Professional Documents
Culture Documents
DISSERTATION REPORT
ON
“CONSUMER’S PERCEPTION OF
FAST FOOD OUTLETS”
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CERTIFICATE
Certified that M. RAZA ZAIDI has carried out the dissertation work presented
The dissertation embodies result of original work and studies carried out by student
himself and the contents of the thesis do not form the basis for the award of any
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to thank Prof. PRIYA for imparting knowledge and guidance to me in
I would like to thanks Prof. PRIYA for his able guidance and support through out
my project completion.
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LIST OF CONTENTS
1) OBJECTIVE
2) RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3) INTRODUCTION
4) COMPARITIVE ANALYSIS
5) RESULTS
6) LIMITATIONS
7) CONCLUSION
8) RECOMMENDATIONS
9) APPENDIX
10) BIBLIOGRAPHY
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OBJECTIVE
NCR region.
• To identify the unique factors which attract people to each of these stated
restaurants.
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METHODOLOGY
a) Primary sources
b) Secondary sources
PRIMARY SOURCES
information.
SECONDARY SOURCES
a) Internet
b) Library
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ABSTRACT
Here, the major players that are functioning in the Indian market are NIRULA’S,
McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Subway and Dominos are international chains & Nirula’s
All these players are dealing in fast foods like burgers, pizzas etc. also all these
players have different price ranges, product portfolio and services provided. So
they at the same time possess different customer base. Individuals perceive in
different ways about these service providers. So the idea here is to know the
perception of customers.
The finding of the project begins with giving an overview of the Indian fast food
market. This is followed by the demands of the Indian customers and how well
Market research has been conducted in order to know the customer preferences and
Conclusion and recommendations have been drawn keeping in mind the detailed
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THE INDIAN FAST FOOD MARKET –
AN OVERVIEW
Upto the year 1995 Indian food market was predominantly dominated by the
restaurants in a five star hotel. Having fast food i.e., burgers, pizzas etc., was
considered to be an option for eating out. It was not at all synonymous with the
American concept of fast food as a quick takeaway bite or a substitute for lunch.
Apart from fast food being available at the local colony restaurants and at some
five star restaurants, Nirulas was the only fast food chain existing in the country
with its restaurants expanding with every passing year since its inception. It has
been almost 50 years now since its set up and there is hardly any one who doesn’t
know that Nirulas exists. Nirulas was the first one to bring fast food to India back
in the 50’s since then it has evolved into an eating place with tremendous brand
equity and brand recognition. It proved to be a perfect eating place for an average
middle class who wants to eat out at an affordable price that can’t afford the five-
Nirulas almost had a monopoly for decades due to the way it has been placed. It is
a place where a person from an average middle class group to upper class group
can go to eat out. Its popularity has increased over the decades. With the trends
changing and the incomes rising almost anybody who can afford to eat out could
However the year 1995-96 witnessed a drastic change. 1996 is considered to be the
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year of India’s entry into the world food market. International giants such as
McDonalds, KFC, TGIF, SUBWAY, DOMINOS and Pizza Hut all bombarded the
Before these, UK-based joint called Wimpy’s had established its chain in the
country in 1990. By year 1996 it had about three to four joints established in Delhi.
However it did not pose much of a threat to Nirulas reason being lack of variety
and that Wimpys was looked at more of a hang-out place rather than eating out
It’s been the American international giants i.e., McDonalds, Pizza Hut etc., who
have targeted their restaurants to the families. Apart from the foreign and Indian
fast food chains setting up shop, there are a range of specialty restaurants offering
varied fare such as Chinese, Mexican, French, and Italian etc. These places
however offer range of items different from burgers, pizzas etc, but they definitely
It is only these international joints and specialty restaurants which are gradually
coming up and some Indian restaurants which have made up the food market. Prior
to this it was only the local restaurant which became visible while passing by or
through local banners etc., and the five star restaurants were for the elite class out
of reach by the average middle class customer. There was hardly any awareness or
Each of the foreign food joints that have come into the country have their own
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strategy lined up to differ from the rest. Each of these studied the Indian tastes and
style and thereby targeted the Indian customer. An average Indian restaurant goers
food that tastes good (Spicy, soft, savory etc.), not for how pleasantly the stuff is
served or how spotless the widows are. He wants food for that can make him come
back to the restaurant. An Indian food joint owner would definitely understand this
but an American company which comes and places itself directly without knowing
quality of food, variety, ambience, speed of delivery and the location. The variety
would influence the frequency of visits since taste is a dominating factor to the
Indian customers.
