Click to play videoNew York: Church's Chicken, one of America's leading fast food chains, is talking to a major Mumbai-based real estate and retail group, which also owns some restaurant brands, to be its master franchise in India.
Its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Harsha Agadi says an agreement is likely to be signed in the next few weeks.
The US company, which hit a billion dollars in sales in 2006, plans to invest $100 million over the next five years to open around 300 stores across India.
"India is larger than China in terms of internal consumer demand. It might not be as large an economy as China, but larger in terms of consumer demand. And the rapid westernization is making it even more palatable for the American fast food companies to come into India," President & CEO Church's Chicken, Harsha V Agadi says.
The Atlanta based fast food chain serves American southern-style fried and spicy chicken dishes at its 1,600 stores in 16 countries.
It believes its main menu would be a natural fit with Indian tastes, and will also offer some localised items like samosas, fried okra and spiced bhajia.
"Spicy chicken is nothing but the closest imitation to tandoori chicken. Our flavors are actually very close to the Indian profile in terms of taste and flavor. This should be a perfect fit," Harsha V Agadi says.
Earlier in 2006, Church's Chicken outsourced its entire IT operations to the Hyderabad-based Sonata Software in a $5 million deal.
It is now planning to take this further by outsourcing customer services and technical support for its stores in English and Spanish speaking areas.
It will also use a bank of psychologists in India to handle the 200-300 complaints and calls it receives from customers around the world.
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