Samar Qureshi on CWG

Time to eat out at CWG: 20 lakh meals, French fries from CanadaPress Trust of India, Updated: Mon, Oct 4, 2010 10:31 IST

New Delhi: Gearing up to serve 20 lakh meals in 12 days, transporting French fries from Canada and fresh lettuce from Nainital and marshalling a troop of 1,200 people - for Samar Qureshi, the last 40 days have been a "challenge of a lifetime".

Qureshi is the Director of Fast Trax Food Pvt Ltd, the exclusive food licensee for the user pay category of the Commonwealth Games 2010. The company is expected to deliver world-class food to domestic and international spectators and mediapersons from around the world.

"We have been working for almost 14-15 hours a day since we were given the contract 40 days back to exclusively supply food at all the 12 stadiums of the CWG and the media centre at Pragati Maidan," Qureshi said.

Describing the task as a "challenge of a lifetime", he said, "Now we are ready to serve spectators across all the 12 stadiums through 97 outlets." Qureshi said his company is expecting to serve nearly 20 lakh meals during the Games being held from October 3-14.

It is employing about 1,200 people for carrying out the task of providing food such as burger combos, vegetarian and non-vegetarian wraps, various tikka rolls, curry boxes and sandwiches, which are priced between Rs 50 and Rs 150.

"There will also be special items like Dilli ki Biryani," he added.

One-third of the manpower has been drawn from various hospitality institutes and utilised on the production side.

The rest have been equally distributed for counter handling and hawking, he said.

In order to execute the operations without any glitches, the company has booked a central warehouse of 50,000 square feet at Okhla in South Delhi, from where all the frozen and chilled foods will be taken to the respective venues.

"About 15 refrigerated vans are used to transport the food items to each of the event centres, where we have a main kitchen and smaller warehouse," Qureshi said.

There is strict control over standards as well.

"It's a question of pride for the nation, the company and my own. We are not taking any chances. That's why we are even importing the French fries all the way from Canada," he said.

Other items like "field fresh" lettuce are being transported from Nainital.

Packaging materials have been imported from Malaysia, while many of the handling equipments have been flown in from as far as the US, he said. 

Qureshi said he is also drawing strength from his past experience of the company providing outdoor catering services during the Hockey World Cup, held here earlier this year.

"We have had similar challenges, especially during the Hockey World Cup when we got just 25 days to prepare. This time around the scale is of course bigger, but we are ready," he said.

Qureshi said catering to the hockey venue is expected to be challenging due to the rush of spectators. "Handling the demand in other venues wouldn't be much of a problem as the crowd is expected to be smaller," he said.

When inquired how much the company has invested on the whole exercise, he said: "Must be about Rs 5 crore on a conservative estimate, but we are not necessarily looking at making profit as a success at the Games would mean more success in our future business."

http://cwg.ndtv.com/commonwealth/article/id/spoen20100155224/type/features/Time-to-eat-out-CWG-20-lakh-meals,-French-fries-from-Canada-56739.html

On the CWG gravy trainRiding on sports events catering, Delhi-based fast food chain Fast Trax hopes to build a brand presence and acquire more customers for itself..

Chitra Narayanan

Slightly-built Samar Qureshi wears a harassed look. Standing behind the serving counter at the New Friend's Colony outlet of Fast Trax in New Delhi, the youthful owner of the fast food chain is besieged by customers who have come to buy tickets for the Commonwealth Games (Fast Trax is a designated vendor) but have not been able to do so — the staff has told them that the quota for the day is over.Even as he pacifies them and explains why it's not Fast Trax's fault, the media quizzes him about why burgers are running out at the Indira Gandhi Stadium and spectators returning hungry.

As Qureshi firefights, one can see that catering to an estimated 1.6 million spectators at 12 stadia during India's biggest sporting event, as well as vending tickets and merchandise at his 22-odd outlets in the NCR, besides of course, taking care of the regular business, is not an easy job.For the CWG catering, a million burgers have to be prepared each day at the central kitchens set up at the stadia, of which 60 per cent are vegetarian given that the Navaratras are on. Tonnes of lettuce have been sourced from vendors in Nainital, vacuum-packed onions from processed food suppliers, 1.5 million sachets of sauce from Heinz, potatoes from McCain…, the list is endless. Volunteers, 1,200 in all, drawn from various catering institutes are spread across the 97 outlets set up at the various games venues.

