The Franchise Industry Has New Kid on the block – Wok Restaurants

Indians today are well travelled and are extremely receptive to new concepts & cuisines. Customers want to relish authentic regional and foreign food and the demand can be witnessed in the Indian market, too.

However, according to a recent consumer trend report, consumers demand immediacy. They want everything in a jiffy and have no time to waste. They seek frictionless experiences that mesh with their lifestyles, allowing them to dedicate more time to their professional or social lives.

Therefore, food lovers tend to prefer cuisines, prepared in a short time and they can carry them. This is one of the reasons behind the success of ‘Wok’ concept has gained popularity with Indian diners. The result is a surging demand for Wok franchises in India.

What is the ‘Wok’ Concept?

Well, to begin with, a  ‘wok’ is not the name of a dish, but of a utensil. A wok takes a much shorter time to cook vegetables and meat perfectly, usually about 3 to 8 minutes. The shape of the wok helps to concentrate the heat so it cooks more quickly. Due to this, food can not only be prepared faster but can be made live.

The wok concept can be understood more precisely by these 5 words: fresh, healthy, quick, flexible and affordable. One can enjoy tasty, authentic Asian cuisines, which can be customised according to your own taste buds in a medium-sized takeaway box.

Increasing Demand

Healthy eating is the trend of the hour. Wok boasts of a fresh and healthy meal that is cooked in a live kitchen right in front of the customer. The wok concept is extremely popular among the working population as it offers them the freedom to customise the menu.

The customer gets to pick their own choice of base (between rice and variety of noodles), followed by choosing the sauce, moving on to selecting the meats and/or vegetables and finishing up with the condiments of preference. Each base, paired with a different sauce and vegetables/meat delivers a different experience, thus offering a variety larger than any regular menu. All of this for an average price of INR 200-300.

This has created new business avenues for entrepreneurs in the food industry. There has been an increase in wok franchises in the country, owing to burgeoning demand and profitability factor.

An average wok brand sells over 10000 wok boxes in a year with approximately 200 deliveries per day.

Franchising For Quick Success

While oriental & Asian cuisine isn’t new to India, the quick-service restaurant format is. Today’s customers are always on the go and they need branded, organised Asian food QSR players serving customised fresh food to them. This is where franchises come in.

Wok franchises bring this fresh concept to people and increase awareness for those who aren’t aware of it yet.

A wok franchise can easily be started within startup investment INR of 29-35 lakhs. The area requirement ranges from 500-600 sq. ft. Wok restaurants have profitability of up to 25% with a payback period of 2 years.