Wendy’s, Rebel Foods Partner For 250 Ghost Kitchens In India

U.S.-based fast food chain Wendy’s is partnering with India’s Rebel Foods and Sierra Nevada Restaurants to launch roughly 250 ghost or cloud kitchens across India. As part of a strategic partnership designed to increase Wendy’s presence in the country, Sierra Nevada will also develop 150 traditional Wendy’s locations in India.

“This reflects Wendy’s commitment to growing our international business in strategic high-growth potential markets through both traditional restaurant expansion and digital innovation with the meaningful addition of approximately 400 restaurants,” Abigail Pringle, president, international and chief development officer of Wendy’s, said in a Tuesday (Dec. 1) press release.

Wendy’s franchise partner, Sierra Nevada Restaurants, launched the chain’s first Indian location in 2015 and will develop the new kitchens in partnership with Rebel Foods, the world’s biggest manager of online restaurants. Rebel, backed by Sequoia Capital and Goldman Sachs, has in excess of 300 cloud kitchens across India, UAE, South East Asia and the U.K.

There are over 6,800 Wendy’s in 30 markets across the globe, with nine physical restaurants in India. Wendy’s said its cloud kitchen alliance is likely the biggest in the industry. Cloud kitchens, also known as ghost kitchens, are remote facilities that prepare food exclusively for delivery. There are no cashiers or seating.

“This is a game-changing partnership. Rebel Foods, Wendy’s and Sierra Nevada all believe in quality, speed, and the convenience that comes from multiple channels,” said Kallol Banerjee, co-founder of Rebel Foods. “For generations, brands building a national presence relied solely on a brick-and-mortar strategy and made significant investments over decades.”

Banerjee added that the existing kitchens that are already part of Rebel Foods will give Wendy’s “immediate access to rapid scale across the country, at far lower levels of capital.”

With deliveries surging amid the pandemic, many fast and casual food restaurants have turned to cloud kitchens to meet demand, Bloomberg reported.

“India is one of the most under-penetrated markets on earth” for quick-serve restaurants, Jasper Reid, managing director of Sierra Nevada, told the news outlet.

Because a majority of Indians worship cows as being sacred, Wendy’s has had to focus on menu options like chicken chili, masala fries and a 69-rupee ($0.93) bun tikki, a spicy potato cutlet served between two burger buns.

Ghost kitchens grew to meet the growing trends of mobile order-ahead (MOA) and order-to-eat (OTE) and have fulfilled much of the demand for restaurant delivery orders during the COVID-19 pandemic.