Meet Ashish Kapur, the co-founder and managing director of the Chinese Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) chain, Yo! China, which has 45 restaurants, two delivery stores and 35 roadside carts across 14 cities.
An electronics and telecom engineer who worked for GE Capital in the US for two years, Kapur opened his first Yo! China outlet at MGF mall in Gurgaon in 2003. At a time when India didn't have any pan-India Chinese restaurant brand, Kapur's Chinese food became an instant hit with consumers.
"There are only three cuisines in India that are truly scalable in terms of business—north Indian, south Indian and Chinese. We went the Chinese way because it is aspirational among the youth, that now form our core consumer constituency," affirms Kapur.
The food opportunity in India, especially after the opening of the economy in 1991, has presented a good opportunity for Yo! China's growth, helping it become an over Rs 50-crore brand in the space of seven years.
But the brand's big challenge came late last year, when it had to make a decisive shift from the QSR to the fine dining format. "We began getting signs of consumer fatigue, who wanted a better overall experience. So, we built into our DNA, the basic motto of giving customers a great 60-minute vacation," says Kapur. He went for a complete makeover of all the restaurants. Vibrant colours, cool ambience and yummy food.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/services/hotels-/-restaurants/Chinese-restaurant-chain-Yo-an-instant-hit-/articleshow/5975138.cms