In addition, Fast Trax has also got the catering contract at the media village at ITPO (India Trade Promotion Organisation), where it is offering a lounge bar, a food court that offers pan-Asian and continental cuisine as well as fastfood. The logistics are mind-numbing.So why did he take it on — only one of two food companies to bid for the contract? Especially given the murky stories that had alienated many a potential sponsor and vendor, keeping them away from the Games? Qureshi, despite looking frazzled, stoutly defends his decision. “I wanted an Indian brand to be doing the catering,” he says.

Besides, he says, the experience gained from catering for the Hockey World Cup in Delhi this March, where he got tremendous feedback, also spurred him on. “World over sports events are a fun outing, where good food makes people stay longer at the venues — many stadia abroad even serve beer,” he says, pointing to how the idea was to create such an atmosphere during the CWG.

Of course, overzealous security personnel proved to be party-poopers as they didn't allow the planned number of outlets to be set up. (At the showpiece Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, for instance, instead of 26 outlets, only 17 could be set up initially, later raised to 20 as the demand was huge, while at the IG stadium, only three of the nine counters could come up on the first day, with the ensuing stampede finally resulting in eight counters being set up.) At many venues, they also did not allow food and drinks to be taken into the stadia.

Despite all that, it may actually prove to be a well-thought-out gamble that Qureshi has taken. Enjoying a virtual monopoly at the stadia, he hopes that Fast Trax's fusion menu of international fast food with Indian flavours will have the customers coming back to his outlets for more. “We hope to build brand presence, get more customers by sampling our products and services,” he says.

The CWG menu includes choley kulcha, biriyani, chocolate truffle cakes, burger combos, veg and non-veg wraps, tikka rolls, curry boxes and sandwiches. And in beverages, apart from the ubiquitous aerated soft drinks, there is kesar badam milk.With all kinds of promotions — Shera visiting his outlets, CWG play meals that includes a fun Shera toy and so on — Qureshi is clearly riding the CWG gravy train. “We are also planning a TVC,” he says.

A chip of the old blockFor someone who claims to have started Fast Trax with just one stove, it's been a steady growth for the food chain. The company today has a turnover of Rs 30 crore and hopes to touch Rs 50 crore in the next 12 months and is looking at expansion across North India.

Although his venture has his family's backing (he belongs to the Qureshi family that runs the Rs 1,000-crore Hind Group, a meat exporting major), it's Samar Qureshi's brainchild and enterprise all the way. The idea occurred to him when returning to India from business management studies in Australia. He felt that the global MNC fast food outlets had not met his personal expectations.

“I thought, why not bridge the gap between Indian street food and global fast food. People like visiting the MNC fast food outlets, but not necessarily their menu. So I decided to serve modernised Indian street food, or you can call it localised global fast food,” he says.So, at his outlet, the California burger co-exists with the paneer tikka wrap and kabab roll, as do samosas and pasta salads.

“What is happening to hand-pump water will happen to Indian street food,” predicts Qureshi. He feels that hygiene and safety issues will prompt more and more customers to shift to outlets like his.

Although barely 27 when he started out, Qureshi says he had the necessary experience since his family was in the frozen foods business, and he knew the back end of the food trade. Also, while studying at Melbourne, he worked part time at

McDonald's and learnt the retail end of it. The initial investment was Rs 3 crore and the first few months were spent in R&D of the menu.

Why the name Fast Trax? When I was setting up, I found that everybody was on the fast track here — a huge transformation was taking place with changing lifestyles, people were joining call centres in large numbers, visiting malls, he says.

Given his old Delhi origins, with its rich traditional flavours and cuisine heritage, doesn't he want to experiment with fine dining outlets?Although Qureshi says he is open to ideas, he feels that the fast food model is a sound one. As he points out, the fast food business is recession-proof and if run well, is bound to do well. “When people have money, they don't have time and hence frequent fast food joints. Conversely, if you have time, you are short of money and again frequent fast food joints,” he says.

