Burger King’s India Strategy Centers On New Vegetarian Menu Items

Burger King faced a puzzling challenge when it decided to open restaurants in its 100th country, India: about half the population does not eat meat. So it’s not likely the Whopper will be a popular menu item. Rather than try to fit a square peg in a round hole, cuisine-wise, the chain decided to adjust to the culture. Burger King reps traveled all over India, gathering intelligence on local food habits. The result? Six varieties of vegetarian sandwiches, vegetarian snackers and other products for non-meat eaters. There’s already a lot of quick-service (QSR) competition in India – from McDonald’s, KFC and Subway – but it’s a huge opportunity. The market is growing at 26 percent a year, and QSR represents only two to three percent of the country’s food industry. Burger King now has 16 restaurants in India, with seven more on the way soon.