Almost all the fast food chains both Indian i.e., Nirulas and foreign i.e.,
McDonalds etc., are targeting the families. This serves to be an advantage because
the turnaround time is short and family has higher propensity to spend because
Each of these restaurants delivers quality, value and services in its own way
through its line of strategies. The emphasis is on the value that the restaurant is
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McDONALD’S
A). AN OVERVIEW
In 1955, Ray Kroc, a 52-year old salesman of milkshake mixing machines, became
McDonald. These two founded the quick service restaurant industry when they
converted their barbecue drive in with car hops into the world’s first McDonald’s
limited menu, self service drive-in in 1958, in California. Kroc liked their fast-food
He opened his first McDonalds in Illinois in April 1955 and founded the company
milkshakes, and desserts. More recently, it has begun to offer salads, wraps and
fruit. Many McDonald's restaurants have included a playground for children and
advertising geared toward children, and some have been redesigned in a more
'natural' style, with a particular emphasis on comfort: introducing lounge areas and
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In addition to its signature restaurant chain, McDonald’s Corporation held a
minority interest in Pret A Manger (a UK-based sandwich retailer) until 2008, and
owned the Chipotle Mexican Grill until 2006 and the restaurant chain Boston
Market until 2007. The company has also expanded the McDonald's menu in
recent decades to include alternative meal options, such as salads and snack wraps,
corporation itself. The corporations' revenues come from the rent, royalties and
McDonald's revenues grew 27% over the three years ending in 2007 to $22.8
Business Model
joint ventures.
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The McDonald's Corporation's business model is slightly different from that of
most other fast-food chains. In addition to ordinary franchise fees and marketing
fees, which are calculated as a percentage of sales, McDonald's may also collect
rent, which may also be calculated on the basis of sales. As a condition of many
franchise agreements, which vary by contract age, country and location, the
Corporation may own or lease the properties on which McDonald's franchises are
located. In most, if not all cases, the franchisee does not own the location of its
restaurants.
The UK business model is different, in that fewer than 30% of restaurants are
franchised, with the majority under the ownership of the company. McDonald's
trains its franchisees and others at Hamburger University in Oak Brook, Illinois.
As a matter of policy, McDonald's does not make direct sales of food or materials
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According to Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser (2001), nearly one in eight
workers in the U.S. have at some time been employed by McDonald's. (According
to a news piece on Fox News this figure is one in ten). The book also states that
the single largest purchaser of beef, pork, potatoes, and apples. The selection of
meats McDonald's uses varies with the culture of the host country.
Industry Restaurants
Fast Food
McDONALD’s India
Amit Jatias Company, Hard castle restaurants Pvt. Ltd., owns and manages
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managed by Vikram Bakshi’s Connaught Plaza restaurants Pvt. Ltd. Both these
. McDonald’s restaurants with about 150-200 seating capacity serves about 40000
Around the world, McDonald’s traditionally operates with local partners or local
McDonald’s constructs its restaurants using local architects, contractors, labor and
- where possible - local materials. McDonald’s hires local personnel for all
communities in the form of municipal taxes and reinvestment. Its 98% of the
McDonald’s sources food products from local companies. mutton patties are
Pune, Ooty, Maharashtra and Dehradun; cheese from Dynamix Dairies, Baramati,
Maharashtra; sesame seed buns and sauces from Cremica Industries Phillaur,
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Punjab, and pickles from VST Natural Foods, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.
McDonald’s worldwide is well known for the high degree of respect to the local
culture. McDonald’s has developed a menu especially for India with vegetarian
selections to suit Indian tastes and culture. Keeping in line with this McDonald’s
does not offer any beef or pork items in India. McDonald’s has also re-engineered
products are prepared separately, using dedicated equipment and utensils. This
Value
The McDonald’s philosophy of QSC & V is the guiding force behind its service to
the customers.
McDonald’s India serves only the highest quality products. All McDonald’s
McDonald’s products are prepared using the most current, state-of-the-art cooking
At McDonald’s the customer always comes first. McDonald’s India provides fast,
friendly service - the hallmark of McDonald’s which sets its restaurants apart from
others.
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McDonald’s restaurants provide a clean, comfortable environment especially
consumers can afford. McDonald’s does not sacrifice quality for price - rather
value to customers.
PRODUCTS
sandwiches and products, French fries, soft drinks, breakfast items, and
wraps and other localized fare. Portugal is the only country with
McDonald's restaurants serving soup. This local deviation from the standard
menu is a characteristic for which the chain is particularly known, and one
foods with which the regional market is more familiar (such as the sale of
• Beef
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• Chicken
• Fish
• Deli
• Salads
• Sides
• Breakfast
• Little Tasters
• Happy Meal
• Saver Menu
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• Desserts & Treats
---
13 2 3 size (French 7
fries & Veg.
nuggets)
McDonald’s food
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There goal is simple, to achieve continuous environmental improvement across all
Litter
They provide litter bins outside all their restaurants and are one of the biggest
Waste
Used cooking oil represents 10% of a restaurant's total waste, and is recycled into
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Packaging
By replacing McDonald’s plastic salad containers with a paper card base they have
Energy
All McDonald’s restaurants use low energy lamps and have light level sensors
installed to control external lighting. All new lighting systems also have high
frequency fittings.