Spreading the menuFrom NCR, Qureshi now wants to expand into smaller cities such as Rishikesh, which attract a lot of tourist traffic. “In the metros, investments are high and they are saturated with many food outlets, whereas in towns such as Rishikesh, it's cost-effective to set up an outlet like ours that offers tourists good food at the right price point,” he says.So, after the CWG, what next? Surely, a much-needed holiday? “Oh no, the day the event finishes, I will be flying to Paris for an international food fair, where we are putting up a stall, and will be busy preparing my presentations,” he says.He for one is certainly on the Fast Trax!(This article was published in the Business Line print edition dated October 14, 2010)

Fast Trax ties up with Delhi Daredevils team for IPLApril 26, 2011

After a successful association with reputed events like Common wealth Games & Hockey World cup, FastTrax Food Pvt. Ltd. ties up with Delhi Dare Devil team for IPL season 4. Fast Trax is Official Food and Restaurant Partner.

“The Organization is extremely proud and happy to be the only Fast Food Chain in the world to enter the League of IPL and only chain to be number one in sports catering,” said Samar Qureshi, Director, Fast Trax Food Pvt. Ltd.

All the Fast Trax outlets are dipped into IPL mood “Meri dilli Meri jaan wherein Fast Trax and Delhi Dare Devils association is shared every corner of the outlet. Fast Trax has become Delhi’s Favorite Joint within no time. Idea was to connect Delhi’s product with Delhi’s people. Earlier people were bound to go to bar and Lounge to enjoy the IPL Matches but this time Fast Trax has created the platform for all age groups to enjoy and cheer for their favorite team at all Fast Trax Outlet.

The Outlets have been given a Brand new look and Feel. Starting from the packaging material to carry bags to posters, dug outs to table stickers everything is defining this afresh association. Furthermore for all Daredevils Lovers special Delhi Daredevils Burger Combos have been launched which ensure prize on every scratch card with the combo like IPL tickets, merchandise and discount vouchers. Special Kids play meal has been launched with toy of the month as miniature bat signed by Daredevils Team

Fast Trax is selling tickets of all Matches from selected outlets covering all four zones of Delhi (North, east, West and south): Select City walk mall- Saket, V3S Mall-laxmi nagar, New Friends Colony, BPCL-IGI Aiprort; ISBT Kashmere Gate; and Metrowalk mall-Rohini.

IPL special menu at the stadium offers Burger, Wraps, Curry Boxes, Chicken Biryani, Choley Rice and Crunchy French Fries which would be served through 25 stalls across the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium. Reprising the role as official caterers for sports event in India, for the third time, after catering the Commonwealth Games, October 2010 & Hockey World Cup in March 2010; Fast Trax is all geared up for IPL. All ready the number one sports catering Fast food has outsell the expectations by selling over a one million burgers in just one year.

Fast Trax, the fall of a BurgerBY SID KHULLAR – OCTOBER 13, 2010

POSTED IN: REVIEWS, SOUTH DELHI

I’m sure you’ve seen the Fast Trax ads plastered all over town and are left in no doubt as to their status with the CWG. Me too. That’s why we visited the Fast Trax stall outside the Arrivals lounge of Delhi Airport. SpiceJet had run out of meal packs on the one time we decided to buy one. Due to the late hour of arrival we didn’t think we would be able to scrounge a meal anywhere else.

The website is ‘cool’, to use a popular phrase, for a design style that’s been used, overused, abused and since discarded. I particularly liked the ‘Promoter’ section, which is quite hilarious and a very good read. You may need to re-start reading a couple of times like I did to make sense of it, but once you do, it’s fun. Among other gems of literary wisdom, one stands out, … need for Indian QSR chain who serves food as per the typical Indian taste and pellet … - It appears the nice people at Fast Trax look not only look into the taste of their products, they also lay emphasis on the shape of the digested output. Goats of the world, here we come! The packaging is quite nice and seems well designed at first look. Sturdier than other fast food takeaway bags, Fast Trax bags are informative too, apart from looking good. The website also claims to stress[es] the importance of non-processed meat. I wonder how the chicken got that pink color? It’s processed alright.

My driver had already run a circuit around the airport once and since we didn’t want him to do another, we ordered what was immediately available, chicken burgers. These were quickly packed and handed over.

