Jumboking — the company that helped take the quintessential Mumbai street snack ‘vada pav’ on a pan-India trip — aims to open 1,000 stores across the country, by 2020.
Jumboking, which has 83 operational stores at the moment across Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Indore, Gurgaon, and Amaravathi, will clock 100 stores by the year-end, according to its founder and managing director, Dheeraj Gupta.
“Our stores will be in high-pedestrian density zones, in the format of 200-300 sq ft. Each of our stores requires an investment of at least Rs 20 lakh. Our strategy looks at a presence in the top 20 cities,” Gupta told Deccan Herald.
Jumboking’s store establishment is franchisee-driven, for which it relies on a master franchisee (in each city), who owns 10 per cent of the stores, and oversees expansion. “Our idea is to enter the said 20 cities, wherein the master franchisees have been mandated to open at least one store a month,” he said.
The company, which initially began its journey through a mix of big cities and small towns, has now dedicated its push in the former, owing to the good support infrastructure and cold chain that they provide.
“Currently, our national average is that each of our stores has a turnover of Rs 35 lakh, which is expected to reach Rs 40 lakh with 100 operational stores. We aim to take the same to Rs 75 lakh, through to our 2020 plan. We have enjoyed a CAGR of 26 per cent over the last three years,” he claimed.
Street to store
In 2001, taking a cue from the way American fast food giants had super-specialised in any one particular foody sensation as part of their strategy, Gupta looked at tapping the Indian food space, and developing a brand around any one speciality. “While the US brands specialise, in India, it is all about the notion that if there is no heavy menu, the business will not do well. Hence, Jumboking began an experiment of sorts, and roped in the ‘vada pav’,” he said.
The vada pav — a deep fried potato patty sandwiched in a pav (type of bread), garnished with sauces and spices — is the very heart of Mumbai’s street food culture. Over two million units of the treat are eaten by Mumbaikars every day, from a minute food segment that is 98 per cent unorganised.
“We had to focus on a snack that was the epitome of Mumbai’s food spirit. Though, a lot of old-timers took a while to try us, we were especially popular among the young, moving crowd,” Gupta said.
While vada pav is popular in Mumbai, it is yet to be savoured in most other markets. Today, Jumboking — backed by a strong contract manufacturing and farming-led supply chain — is passionate about competition. “It’s all about getting more people across the country to try vada pav. Competition will aid awareness, and also more and more Indian ideas can turn into brands,” Gupta concluded.