McDonald's China operations have not been affected by the fallout from the global
financial crisis which has hit consumer spending as it has taken steps to retain
"McDonald's customers, when they go out shopping, they may not buy furniture or
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clothes, but they get hungry in the process," Durkin said on the sidelines of an
industry forum.
breakfast, all are driving and overcoming their sales relative to this decline".
In what the company calls "the best-ever value meal combination" in China,
McDonald's launched an aggressive promotion two weeks ago with half of its
Last week, the fast food giant posted a better-than-expected 7.1 per cent rise in
in nearly all its markets. Fast-food restaurants benefited as the global downturn
"We are not recession proof, but we are certainly recession resistant," said Durkin.
In 2008, McDonald's opened 146 restaurants in China, one of its fastest growing
markets, increasing the number of outlets to 2,012 by the year's end, out of more
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than 30,000 worldwide.
Durkin said it planned to open about 500 new restaurants in the country in three
McDonald's will open 175 new stores in 2009 and add 10,000 staff to its payroll,
plans to open 40 new restaurants by 2009-end, said Amit Jatia, JV partner & MD
"We are also increasing our headcount to 7,000 from 5,000 at a time when most
Restaurants for west and south India. For east and north India, the food retailer has
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McDonald's refrained from hiking prices despite rising pressure on input costs last
year. "Currently, we do not see any reason for raising prices of our food items as
the commodity prices, especially edible oil prices, have eased and our back-end
The largest fast-food retail network will invest around Rs 120 crore, excluding real
The food retailer offers services to 180 million customers every year from its 155
outlets and expects to manage the customer growth rate of 30-40% on y-o-y basis.
Further, it has tied up with BPCL and HPCL to open restaurants at their upcoming
20 by the year end. We have tied up with BPCL and HPCL last year and are
identifying locations," Mr Jatia said. BPCL had planned to open about 320 petrol
pumps with either one-stop truckers shop (OSTS) or one-stop truckers and tourists
The Indian operations of the US-based food retailer has completed over 12 years.
McDonald’s has become household name, especially for its burgers and french
fries. It made a joint investment of around Rs 1,000 crore in the past five years,
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which also includes investment in strengthening back-end supply-chain to ensure
For its back-end supply-chain, the company has tied up with French company
McCain for french fries, besides Vista Processed Foods and Dynamix Dairy for
Pricing Strategies
Worldwide McDonald’s is known for its ‘Purchasing power’ pricing. The ability
to pay-of a large section of customers has been the sole criteria. This was assessed
through market research. It wanted to price its products in such a way that it can
even be accessible to a child. For this it examined Indian spending on snacks and
Price variations from 1996 to 1998 for a couple of items are as follows:
One look at the restaurant and it doesn’t seem that the prices of its products would
be this low. Reason being that McDonald’s gets the materials (55 percent of an
outlet running expenses) at very cheap rates. Therefore this is one of the reasons
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It buys its supplier from 35 suppliers who sell at incredibly low prices. Products at
McDonald’s are neither elitist in its pricing nor at the dhaba level, they are average
in its pricing.
Promotional Strategies
McDonald’s had started its promotional activity with local area banners and
posters and now it has moved on to movie hall commercial. Its commercial is a 60-
It has even started advertising through local channels such as citi cable.
Mudra is the ad agency which puts up publicity banners in Delhi and Mumbai and
takes up the local T.V. commercials. Newspapers such as Delhi times are also
months.
In addition to this McDonald’s also has a public relation agency handling its
McDonalds keeps on coming up with sales promotion schemes every now and
then.
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During World Cup Soccer it came up with this soccer game for Rs.11/- with every
meal combo ordered. Since kids are the prime targets by the restaurant, it has come
up with happy meals especially for the kids along which a game is free.
Also, for the kids McDonald’s is the most happening place for birthday parties kids
love the place due to all the attention and knick knacks they are showered with.
The restaurant even has play pens displayed especially for the kids.
Another way through which McDonald’s is promoting its image is via community
services. There are Mc Sermons on maintaining parks, conducting litter patrols and
developing parks for the kids as a play ground for them. Eg. At McDonald’s G.K.
restaurant there is a play ground developed for the kids in front of the restaurant.