The pain of it! Burgers despite being a member of the much maligned fast food family are still sandwiches and need to be made as such. The bun must be fluffy and mustn’t break on being depressed for the first big bite. The tomatoes used must be the fleshy, not the watery variety. A right sized dollop of dressing must be placed in the middle of the patty so it spreads across the bun, but doesn’t drip. The patty in the centre should be fried till crisp, not till it can be used as a hockey puck. In the fast food scenario, each burger must be consistently made.

The Fast Trax burger however, fails on all counts. The buns were depressed hard and scorched on a hot plate with the result each bun was perhaps 2 – 3mm thick, hard, dry and chewy. The thickness of the patty within varied from half a centimeter to one centimetre. The texture of each patty wasn’t uniform. Some burgers had a slice of tomato topped with one quarter teaspoon of coleslaw within, others had mayo and onions, while the rest had nothing inside at all, apart from the bun and patty. Chewing each bite was an ordeal, aimed at sustenance with very little pleasure.

We were hungry. We ate the stuff.

I remember eating a burger from a roadside stall. The chap took a burger bun, sliced it in half, deep fried it, placed an aloo tikki within, slathered it with sauce and green chutney, tossed on a handful of chopped cabbage and onions, closed it and handed it over with a paper napkin, on a paper plate. It was good.

I’d rather eat a 10 rupee apology than force down a 50 rupee insult.

Sports catering fast food chain Fast Trax Food on expansion spreeNeha Dewan, ET Bureau May 18, 2012, 07.32PM IST

NEW DELHI: Sports catering fast food chain, Fast Trax Food plans to target 50 stores with an investment of Rs 50 crore in expansion and marketing activities.Fast Trax is a venture by the Rs 1,000 crore Hind Group, a food processing company. Says Samar Qureshi, director, Fast Trax Food, "Besides expanding presence in Delhi and NCR, we are planning to expand base in Punjab and Haryana. We are targeting the youth who connect well with sports."

With 23 locations spread across the Capital, one in Aligarh and 28 more that will come up, Fast Trax has a presence across retail formats such as malls, metro stations as well as in university campuses.

As a part of the expansion exercise, all the outlets have been given a new look in packaging, posters and the overall ambience.

Fast Trax sets two Indian records at the CWG 2010October 28, 2010

October 28, 2010 --Setting two more records and adding to India’s tally of golds at the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2010, Fast Trax Food Pvt. Ltd., the official food licensee for the Games, recently served their way into the history books. Outselling all expectations - 6 lakh fresh burgers in just 12 Games days, the group established the record for the highest number of fresh burgers ever sold in India, in such a short time, by any catering organization. And, if that wasn’t enough, Fast Trax established and operated the largest food court ever manned in India. The stalls offered several varieties of cuisine and were located across the length of the entire city. 

Fast Trax Makes History• 6,00,000 Fast Trax burgers sold• 3 seconds to serve each burger• 1,200 volunteers recruited• 30,000 hours of special training• 2 tonnes of biriyani sold

Re-living the Games, Samar Qureshi, Director, Fast Trax expressed his joy at the turnout, “I was very happy to see so many people there, to cheer and support India. We constantly had excited fans outside our Fast Trax outlets, ordering food, drinks and snacks. We sold over 2 tonnes of biriyani during the opening and the closing ceremonies alone.”

So just what were the ingredients to Fast Trax’s success? In order to maintain the levels of quality and flavour they promised, Fast Trax utilized nearly 5 tonnes of mayonnaise, 13 tonnes of onions, 22 tonnes of fresh tomatoes, 8 tonnes of iceberg lettuce, 18 tonnes of chicken, 6 lakh burger buns, 55 thousand cakes, 1.2 million bio-degradable glasses and over 25 lakh ketchup sachets. To keep the food at its freshest, Fast Trax had over 5.2 tonnes of state-of-the-art fryers, toasters and freezers air lifted from the United States and Malaysia and even deployed 21 GPS enabled, refrigerated trucks to cover 25,000 kilometers of travel, as they transported over 300 tonnes of goods, to and from the stadiums. “We have successfully created a benchmark for the Indian fast food industry. We lived up to our promise of serving each burger at lighting speed, taking just three seconds,” said Samar. “We are very happy to have served our country proud”. 

