post declining Covid-19 cases are boosting tieups and partnership talks between global brands and domestic companies.

India’s restaurateurs are also eyeing ambitious global opportunities as other countries ease curbs.

Food is the new fashion, Darshan Mehta, managing director of

Brands, said as India‘s largest luxury to premium retailer announced its foray into the F&B space in June end through a tieup with the global food chain Pret A Manger. Reliance Brands said it plans to launch the first outlet in Mumbai this fiscal year.

Sanjeev Agrawal, chairman of MMG Group and development licensee for McDonald’s India North and East, said India is a big opportunity at present. “We acquired the rights of McDonald’s India North and East two years ago and we have seen an exponential growth in the business,” he said. “We are seeing a 40-50% growth in visitor counts and are also looking at exploring partnerships with other global brands in the fine-dining space for India. We are in talks with Mayfair Consultants for this.”

Deepak Jain, founder of MayFair Consultants, which specialises in hotel, restaurant and real estate consulting, said his company has the exclusive mandate to find franchisees for some “very strong” brands from London and Dubai. “These include well known cafes and casual dining brands that can be expanded into tier 1 and tier two cities,” he said.

Akshay Anand, owner of Ophelia at The Ashok, who also launched Toy Room at Aloft Hotel in Delhi’s Aerocity, said he is speaking to some “big” brands in London and is trying to get them to India. “We are in very advanced stages of discussions and are looking at high energy restaurants and bars,” he said. “We are also in touch with some Michelin star restaurants in London and around the world.”

Within India, Anand said, Ophelia is looking to scale Toy Room across the country and has already signed agreements for Chandigarh and Bengaluru. “We are about to close Hyderabad and are also considering Chennai and Jaipur. We are also planning to take Cosy Box to Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru and are also considering Goa,” he added. Salil Malik, director at Da Milano brand that specialises in handbags and other accessories, said he sees a “huge potential” in F&B in India with the demand graph going up.