The management has put boards at these parks to put across certain messages for
“If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours”; “Children are the
In addition to all these promotional measures, McDonalds has boards put all over
the roads to show directions to their restaurant. These boards are put almost two to
three kms before the location of the restaurant. This makes it easier for the
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Distribution Strategies
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CUSTOMER DEMAND
The factors influencing customer demand for McDonald’s menu items are as
follows:
• McDonald’s world wide is known for its quality burgers. This world wide name
for burgers has influenced the demand for it in the Indian market. This can be
known from the fact that within two years it has served about 10 million
• The factor that influences customer demand for the organizations product to a
great extent is the offering of highest quality product, providing services which
families.
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AN OVERVIEW OF NIRULA’S
The starting of the ‘Chinese room’ Restaurant and introduction of espresso coffee
for the first time in India by Nirula’s was done in the 1950’s. The 60’s witnessed
Hungarian food & Gufa an Indian speciality restaurant.the 70’s saw the company
venture into the fast food business with the Pastry shop, Snack Bar, Hot Shoppe
and Ice Cream Parlour. The potpourri restaurant with the first Salad Bar in india
The eventful decades of 1980’s &1990’s saw the opening of the Central Kitchen
and Family Style Restaurants at Vasant Vihar, Chanakya, Defence Colony, Noida
Today, the Noida production facilities include the Bakery, Confectionery, Cheese
Plant, Ice Cream Plant, Food Processing Unit and Hot Kitchen.
Nirula’s widened its presence in North India with the opening of restaurants in
In June 2006, Navis Capital Partners and Managing Director, Samir Kuckreja
After the acquisition, a new senior management team was created by drawing the
best talent in the industry. The new team at Nirula’s undertook a massive brand
revamp exercise. While retaining the brand name and logo of “Nirula’s”, new sub-
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brand logos were created for Nirula’s ice-creams, Pastry Shop, delivery business
and others.
The Synovate Hotspots Report 2007 on India mentions Nirula’s as the only Indian
The company plans to venture into a large number of quick service restaurants in
every major city in India by the end of this year. With an aggressive expansion
strategy, the organization plans to have a national presence by opening 150 new
restaurants in the next 3 years. These will include Restaurants, Ice cream kiosks
and Express Outlets at shopping malls, petrol pumps and other high football
locations.
PRODUCTS
1) Milk Shakes
4) Cold Coffee
2) Triple Sundaes
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3) Ice Cream Tub 500 ml
1) Burgers
2) Large Pizzas
3) Regular Pizzas
1) Cakes
2) Pastries
3) Sweets
4) Desserts
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BURGERS PIZZAS ICE CREAMS ADDITIONAL
15 20 30 8
CUSTOMER DEMAND
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The factors influencing customers demand for Nirula’s menu items are as follows:
. Adapting the western style fast food to Indianized tastes and standards.
. Long term brand image built by the restaurant over the last 50 years.
. Nirula’s as a restaurant has its own image and distribution vis-à-vis others in the
market. At Nirula’s the customer can choose from Indian tandoori items to western
. Nirula’s restaurant has been placed at the most looked open places. One can find
Nirula’s joint at the most popular markets, cinema complexes and bowling alleys.
. The restaurant has been placed as a family style restaurant in the market.
Considering this the inside of restaurant is such that there are enough places for
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Pizza Hut Inc. is a restaurant chain and international franchise based in Addison,
breadsticks, and garlic bread. Pizza Hut is the world’s largest pizza restaurant
countries.
The chain was founded as a pizzeria in 1958 by the Carney Brothers – Dan and
Frank. Borrowing $600 from their mother, the brothers purchased some second-
hand equipment. They then Wichita state university students took a family pizza
recipe, rented a small building, and opened the first restaurant at a busy
intersection in Wichita, Kansas. Additional restaurants were opened with the first
franchise unit opening in 1959 in Topeka, Kansas. At the same time Pizza hut was
growing in and around Kansas, Shakey’s Pizza was developing a stronghold along
the West coast. The competition provided Pizza Hut the impetus tp evaluate its
mission and direction. Dan and Frank Carney saw Shakey’;s expanding into their
territory and realized that they needed to determine if Pizza Hut should be in the
decided to stick with the neighborhood business and realized that they needed to
have a good standard image. The Carney Brothers began to systematize operations
and buildings designs to counter the competition from Shakey’s. The franchise
network continued to grow through friends and business associates, and by 1964 a
unique standardized building appearance and layout was established for franchised
and company –owned stores, creating a universal look that customers easily
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recognized. By 1970, with 310 stores nationwide, Pizza Hut went public on the
New York Exchange under the stock ticker symbol PIZ. In 1997, the three
restaurant chains were spun off into Tricon, and in 2002 joined with Long John
Pizza Hut came to India in 1996 with a dine-in restaurant in Bangalore that had
favorite foods such as Chicken tikkas, Lamb korma and other dishes, in its list of
innovative toppings. However, one would be hard pressed to find beef toppings
since the cow is considered a sacred animal. No beef on the menu is to comply
with the Hindu majority. Along with pizzas, the menu features appetizers such as
garlic bread and soups, fresh salads, oven-baked pastas and choice of ice cream
sundaes. They have some American and Italian foods other than just Indian foods.