About Fast Trax Food Pvt. Ltd.Fast Trax Food Pvt. Ltd. is a venture by the Rs.650 crore Hind Group, India’s largest food processing company. With more than 22 local outlets, Fast Trax serves over 10,000 customers each day in more than 16 locations across New Delhi. Filling the gap between international fast food and quality conscious Indian flavouring, Fast Trax believes in the authenticity of its ingredients and stresses the importance of non-processed meats in all its products. Wildly popular amongst all age groups and fondly referred to as simply ‘Fx’, the food chain is soon becoming India’s number one choice for a quick bite. 

Fast Trax aims to expand fast food business

Nov 29, 2010

Fast Trax, a fast food venture of the Rs 100 crore Hind Group, is looking at expanding its presence across north India. The company, one of the companies which bagged the food license for the Commonwealth Games 2010, aims at clocking Rs 40 crore turnover by March 2011.

Fast Trax will be spending Rs 20 crore for expansion, director of Fast Trax Food, Samar Qureshi, said. "Last fiscal, we clocked a turnover of Rs 30 crore. Primarily, we would focus on north India in the next three months time, we would be setting up six stores across Delhi and NCR region. This apart, we would look at opening stores across tier I and tier II cities of Jaipur, Rishikesh, Haridwar and Chandigarh by December 2010," said Qureshi.

The company has both small and medium format stores, with sizes ranging between 500 sq ft and 3,000 sq ft. The five-year-old company has 22 stores across Delhi NCR.

Fast food on the track

Prakriti Prasad / New Delhi December 21, 2005

Hind Group, the Rs 650 crore food processing company, is now setting up fast food outlets. Will the venture succeed? Healthy competition is certainly good for business. But what when the competitors are really tough? Fast Trax, a new fast food restaurant promoted by the Rs 650 crore food processing company, Hind Group, is in a similar situation. Its first outlet in Delhi’s New Friends’ Colony has the likes of McDonalds, Domino’s Pizza, Cafe Coffe Day and Barista as its immediate neighbours. Though Samar Qureshi, the brain behind the restaurant feels he needs to be in the midst of competition, we can’t help wondering at the wisdom of starting yet another fast food diner amidst the existing maze. The group seems to have gone the whole hog with a trendy ambience complete with snazzy motorbikes accessorising the 5,000 sq feet outlet. What’s more, Fast Trax boasts of an in-house R&D facility and claims to be the only kitchen restaurant in India to have a centralised microbiological lab for food analysis. The restaurant’s R&D unit is manned by lab experts, food technologists and equipment-handling engineers who constantly check the quality and hygiene standards of the food, besides innovating and enhancing the productline. “Through our R&D, unit we ensure that every ingredient that goes into making a dish passes through certain standards that match international quality,” points out Qureshi. The research unit studies the properties of products, identifies even oil properties and its shelf life besides various other details involved in the cooking process. It’s this USP that, according to Qureshi, has given them the confidence to venture into the Rs 1,000 crore fast food retail mart which is growing at a robust rate of 30-40 per cent annually. According to Qureshi, the industry is likely to hit the Rs 7,000 crore mark by 2010. Qureshi, who has pioneered every aspect of the outlet including the menu, dress code, logo and the interiors, admits to have given in to his penchant for Indian fast food. He has introduced various innovations to the popular Indian snack samosa and has come up with cheese, chicken and vegetable samosas along with shawarmas, burgers and wraps. Samreen Qureshi, also the business development manager of Fast Trax, says she’s happy with the footfalls in the last two months of its operations. “We’re looking at coming up with 12 outlets by the end of the coming financial year in Delhi and NCR,” she adds. Each of the outlets will be a family restaurant with a special playroom for children. “With our competitive pricing, international standards of hygiene, packaging and innovative productline, there’s no reason why we will not succeed,” sums up Qureshi. Let’s see if his conviction has the ability to reap profits.

About Kaati Zone:

The idea of Kaati Zone was conceived by the founders as a brand of Indian quick service restaurants that will reach to customers both within India as well as overseas. Two-income families and larger disposable incomes in India have generated demand for different types of food services, and quick service format addresses an important need of customers. Indian food is also popular globally, thanks to Indians immigrating to different geographies across the world for decades and centuries. The opportunity for an Indian fast food brand is huge and Kaati Zone plans to play a significant role in this space.

