Bollywood, boba drinks and burgers on the menu as McDonald's seeks to double store footprint in north and east India

Connaught Plaza Restaurants Pvt Ltd (CPRL), the operator of McDonald’s fast-food outlets in the two regions, is ramping up marketing expenditure, offering new menu categories, and launching celebrity-led campaigns targeted across generations—from teenagers to those in their 60s.

Actor Ranveer Singh has been signed up as brand ambassador for a new celebrity meal campaign, Anant Agarwal, vice chairperson of CPRL, said in an interview with Mint. Menu offerings including boba drinks and premium burgers will be rolled out.

“We have committed to really good growth over the next three to four years and plan to double our outlet base," said Agarwal. “In fact, we have consistently scaled up our marketing investments, with an incremental increase of 15-20% year-on-year." 

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Agarwal cited its Korean food campaign, which was backed by targeted marketing across digital and in-store platforms and drove strong consumer interest to contribute to a 20% business growth during the campaign period.

The company has earmarked an investment of over $100 million for store expansion and modernisation over the next few years.

“We plan to more than double our store numbers, reaching 500-600 stores by 2030 over the next 3-4 years," said Agarwal.

Star appeal

The company is focused on marketing as a cornerstone because it wants to continue to woo patrons who started consuming McDonald's when they were in their teens and are now in their 40s. With Ranveer Singh at the helm of the campaign, it is targeting consumers ranging from 14-year-olds to 60-year-olds or even older, Agarwal added.

“We feel the way an actor will communicate will be very organic and will resonate with people despite there already being a strong loyalty for the brand. It’s about building relevance not to inspire but more to excite consumers. Everyone’s a fan of McDonald’s, even celebrities," he said.

The campaign with Ranveer Singh will be for a limited period and will be rolled out around mid-June. The company had roped in actor Kartik Aaryan in 2023 for a similar campaign. Like that one, this too will be a 360-degree campaign for a few months before deciding whether to extend it further.

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"While we can't touch upon the budgets, it's one of our largest campaigns till date. Typically, a campaign like this will give us a sense within six months based on the number of meals and burgers sold, how good our return on investment was. Usually, celebrity campaigns are also created around scarcity, and this will be more of a time-based campaign where the meal will only be around for a limited period," he said.

Protein and gourmet burgers

The company is also working towards introducing premium burgers and will look at innovations in the protein space – both vegetarian and non-vegetarian – as consumers become more conscious of their food choices, said Agarwal.

“We’re creating food that is relevant among youth as well as older age groups like millennials, who are quite loyal, even in their 40s and 50s," he said.

McDonald’s launched the McCrispy chicken gourmet burger last year from its global menu. The premium chicken offering priced upwards of ₹200 has generated strong demand, particularly in eastern India, he said.

CPRL’s expansion and modernisation efforts include setting up over 200 McCafés across about 300 stores by the year end. These are shop-in-shop coffee sections to serve the growing market of coffee consumers.

Today, about 35% of the company's sales come from delivery; 65% from dine-in.

"We are quite content with our delivery numbers because we feel brands are created when people walk into restaurants and not only when they have them delivered," Agarwal added.

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The company posted revenue from operations of ₹1,410 crore in FY24, up 17.4% from ₹1,201 crore in FY23, according to its latest annual filings with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, accessed via business intelligence platform Tofler. Net profit in FY24 was ₹123.3 crore, up 58.5% from ₹77.8 crore.

In February 2020, the MMG Group took over CPRL, and as part of the deal, Anant's father, Sanjeev Agrawal, was appointed the new development licensee for the region.

QSR chains are rapidly expanding their footprints across tier-2 and tier-3 cities, supported by aggressive marketing, digital ordering platforms, and value-driven menus.

The QSR segment continues to be one of the key growth drivers of the food service industry, especially within the broader casual-dining category, which is projected to grow from ₹1.22 trillion in FY24 to ₹1.74 trillion by FY28. This growth is being fuelled by rising disposable incomes, increased urbanisation, and changing eating habits among younger consumers, the National Restaurant Association of India said.