India's date with Hollywood
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GF10Df01.html
By Siddharth Srivastava
NEW DELHI - Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Justin Timberlake,
possibly with Cameron Diaz, Demi Moore and Arnold Schwarzenegger are
headed for India. Even Britney Spears is rumored to be on the way. The
cream of the American entertainment business is scheduled to fly down
on the occasion of the launch of Planet Hollywood in India. The
restaurant, most famous for providing dine-in experience along with
some of Hollywood's biggest stars, has sought out India as a
destination for diners and food lovers and will be investing close to
US$15 million to set up five restaurants in the country by 2010.
Planet Hollywood's foray into India comes in the wake of America's $288
billion Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, making a pitch for
India's largely untapped retail market. Food, jewelry and textiles form
the bulk of sales in this segment, with a McKinsey report predicting
that opening up foreign direct investment in this sector will help
retail businesses to grow from the present $180 billion to $460 billion
to $470 billion by 2010. Foreign retail businesses now have to work
through an Indian franchisee, but the Indian government is seriously
considering opening up the sector. Foreign players have already been
allowed into real estate.
The international players currently in India include McDonald's, Pizza
Hut, Domino's, Levi's, Lee, Nike, Adidas, TGIF, Benetton, Swarovski,
Sony, Sharp, Kodak, and the Medicine Shoppe. Planet Hollywood
founder-chairman Robert Earl said there is huge potential in the Indian
market for his brand. "Our presence will bring the excitement of
Hollywood and combine it with the power of Bollywood in a very special
way," he said in a statement.
For its entry into the Indian market, Planet Hollywood has signed a
franchisee agreement with the US-based Arch Millennium Corp, promoted
by Indian-origin businessmen that run several other hotel and
restaurant chains. The plans are to open one restaurant each in Mumbai,
Delhi, Bangalore, Goa and Hyderabad. "We will be bringing in big stars
like Willis and Stallone to India as part of our promotional
activities, while also trying to get others like Paris Hilton and
Justin Timberlake," said Arch Millennium president and chief executive
officer Siddharth Mobar.
The world has already acquired a taste for Indian curry and tandoori
chicken. With Planet Hollywood, Indians will be able to test their
palates with the likes of "Chicken Crunch", a Demi Moore recipe, and
"Banana Strudel", from Schwarzenegger's mother's kitchen. Bollywood
stars will be roped in to provide the right spice and local flavor. The
cuisine will be classically Californian with a variety of pastas,
exotic salads, burgers, pizzas and a variety of vegetarian offerings,
smoked and grilled meats and fish. Plus the opportunity to wine and
dine with the stars themselves, with Willis and Stallone mixing the
cocktails and tossing the salad during the opening.
As per the standards followed by the chain, each Planet Hollywood
restaurant will display memorabilia from old classics as well as new
movies. The interior decor will reflect various film genres, including
action, horror and sci-fi, and the audio-visual system will play the
latest movie trailers, clips, music videos and celebrity visits. A
guest in a Planet Hollywood India restaurant will be able to watch the
proceedings at restaurant locations such as New York, Las Vegas,
Orlando, London and Paris.
The first restaurant is likely to begin serving next year in Mumbai,
with an initial investment of $2.5 million to $3 million. The potential
customer base is large. A new survey by a hospitality industry platform
on restaurants in the main cities of India shows that 260,000 people
eat out more than once a week in Kolkata, followed by 175,000 in
Bangalore. Then there are Mumbai, Chennai and New Delhi. Average
spending on an outdoor meal is $5, which is reasonable by Indian
standards.
Planet Hollywood could do well to learn from McDonald's, which
continues to expand in the country with an aim to reach 100 restaurants
by the end of 2006. Apart from cheap pricing, the food chain has
tailored its menu to the Indian market, creating dishes such as the
Paneer Salsa Wrap, McCurry Pan, McAloo Tikki and innovating with mutton
in a country where most do not eat beef.
According to a McKinsey report, the share of an Indian household's
spending on food is one of the highest in the world at over 50% of
income. Food sales have grown to $20 billion from $7 billion in 1996.
The organized retail food and grocery sector constitutes the largest
opportunity for growth and accounts for 2% of total sales at present.
According to a study on the food and grocery retail market by KSA
Technopak, the food and grocery sector now accounts for 14% of total
organized (chain) retail, after clothing and textiles (at 36%) and
watches and jewelry (at 17%). Experts say that food retailing will soon
overtake both the categories since food accounts for the bulk of a
typical household's income.
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Regards,
Carlos
