Falafel's to open first franchised outlet in Bengaluru

Tell us about your new outlet?

Falafel’s has always been about bringing a world of exotic Lebanese cuisine to Indian consumers. We take immense pride not just in sourcing the freshest ingredients, but also in the efforts we take to innovate and bring a world of choices to our consumers.

Is there any new menu addition with this outlet?

We have introduced a spanking new veg and non veg menu of Lebanese cuisine with this outlet. Over the period of time we have kept improvising the menu much variety. And, today people are moving towards healthier lifestyle and devoid of having all kinds of breads from bakeries we have come up with proper whole wheat breads, honey oat breads and multi grain wraps. The only thing fried in the menu is falafal bullet and rest everything is baked, roasted and made out of olive oil. We have also introduced something called Turkish tostada.

What about sourcing?

We are sourcing ingredients for Lebanese cuisine which is not very easy because these ingredients are not easily available. Now lots of imported ingredients are produced in India. We still import some of the things to keep it very authentic. We prepare lot of our own sauces. We don’t use those synthetic sauces. We prepare our own mayos, spicy sauce and dips. Around 30 percent of our ingredients are imported and 70 percent are sourced from domestic market.

Will you be introducing this new menu to all other outlets?

Yes, we will be introducing the menu to all our other outlets. This new menu has contributed 10-15 growth in revenue from this outlet.

What are your future expansion plans?

We are planning to open around 10 to 15 in Mumbai and Bengaluru by the end of 2016. In the first two years we are focusing on Mumbai and Bengaluru for expansion and then we will look at Hyderabad, Pune and other tier I and II cities. Some of these outlets will be company owned and some will be franchise owned.

In January 2016 we will be launching our first outlet in Bengaluru through franchising. Soon we are planning to launch our mobile app too. May be Falafal’s in future will have café or light kitchen or bakery could also be there. There will be kiosk model also.

How do you see Lebanese food market in India?

It’s been growing with awareness of falafel across the country which is resulting into Lebanese restaurants opening at every corner of the city like Mumbai. And which is why our brand at locations like Phoenix mall across Mumbai is doing well.

How do you see the competition in the market?

We don’t see any competition in the market. There are a lot of brands but lot of them are Indianised now and very few are proper Labenese. I respect everyone, there is space for everyone. 

How you simultaneously balancing with the catering business?

Catering is always a challenge because one need manpower. We take the orders of house party, wedding party, birthday party and theme Lebanese party. We do the homework and do the right tie-ups for labor. We cater to the parties of around 10 to 200-400 people also. We have good experienced team working with us for more than four years.