Barcelos, a renowned restaurant chain originating from South Africa, famous for its flame-grilled chicken and delectable peri peri sauces, is making a comeback in India. The company has joined forces with Masala Country Hospitality, a division of the Franchise India Group, to serve as its master franchise in the Indian region. The partnership aims to establish a strong presence, with the opening of the first restaurant anticipated later this year.
Gaurav Marya, Founder and CEO, Franchise India,, said, “Barcelos is known for being a gourmet chicken brand and we believe, will appeal to the larger middle class consumer base. In its earlier avataar in India, there were challenges of limited scalability. Under this new model, there will be a strong focus on scalability as the spicy flame grilled chicken-led menu is highly adaptable to the Indian palette.”
Jared Mazzis, CEO-Business Development at Barcelos, said, “Prior to Covid in our earlier stint, there were a limited number of stores on the ground and the brand had got diluted. We want to now come back with a strong focus on our core products and take the brand to the masses and focus on getting consumers to come in more frequently.”
He added that as part of Barcelos’ international expansion strategy, India holds a prominent position among their key focus markets. The restaurant chain’s initial priority is to establish a strong presence in the top cities across the country, with a specific emphasis on the dynamic and culturally rich region of southern India.
“We expect to open the first restaurant by the last quarter of this year and are in talks with developers for a strategic location. We will start with markets such as Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru. South India is the biggest chicken market and we believe the product will do very well in markets like Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru,” Marya said.
The restaurant chain has established an ambitious objective to establish approximately 100 stores within the upcoming five years. As part of their strategy, they plan to prioritize delivery services, recognizing its significance in achieving their long-term goals.
“It will be done both through the direct delivery model and through aggregators,” he added.