They have pepperoni pizzas as well as cheese and the like. They have different
types of meal orders such as the Four Course Menu. In the Four Course Menu you
can get garlic bread (with or without cheese), a small bowl of soup (mushroom or
tomato basil), a small personal pan and a dessert of mango ice cream.
PRODUCTS
. Specialty
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5) Super Supreme TM
6) Mountain Fantastico
7) BBQ Deluxe
• Favorites
1) Supreme TM
2) Chicken Supreme TM
3) Vegetable Supreme TM
4) Meat Feast
5) Pepperoni Feast
• Classics
2) Hawaiian
3) Farmhouse
4) Margherita
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AN OVERVIEW OF DOMINOS
Domino’s Pizza India Ltd. was incorporated in March 1995 as the master
franchisee for India and Nepal, of Domino’s Pizza International Inc., of USA.
Moreover, the company holds the master franchisee rights for Sri Lanka and
Bangladesh through its wholly owned subsidiary. Mr. Shyam S. Bhartia and Mr.
Hari S. Bhartia of the Jubilant Organosys Group were the promoters of the
company.
Since inception, Domino’s Pizza India Ltd. has proceeded to become one of the
largest and fastest growing international food chains in South Asia. The first
Domino’s Pizza store in India opened in January 1996, at New Delhi. Today,
Domino’s Pizza India has grown into a countrywide network of over 165 outlets in
Ever since it was established, Domino’s Pizza India has maintained its position of
being a home delivery specialist capable of delivering its pizzas within 30 minutes
to its community of loyal customers from its entire chain of stores around the
country. Customers can order their pizzas by calling a single countrywide Hunger
Helpline – 1800-111-123. In fact, Domino’s was the first one to start this facility
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Domino’s vision is focused on “Exceptional people on a mission to be the best
pizza delivery company in the world!” Domino’s is committed to bringing fun and
doorstep in 30 minutes or less, and all its strategies are aimed at fulfilling this
Domino’s constantly strives to develop products that suit the tastes of its
customers, thereby bringing out the Wow effect (the feel good factor). Domino’s
believes strongly in the strategy of ‘Think Local and Act Regional’ that is subtly
blended with a playful images personified by its ‘Hungry Kya’? positioning. Thus,
time and again Domino’s has been innovating toppings suitable to the taste buds of
the local populace and these have been very well accepted by the Indian market.
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PRODUCTS
. Veg. Pizzas
. Side Orders
. Beverages
.Choice of Crusts
. Choice of Toppings
5) Classic Hand-Tossed
8) Brooklyn Stylex
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AN OVERVIEW OF SUBWAY
SUBWAY is the name of a franchise fast food restaurant that mainly sells
sandwiches and salads. It was founded in 1965 by Fred De Luca and Mark Fudge.
Associates, Inc. (DAI). The company has over 28400 franchised units in 87
countries as of September 2007 and is the fastest growing franchise in the world.
Currently, Subway is the third largest fast food chain globally after YUM! Brands
centers support Subway’s growing international operations. The regional office for
with over 2100 outlets, is supported from Brisbane, Australia. The 300 Middle
Eastern locations are supported from Beirut, Lebanon. Singapore supports the
300+ Asian Locations. The Latin American Support Center in Miami assists over
1100 restaurants. In the UK and Ireland the company hopes to have 2010
Many restaurant analysts attribute Subway’s fast growth to the growing concern on
health by restaurant customers, a trend that Subway has taken advantage of in its
marketing. In 1999, an Indiana University student named Jared Fogle lost 245
pounds (110 kg) with a diet made up mostly of Subway sandwiches combined with
exercise. The story is used by Subway as a large part of their marketing campaign
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to this day. Jared has emerged as a spokesman for Subway, furthering their image
Fred DeLuca borrowed $1000 from family friend Dr. Peter Buck to start his first
sandwich shop in 1965, when only 17 years old. He was trying to raise money to
pay for college. He choose a mediocre location for his shop, but by noon on the
first day of the opening, customers were pouring in. On the radio advertisement
they had promoted the name as “Pete’s Subway”; eventually it was shortened to
“Subway”, as it is known to this day. As of 2006, the company counts with over
25000 franchised locations in 84 countries and produces US$ 9.05 billion sales
every year. In 2007, Forbes magazine named DeLuca number 242 of the 400
When the company was founded, Dr. Peter Buck, co-founder, was a scientist with
a doctoral degree, and Fred De Luca had aspirations of becoming a medical doctor.