Kaati Zone is expanding its operations currently in the city of Bangalore . We have restaurants in some of the high footfall areas and outlets in working communities like technology parks and corporate campuses. Check out our existing and soon-to-be-launched locations. Besides serving our customers in our restaurants, we also deliver within 3 kms of our locations. We have a large base of retail and corporate clients and have a high repeat business.

The Kaati Zone brand is owned by East West Ethnic Foods Private Limited, a company incorporated in 2004. The company recently closed Series A financing round led by Erasmic Ventures. A few reputed individuals from venture capital community from India and overseas also participated in the round.

Kiran Nadkarni | CEO

Kiran has been a pioneering figure in the Indian venture capital industry. He started the venture capital business of ICICI and managed it during the first eight years. Later, he was a partner at Draper International, a venture firm based in San Francisco , which invested in India and the US.

Prior to starting the Kaati Zone venture, he was a co-founder of Jumpstartup, a venture firm that invested in technology businesses both in India and the US. During his career, he helped several entrepreneurial

businesses by providing start-up and early-stage capital and brought the initial successes of venture capital industry to public markets. Kiran is a chemical engineer from IIT Kanpur and holds a post-graduate diploma in management from University of Mumbai.

  Virendra Yadav | General Manager, Operations

Virendra is a graduate in Hotel Management from IHM, Lucknow, and brings experience in hospitality sector. Prior to Kaati Zone, he was managing the flight kitchen operations of India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) at Bangalore airport. Earlier, he worked as a chef at Grand Ashok, a premier hotel property of ITDC, and managed the kitchen operations for banquets, coffee shop and multi-cuisine restaurant. During this period, he serviced several official receptions in honour of visiting foreign heads of state.

  Vijaydeep Nadkarni | Head of Technology

Vijaydeep Nadkarni is a graduate in computer engineering from The University of Texas at Austin. After graduation, he worked at a technology company specializing in digital signal processing for video applications. He represents the founder group on the Board of Directors, and manages information technology function in the company.

INVESTORS:

Accel IndiaAccel was established in 1983 and invests from offices in Palo Alto, London and Bangalore, as well as in China via

the IDG-Accel partnership With over $4 billion under management, Accel has helped world-class entrepreneurs build over 300 successful companies, many of which have become category-defining enterprises. www.accel.com

Draper Investment Company

Draper Investment Company (DIC) is an active, global venture capital firm that specializes in investments in early-stage companies. It seeks entrepreneurs with the experience, energy, vision and desire to build great companies. Formed to diversify the Draper family investing initiatives, DIC is funding global companies of tomorrow and helping them to achieve maximum potential through contacts, advice and support. At the same time, DIC provides its portfolio companies assistance in the areas of strategy, executive team recruiting, operational execution and raising capital. 

Ashish GuptaAshish is a co-founder and Managing Director of Helion Venture Partners. He has invested in over 35 companies in the US and in India . His investments include Daksh (IBM), Odesk, Obongo (AOL), Speedera (Akamai), Make My Trip, Merittrac, and Kaboodle (Hearst). Ashish co-founded and helped grow two successful companies; Tavant

Technologies and Junglee (Amazon.com) that pioneered comparison shopping on the internet. Ashish has worked at Woodside Fund, Amazon.com, Oracle Corporation, and IBM Research. He has to his credit several patents, international publications, and a book by MIT press. He is a Kauffman fellow, the world's leading venture education program. Ashish holds a Ph.D. in computer science from Stanford University and a bachelor's degree from IIT Kanpur, where he was awarded the President's Gold medal.

Board of Directors

Kiran Nadkarni | CEOKiran has been a pioneering figure in the Indian venture capital industry. He started the venture capital business of ICICI and managed it during the first eight years. Later, he was a partner at Draper International, a venture firm based in San Francisco , which invested in India and the US . Prior to starting the Kaati Zone venture, he was a co-founder of Jumpstartup, a venture firm that invested in technology businesses both in India and the US . During his career, he helped several entrepreneurial businesses by providing start-up and early-stage capital and brought the initial successes of venture capital industry to public markets. Kiran is a chemical engineer from IIT Kanpur and holds a post-graduate diploma in management from University of Mumbai.

