From the time it opened its first restaurant in New Delhi’s Janakpuri suburb, The Barbeque Company or The BBQ Company as it is better known, gained popularity with patrons for its all-you-can-eat fare, which was grilled and served at the table. Things were going great for the five-year old company till the pandemic struck and restaurants had to shut down.
Even after lockdown restrictions were eased in various parts of the country, buffets came under fire for health and safety restrictions. Rather than lose heart, and business, Harmandeep Khurana, founder of The BBQ Company decided to monitor what his customers expected and deliver just that. One thing that stood out starkly was their craving for grilled Punjabi food, served in sanitary packaging amidst heightened hygiene concerns.
“We started the ‘BBQ Express’ vertical during the pandemic,” Khurana explained. “These are small takeaway outlets owned by The BBQ Company, which deliver our brand’s inimitable taste to customers without compromising on safety.”
GRILLED TO SUCCESS
The BBQ Express’ creation was necessitated to accommodate business that could be catered to within the ambit of prevalent health restrictions. At present, Khurana revealed that it contributed 7% to 10% to the total revenue.
Considering this meager contribution to the business and in light of growing relaxations in restrictions for on-premise dining, will The BBQ Company continue to build this channel or concentrate more on its dine-in services? Khurana is undecided as yet.
“We need to consider several factors before taking a decision in this regard,” he explained. “The first is the uncertainty because of the pandemic, and the second is the time it will take to completely vaccinate the entire population. Thirdly, we have to evaluate the business any vertical brings in and most importantly, what customers are likely to prefer in the coming days.”
REVIVING THE LOST VIBE
At present, the restaurant chain has adopted a dual strategy of focusing on its dine-in services, while expanding ‘The BBQ Express’. It has created its own ‘No Compromise On Safety’ (NCS) guidelines.
Under this, its staff has been trained to ensure safety, sanitisation, and social distancing in every outlet, including wearing gloves while serving and masks all the time. The seating capacity has been reduced to ensure proper social distancing and temperature of each customer is recorded when they enter the restaurant.
These measures have helped The BBQ Company restart its signature all-you-can-eat meals with a modicum of success. Some outlets have already recovered lost business, especially during weekends, with footfalls touching pre-pandemic levels. “In fact, I will say it is better than that in some restaurants, while it may take another couple of months to have the same hustle in other outposts,” Khurana stated.
During the ups and downs since last year, The BBQ Company had to retrench some employees, while retaining most of its core team. “We had around 100 employees in March 2020 and we are nearly 70 at present,” Khurana stated. “We are hiring some more people as the customer traffic grows and have also planned to replace some manpower with technology and automation.”
The suggestion for automation actually came from his team members. They believed this would make The BBQ Company more resilient in the face of similar challenges, ensuring it did not have to retrench any employees in the future.
GEARING FOR GROWTH
Just before business came to a standstill in March 2020, the company was charged up for growth. While it did lose a lot of momentum in the intervening months since, Khurana is confident that The BBQ Company can open 25 new outlets across 10 more cities and touch a turnover of INR 100 crore by 2025.
“Our focus for the next three years is to ensure our food quality and expand to newer cities,” he revealed. “We are in talks with some PE investors to raise funds to grow. Once that is done, we will focus on growing both our dine-in and takeaway verticals as per our growth plan.”
He added that the menu, which he calls the brand’s USP, is unlikely to change even as the company scales its business. The grilled Punjabi fare and the family-friendly ambience is what makes The BBQ Company stand out from its competition, and he is unwilling to trade that for anything else on that might be on offer.