It was the summer of ‘65. “Satisfaction” was blasting from the speakers of newly
minted Mustangs and GTOs, Lyndon Johnson was in the White House and the
New York World’s Fair was offering a hope-filled but commercialized glance into
the future.
It was that very future that Fred De Luca was concerned about. Having just
graduated from high school, young De Luca turned his thoughts toward achieving
a higher education. An education would no doubt be the key to success; the type of
success that not even Fred himself dared to dream about. At this moment in time, a
college education seemed as far- flung as the prospect of a man walking on the
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moon.
It was a typically hot and humid summer day in Bridgeport, Conn., when the De
Luca family’s phone rang. Dr. Peter Buck, a family friend called to announce that
he had changed jobs and was moving his family to Armonk, New York, only 40
miles away. It was time for celebration; indeed, for it had been almost a year since
Plans were quickly made for a reunion. It was on that fateful Sunday afternoon in
July, 1965, during a barbecue at the Buck’s new home, that a business relationship
was forged between young Fred De Luca and Dr. Buck that would forever change
During the summer of ’65, there wasn’t that much hopes that the eldest De Luca
child would have enough money to pay for his college tuition. He was a hard
working, competent and dependable young man but the $1.25-per-hour minimum
wage job that he had at the local hardware store wouldn’t begin to pay for an
education.
As they pulled into the Buck’s driveway, it occurred to Fred that perhaps he could
ask Pete for some advice. He half expected Dr. Buck to offer to loan him the
money. After all, they had known each other for years and when Pete would learn
how badly Fred had wanted to go to college, to study to become a medical doctor,
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Before Fred could respond or express his surprise, he heard himself say, “How
does it work?”
Pete explained the submarine sandwich business. He said that all one had to do
was to rent a small store, build a counter, buy some food and open for business.
Customers would come in, put money on the counter and Fred would have enough
to pay for college. To Pete, it was just as simple as that, and if young Fred was
As the De Luca’s were getting ready to leave, Dr. Buck pulled out his checkbook
and wrote a check for $1000. That was his investment in their new venture.
On the drive back home, little did Fred know that if he succeeded at opening a
submarine sandwich shop, he would accomplish more than funding his education.
Success would mean financial independence and everything that comes with it, not
just for him, but for many other people around the world. Success would mean
adventure and excitement on a non-stop roller coaster ride that would eventually be
The duo had worked hard over the years. In fact, they had a goal of opening 32
submarine sandwich shops within 10 years. By 1974 they owned and operated 16
units throughout the state of Connecticut. Although it seemed unlikely that they
SUBWAY Restaurants.
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PRODUCTS
• Aloo patty
• Paneer Tikka
• Veg. Shammi
• Veggie Delite
• Veggie Patty
• Chicken Ham
• Chicken Meatball
• Chicken Seekh
• Chicken Teriyaki
• Chicken Tikka
• Italian B.M.T.
• Lamb Steak
• Roasted Chicken
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All these products are available in different sizes and price ranges.
COMPARITIVE ANALYSIS
A comparative analysis for the above mentioned fast food chains has been made on
Performance
Variety
Price
Accessibility
Service
Customer Base
Performance
Nirula’s started its operations in the country as early as in 1930’s but its first fast
food restaurant came up around in 1950’s. This means that the chain is about five
decades old. So when compared to other competitors they are the oldest in the
field.
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Though Nirula’s are the oldest but each of these chains has its own reputation and
name in the market. Nirula’s being in the country for so long still has its
distinguished fan following and is surviving in the market despite the entering of
Here McDonald, Nirula’s and Pizza Hut are performing well. But Subway is still
struggling for its identity and they still have got a long way to go.
Each of these chains has its own reputation and name in the market. Nirulas being
in the country for so long still has its distinguished fan following and is surviving
in the market despite the coming in of the international chains such as McDonalds
and Pizza Hut. Nirulas is considered to be more of a dine–in eating place than a
fast food joint like the other two. Most of the time the customers coming in at
Nirulas are not in a hurry to leave, they want to relax and enjoy their meals. In
contrast Mc Donald’s, Pizza Hut and Dominos are considered to be a place to grab
a bite or a quick take away fast food joint. McDonald’s in US is a lunch time place
from which customers keep away in the evening. Nirulas on the other hand is
packed after dusk with carloads of families to have dinner. Despite McDonald’s,
being placed as a comfortable family eating restaurant, a person would come to the
restaurant to have a quick meal for lunch or dinner alone or with his family.