Prashanth Prakash | DirectorPrashanth is a Partner at Accel, and has experience in information technology, internet product development and consulting services. Prior to Erasmic, he was the co-founder and CEO of Netkraft, a leading offshore solutions company in retail and healthcare verticals. The company had over 400 employees in India, USA, UK, France and Belgium, when it was acquired by Adea Systems, a Texas based software solutions company. Prashanth holds a graduate degree in computer science from University of Delaware and an undergraduate degree in computer science from Bangalore Institute of Technology.

Mangala Nadkarni | DirectorMangala holds M.A. and M.Phil degrees in Geography from University of Mumbai , and has long experience in academics. She has taught at several reputed educational institutions like Sydenham College and L.S. Raheja College , Mumbai, and Bishop Cotton Boys School and National Academy for Learning, Bangalore.

WIKIPEDIA:

KaatiZoneFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

East West Ethnic Foods Pvt. Ltd.

Type Private

Industry Restaurants

Founded Bangalore, India (2004)

Headquarters Church Street, Bangalore

Key people Kiran Nadkarni, Founder, CEO

Website www.kaatizone.com

KaatiZone is a Bangalore-based chain of Indian fast-food restaurants specializing in Kati Rolls. Founded by Kiran Nadkarni in 2004, the restaurant is famous for its Chicken Tikka and Mixed Veg Rolls. As the IT sector in India has boomed, the demand for convenience foods has increased drastically. However, although there are hundreds of players in the unorganized sector of Indian fast food, Kaati Zone was among the pioneers of organized Indian quick service restaurants.

[edit]LocationsThere are 12 KaatiZone outlets in Bangalore that are serviced by a central kitchen located at Bannerghatta Road. The outlets are located at:Church StreetKoramangala

MalleswaramHP Campus, Electronic CityRMZ Ecospace Tech Park, Outer Ring RoadEmbassy Golf Links Business Park, Intermediate Ring RoadJayanagar 4th Block - Opposite Janatha BazaarIndira Nagar - 80 ft Rd. Opposite SBI BankBangalore International AirportChannapatna - at the BPCL petrol stationBanashankari - II stage, near BDA complexDell Campus - Intermediate Ring RoadSubex Campus

[edit]MenuKaatiZone's rolls are available in eleven fillingsAloo ChatpataMixed VegKadai PaneerPaneer Tava MasalaVeg Burger RollKadai ChickenChicken TikkaAfghan ChickenAndhra chilli chickenMutton SeekhEgg & Cheese

KaatiZone offers its rolls in 4 varieties: Original, Lite, Diet and Mini. It also offers paratha meals, snacks, beverages and desserts.

Moving with the times, it is also one of the few chains which has online ordering of its products through the website.

Interview with the Founder of Kaati ZoneThe post below is fromhttp://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/blogs/show_entry/141-interview-kiran.

This was an interview conducted by Anjana Vivek, that was published in Citizen Matters on Apr 28. 2008. There are some useful insights - so I am sharing this through my blog. All credits and copyrights related to this interview belongs to Citizen Matters.

Interview: Kiran Nadkarni, Founder Kaati Zone

It gives me great pleasure to start the interviews on this blog with Kiran Nadkarni. Kiran is Founder & Director at Kaati Zone, a chain of quick service restaurants specializing in Indian foods.Kiran was among the early VCs in the country. Prior to starting Kaati Zone, he has held positions such as President, ICICI Ventures, and Managing Director, Jumpstartup Ventures. He has been an entrepreneur for over three years now and has raised funds for this venture.Read on to know more about why he turned to entrepreneurship and his experiences in running his venture started in Namma Bengaluru with global aspirations...

Question: You have been one of the early VCs in India, what triggered you to move from someone who invests in entrepreneurs to an entrepreneur who is invested in by someone? We have heard of many entrepreneurs who become investors, you are following the reverse route!Answer: I had spent 18 years in early-stage venture investing, and wanted to rediscover myself in a way. I was living in the US during 2002-2005, when I first thought of doing the Kaati Zone venture. I felt there was an opportunity to take a brand in Indian foods to the mainstream US markets. Initially, I had planned my involvement in the venture to be much like that of a venture investor, providing strategic inputs to an operating team. However, when I returned to India, I realized my full-time involvement with

the venture was very important for it to succeed. You can say, I got sucked into full-time entrepreneurship gradually.

