Brands Must Be Smart Enough To Wade Through Deep Discounting, Says Biryani Queen Co-Founder Restaurants that are smart are playing with pricing and customers are only focused on getting a discount but aren't focusing enough on the rapid price inflation

By Debroop Roy

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If brands are smart enough, they can wade their way through the deep discounting of online delivery platforms, according to Chaitanya Sabharwal, co-founder of Biryani Queen.

Biryani Queen is a Delhi-based brand that sells 24 different varieties of biryani.

"Instead of deep discounting, what you should worry about is (the) cost of product," said Sabharwal.

According to him, because of these deep discounting, restaurants that are smart are playing with pricing and customers are only focused on getting a discount but aren't focusing enough on the rapid price inflation.

Around 70 per cent of Biryani Queen's sales come from online orders, he said, adding Biryani Queen primarily is a quick-service restaurant model where dining wasn't the main factor.

The Concept of Biryani Queen

Explaining how the concept came to be, Sabharwal said his wife, the other co-founder of the company, wanted to keep the original Indian style of biryani prepared in a layered form.

The common kind of biryani that exists today is an amalgamation of the traditional Indian biryani, then known as pulao, and the one that Mughals brought with them when they invaded the country, said Sabharwal.

But considering how biryani has become a regular feature at most food outlets these days, what makes Biryani Queen special?

The variety, according to Sabharwal.

And even though their non-vegetarian biryanis have great demand, their best-selling ones happen to be vegetarian. "The jackfruit biryani...steals the entire show," he said.

Aggressive Expansion

Biryani Queen has aggressive expansion plans.

With its franchise model, the brand aims to reach 100 outlets in the next two years, Sabharwal said.

Biryani Queen already has an outlet in Melbourne, Australia and they have enquires from several other places abroad including Canada and London, he said.

Debroop Roy

Former Correspondent

Covering the start-up ecosystem in and around Bangalore. Formerly an energy reporter at Reuters. A film, cricket buff who also writes fiction on weekends.
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