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Variety
When it comes to variety then Nirula’s is the favorite because they offer large
variety of burgers, pizzas. Ice creams and Additional offerings when compared to
others like McDonald, Pizza Hut etc. McDonald mainly concentrates on burgers
and ice creams. Pizza Hut and Dominos on the other had relies on pizzas in many
Price
Each of the products at Dominos, Nirulas, Pizza Hut and McDonalds are priced so
When McDonald’s opened its first restaurant in the country it adopted a price
strategy whereby all its products were priced lower than the domestic counterparts.
It had priced its chicken burger at Rs. 39, a rupee below Nirulas equivalent in
1996.
Another interesting feature of these restaurants is the meal combos that they serve.
All these five food joints offer these meal combos with a combination of burger +
pepsi + fries. Basic idea behind this is to offer meals at a very economical rate.
However, from the market research study conducted, price is considered to be the
fifth most important variable while selecting a fast food joint because they are
considered to be the place to freak out and fun. So a marginal difference in the
price ranges of these outlets does not make any noticeable impact on the
consumption of the fast food or the visits of the customers. The emphasis is more
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on quality of food, cleanliness, variety and speed of delivery.
Accessibility
Every restaurant has to be placed at the right location such that it attracts the
maximum number of customer into its premises. All these restaurants in the city
are located at the most frequently visited places by the customer. This way
anybody going for shopping, watching a movie or just playing some games doesn’t
have to go to another part of the city to have meals. Whereas Pizza Hut and
Dominos delivers there products at the doorsteps. So they do not need to place
themselves in shopping malls etc. but the location of the outlets matters for quick
home delivery. However, all the restaurants are located at the most frequently
visited places by the people such as shopping areas, cinema halls, bowling alleys
etc.
Service
• Reception
• Delivery of order
• Mode of payment
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McDonald’s takes the share on this attribute for providing the customer with fast
and friendly services. At McDonald’s you get your order usually within 60 to 90
seconds from the time it is placed. Providing the customer with fast and friendly
McDonald’s, Dominos and Pizza Hut have an assembly line approach to fast food
where a certain number of orders are already prepared/cooked, the idea is that as
soon as the payment is made at one counter, the food can be picked from the next
almost instantly. On the other hand Nirula’s are serving the customers through
But whatever may be the case, provision of fast and friendly services to the
customer is very important for any fast food restaurant. In the market research
study services is the unique factor for McDonald’s that attracts the customer to its
restaurant. The customer prefers being served by a friendly counter assistant than
someone who is arrogant and least interested in entertaining the customer properly.
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Q1.How often do you get the services of the fast food outlets?
18 14 43 68 7
NO. OF VISITS
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ANALYSIS OF THE TABLE
The analysis of the table suggests that most of the individuals visits or receives the services of these fast food outlets weekly or monthly.
The analysis of the table shows that 90%of the surveyed population receives the services of these outlets. Here one more thing that is
noticeable is that very less no. of individuals visits or gets the services of these outlets more than once in a week.
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Q2What is the expenditure for you per visit?
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ANALYSIS OF THE TABLE
The analysis of the table suggests that about 80% of surveyed individuals spends in the price range of (50Rs and above). On an average
we can find out that average spending per person per visit is 100Rs/-
In this analysis the individuals do not visits the fast food outlets are not taken in account. Out of 150 individuals 18 said that they never
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Q3Mention your favorite joint ----------------------------------------------------
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ANALYSIS OF THE TABLE
The analysis of the table suggests that McDonald’s is the most preferred fast food outlet when compared to other service providers. Pizza
Hut and Nirula’s are having almost same no. of customers. For finding out the factors that affect this presence of individuals we will go
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Q4Which is the most important factor do you consider while selecting a fast food restaurant:
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ANALYSIS OF THE TABLE
The analysis of the table suggests that quality is the most important factor that affects the choice of the individual customers. Other
factors are the less important when making a choice between the retail outlets.
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Q5 Which of these do you think is the reason of these fast food outlets becoming so popular these days? Make a tick in front of factor
d) Urbanization -------------------------
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ANALYSIS OF THE TABLE
The analysis of the table suggests that rise in income level of customers, need for status and urbanization are the factors that forces
individuals towards these fast food outlets. People also visits and receive the services of these outlets for fun. Changing mindset of the
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FINDINGS OF THE PROJECT
1) The study shows that the individuals who visits or gets the services of these
2) Most of the customers visit the outlet once in a week or once in a month.
