Q] Burger King crossed 500+ restaurants nationwide. What has been the growth driver for this in India?
Cicily: Burger King has been in India since 2014, and our rapid expansion has made us the fastest-growing international QSR chain. In less than five years, we reached around 100 stores, and now, in just 11 years, we have surpassed 500 stores. A key factor driving this growth has been our focus not just on metros but also on expanding into tier-two and tier-three cities, which has given us a competitive edge and accelerated our expansion to 500+ stores today.
Kapil: We are also built on the back of a very strong value strategy. It’s critical for any brand to survive in India. Value dish has been part of our core strategy since day one and we continue to grow that.
Cicily: When we entered India, McDonald’s was already present, so we adapted the global Burger King experience to suit the Indian palate. Our menu is not only affordable but also tailored to local tastes, which has been a key growth driver. The strong acceptance of our flavours reinforced our strategy, making Indian preferences central to our menu offerings.
Q] How has marketing evolved, especially with Gen Z becoming a core audience?
Kapil: Consumers today live entirely through their phones, transforming brand engagement. With 25 years in marketing, I’ve learned more in the last five than in the first 20. Engagement has evolved—our IPL campaign used live couponing during match telecasts, unlike traditional static coupons. Digital comfort is key; our drive-thrus now feature voice ordering for seamless interactions. Taste preferences have also shifted, with consumers seeking unique experiences. For instance, when launching Nuggets in India, research showed a preference for extra crunch. Unlike global QSR norms, we tailored the product exclusively for the Indian market, showcasing our agility.
Q] Burger King has been in India for quite some time now. What are some of the trends that you have noticed over the years and what upcoming trends we will get to see?
Kapil: A key trend we’re seeing is the growing focus on digital experiences, both in-store and in our media strategy, making our approach far more digitally driven than when we first started.
Cicily: Our stores have evolved significantly. Ordering is now seamless with self-ordering kiosks and QR codes on tables, allowing guests to place orders via the app. While we’re a QSR, the dining experience has become a key focus. We’ve introduced table service, ensuring hot, fresh, and quick meals are served right at the table for added convenience.
Kapil: The self-ordering kiosk empowers consumers by allowing them to explore the menu, discover options, and make their own choices. Unlike the traditional counter-service model, this digital approach has been quickly adopted, as consumers are already familiar with using smartphones for ordering on e-commerce and aggregator platforms. The shift has been seamless and surprisingly rapid.
Q] Could you give an overview of the marketing budget of different channels?
Kapil: What I can share is that we are a very digital savvy and a digital first organisation. From our media choices, we have progressed significantly in terms of using digital platforms. We are a lot more on Meta and YouTube and other digital platforms today to reach out to our customers and reach out for potential guests. A significant amount of money is spent on building brand sales, making sure our consumers are aware of our new launches or new products. There is a good chunk spent on local store marketing. It’s very important to make the trade area aware of your product, your store, your location, your services. Those are the two key spends that we went for over the marketing budget.
Q] Which geographic regions in India, geographically, are your growth drivers?
Cicily: When we launched the brand, we started with metros, which is actually populous and what we do is we do a cluster approach. When we go into another region, we see what the tier two are, tier three cities that you could open a store, potentially, depending on whether that cash mint has the appetite for a burger. Now to be surprised when you go to tier two, tier three cities, they’re very well-travelled. They all study in metro cities and they go back, and they don’t have the supply of the product that they want. Today, a lot of the growth is coming from all the QSRs from your Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. To your question, if you’re looking, always you would have about 70% still in the metro and the 30% will come from your Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, largely because we have enough opportunity; where we are, we’re just 500. There’s much more room out there for us to open. We’re looking at the growth wherever there is our target segment and that’s a wide area too.
Q] Recently we have seen a lot of local Indian companies or brands which have come up with burgers. How is Burger King different from that competition and also from McDonald’s and other fast-food chains?
Kapil: Burger King stands out as a global brand with iconic favourites like the Whopper and a commitment to high-quality operating standards, ensuring a consistent experience across markets. Taste is a key differentiator—we conducted India’s largest taste test with over 4,500 consumers before finalising our menu. Our agility is evident in BK Café’s rapid expansion, from concept research in April 2021 to over 400 outlets by 2024.
Cicily: BK Café has been a major addition for us, reflecting the evolving QSR consumption habits. Unlike 20 years ago, consumers now visit for morning coffee, with our stores opening at 7 AM. Our cafes serve as co-working spaces, expanding our presence beyond traditional meal times. This has introduced breakfast as a key occasion while creating more touchpoints for guests. Our strong supply chain, scalability, and structured processes enable us to expand rapidly while maintaining high standards.
Q] What is the future focus of the company?
Cicily: From a total overview, I cannot go much in deep detail because they’re a listed company. But what I would like to say that we will focus on many new experiences, which is depending on innovations, which are Indian taste led, because you can see that’s where it’s going. We would definitely focus on the digital because that’s a new trend and we see that it’s helping with the guest experience in the dining space. And from a growth perspective, we would continue to grow aggressively in the metros as well as the tier two, tier three cities because it would give us a possible advantage. That’s from my perspective.
Kapil: From a brand lens, innovations will be a big part of the strategy in the future. We can innovate and offer consumers relevant products. Value will be a big part of our growth strategy in the future. It’s for any brand, any category that intends to be of scale. Our mission is to be a thousand store company in this country very soon. So, for any brand that aspires to be of that scale, value will always play a big role. And by value, I don’t intend just low-price points. By value, I intend this value for money. You can always get more for your money involved. That’s what our goal is.