Question: Why this industry, how did you zoom in on this?Answer: I was living in the US from 2002 to 2005. I noticed that, while Indians were a significant minority in the US and Indian food is popular among locals, most Indians who entered this industry were targeting the ethnic Indian community and did not address themselves to the larger local population. I felt there may be an interesting opportunity to take an Indian food brand to mainstream American market. We chose the quick service format, as it is a scalable business and one can build a significant company with this format. We studied the characteristics of and the current trends in the quick service foods industry in the west and planned our venture accordingly. We had planned to build out the concept on a pilot scale in Bangalore before moving to markets overseas, but things changed as we moved forward.

Question: Did being an investor in companies help you when you started your own venture?Answer: My involvement as an early-stage venture investor in young companies did help in conceptualization, planning and defining strategies. However, I must admit day-to-day execution was something new to me.

Question: In your mind, what is it in your business that has helped you raise venture capital funding for your company? Any lessons you learnt that you would like to share with entrepreneurs re the fund raising process?Answer: An early-stage investor assesses three important parameters in a business. He invests in the management team, a business idea that is scalable and can be built into a large enterprise, and a product offering that stands differentiated in the marketplace. My prior experience in venture industry clearly helped me define the initial goals to be achieved before tapping external capital. We invested in a central kitchen that serviced all outlets and demonstrated the hub-and-spokes model that can be scaled. We established a unique identity for Kaati Zone through our products and packaging that signified quality, health and elegance. We built a strong customer base not only for dine-in but for take-away and deliveries (including bulk deliveries to over 80 corporates in Bangalore, many of whom are multinational corporations). We have also ensured that we have retained most of our talent (from restaurant manager level upwards) during the difficult phase of our company. We have achieved it through regular interactions and communication about our vision, growth plans and innovativeness. Our team members have seen opportunities in Kaati Zone and have benefited from our growth.

Question: What is the best thing about being an entrepreneur?Answer: The idea of introducing innovation in marketplace and making it a success drives the entrepreneurs most. I have also enjoyed charging up my colleagues with entrepreneurial zeal and passion. Young companies are usually unable to hire the best and most experienced talent. The entrepreneurial passion among team members can, to some extent, make up for this handicap.

Question: Is there anything you dislike about being an entrepreneur?Answer: There is nothing about entrepreneurship that I dislike. I have always respected entrepreneurs and the spirit of entrepreneurship. However, I am extremely disappointed with the system within which we expect our entrepreneurs to deliver success.There is not much early-stage venture capital in India. Most investors focus on late-stage private equity deals of multi-million dollar size. I can count only a handful of silicon-valley style venture firms who are willing to back start-ups. Even the silicon-valley based venture firms which have entered India are shying away from start-up deals. I would have liked the Indian national financial institutions, banks and insurance companies to create a pool of capital that could support private initiatives in venture capital to support start-ups and young companies. The Small Business Administration (SBA) in the US

contributed significantly to the growth of venture capital industry there. We require similar initiative to create an ecosystem of risk capital.The large-scale corruption in different agencies of Central and State Governments takes a heavy toll on young companies.Entrepreneurship is a high-risk game, and failure is part and parcel of it. Unfortunately, failure carries a stigma in our society and among investors.

Question: Are there any other insights / learnings / experiences you would like to share with an early stage entrepreneur in Bangalore or someone who is thinking of becoming an entrepreneur?Answer: Here are a few suggestions for potential entrepreneurs:Entrepreneurship is a tough business. It requires staying power and perseverance on the part of entrepreneurs. Do not get into it because it appears glamorous. Attempt it only if you are passionate and are willing to hang in there for a long-term.Plan a business that can be built into a large enterprise. Very rarely do venture capital firms invest in small niche businesses.Innovate and stand differentiated in the marketplace. Build entry barriers for competition.Work actively to hire and retain quality talent. With most industrial sectors booming, employment opportunities are aplenty and retention of staff a very difficult task. This is a test of leadership skills of the entrepreneur.Leverage your contacts and networks to grow the business quickly. Also, focus on growth of topline even if it means sacrificing profits in short-term. Profits will grow with scaling up of the business. Venture capital investors like a growing business. They may not necessarily like a business that is profitable but growing moderately.