5) Quality and variety are the most important factors that differentiate one outlet
from other.
6) Rise in income level and need for status are the factors that are responsible for
LIMITATIONS
• Sales figures (current and past) could not be made available for any of these
restaurants.
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SAMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE - II
Dear Respondent,
week
NIRULAS
MCDONALD’S
DOMINOS
PIZZA HUT
SUBWAY
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Q. 3. Which all criteria do you consider while selecting a fast food restaurant?
• Price • Accessibility
• Cleanliness/hygiene • Décor
From the five stated before, how would you rate the restaurants on a scale of 1 to
Dissatisfaction
5 4 3 2 1
Spacious Conjusted
money
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Name Age
Occupation Address
Q.6Which of these do you think is the reason of these fast food outlets becoming
so popular these days? Make a tick in front of the factor that is responsible for such
d) Urbanization -----------------------
CONCLUSIONS
Indian food market has witnessed several entrants into the country over the past
few years. Each of the established food chains and the ones entering the market
pose a threat to each other. In the food market each restaurant faces competition
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from 1000 other restaurants, it could be a 5-star restaurant or a roadside dhaba. In
order to prove itself, the restaurant has to have a well-defined marketing strategy
The five fast food chains whose marketing strategies have been compared and
analyzed also need to look on their marketing strategies to do more than just
survive in the market (Certain recommendations have been put forth in the coming
pages).
The attractiveness of the five restaurant chains in the fast food market can be
• Existing Competition
The Indian food market today has many established global chains that have opened
their restaurants at major cities in the country. It is only those restaurants who have
built their image over many years in the country i.e., Nirulas and world famous
brands such as McDonald’s are the ones to sustain themselves in the market. Any
other restaurant below this caliber would not have the power to fight these joints.
Nirulas has the power to fight competition because it is not identical to the MNC
chains and has not duplicated their policies. Also as long as it continues to deliver
• Substitutes Available
There are end number of substitutes available to the customer for fast food in the
market. The customer can choose from traditional Indian cuisine to specialty
cuisine such as Chinese, Italian, Thai etc. For the three fast food joints there must
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be more than a thousand restaurants to choose from as substitutes. Even Dominos
burger could be a substitute for Nirulas Pizza or vice versa. It all depends on the
Looking at the changing lifestyles and the disposable income of the middle class
increasing, the food market has enormous potential. McDonald’s with its
“purchasing power pricing” policy however has dominated the middle class
segment in the market. Until and unless some chain with the same policy attacks
the market, McDonald’s does not have any threat from new burger chains entering
the market. For Nirulas however it is the variety and the location factor which can
The conclusion of the above discussion is that consumer perceive these outlets in
positive manner (visits them regularly). The future of organized fast food market in
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RECOMMENDATIONS
As 20% of the surveyed individuals still do not visits the fast food outlets so
The consumers are looking for variety and quality so the fast food joints
Price is not that important for customers so fast food joints can increase
their prices in order to serve with better quality and more variety.
McDonald’s tops the chart because of its concept of Q,S,C &V. So other
variety.
For the purpose of growth of each ot the thee fast food restaurants i.e., Nirulas,
McDONALD’S
looking at the expansion plan the company has lined up for India. It cannot do
joints of McDonald’s. The new outlets, which the company plans to come up
country.
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NIRULAS
• Accessibility: Nirulas should look at more and more places like “Destination
restaurant should start providing with disposable spoons, plates etc., Mineral
• Décor : Any new restaurant that Pizza Hut plans to come up with should be
• Other than the variety provided by Nirulas a low calorie diet could also be
added to its menu. This would attract health conscious people into the restaurant
• The company’s plan of opening up of outlets in West and South East Asia
should be materialized as soon as possible as this would affect the image of the
restaurant nationally.
are there at McDonald’s restaurants in certain parts of the world, it could start
these services in India too. However these restaurants can quote extra charges
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APPENDIX - I
Assumptions
Keeping the above in mind weights of no of respondents can be given as: Do not
0 1 2 4 8
NIRULAS
MCDONALD’S
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DOMINO’S
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APPENDIX - II
NIRULAS - 12 2 3 3
MCDONA 4 9 8 12 6
LD’S
DOMINOS 1 8 6 4 1
PIZZA 3 4 7 3 2
HUT
SUBWAY 5 4 5 3 2
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NIRULAS 5 19%
MCDONALD’S 10 40%
DOMIONO’S 5 19%
SUBWAY 1 3%
APPENDIX - III
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Price 12
Quality 20
Speed of Delivery 15
Cleanliness/hygiene 18
Accessibility 11
Variety 16
Space 9
Décor 8
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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