Quick Service Restaurant Market in India 2023

The QSR market in India was valued at INR 171.90 Bn in FY 2022. It is expected to reach INR 431.27 Bn in FY 2027, expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of ~20.47% during the FY 2022 - FY 2027 forecast period. The current decade is overseeing a shift to a larger organized sector. Customer retention and a higher range and depth of offerings are new goals among the organized market players of QSR.

The quick service restaurant industry in India has evolved from being just a hygienic and cost-effective format to one that also offers comfort cuisine. As a result, the QSR business now has a larger addressable market because it can better meet the aspirational needs of consumers who are price sensitive as well as those of high-income consumers. The QSR segment is a tight-knit market dominated by leading international brands having physical stores. As of FY 2022, the overall share of these key international brands in terms of the number of outlets in the chain QSR market was ~44%, contributing ~53% to the total revenue of the QSR chain market. The predominant nature of cost-consciousness of Indian consumers also attracts them to combos & value meals that provide them with a discount ranging from 12%-25%, and which consequently allow QSR companies that offer such deals to increase their average ticket size.

Impact of COVID-19:

During the second and third COVID-19 wave, standalone and unorganized players bore the impact of the lockdown and witnessed severe contraction, thus pushing a lot of them out of business. Almost ~30-40% of food service establishments present in metros & tier I cities are estimated to have shut down, most of which are part of either standalone or unorganized segment.

Consequently, these closures led to capacity contraction and any incremental demand was diverted to QSR and other affordable formats of the chain market. Further, QSR formats have also been seeing better demand due to concerns over health and hygiene compared to unorganized and certain portion of standalone outlets. Thus, the chain market saw a faster recovery and did well in the context of the overall food services industry.

Market segment insights:

Based on model, the quick service restaurant market in India is segmented into dine-in, take-away, and home delivery. In FY 2022, the dine-in segment accounted for the major share (44.23%) of the market. In the post pandemic period, as more and more restaurants opened for dine-in, this model has witnessed a gradual growth. However, the home-delivery and take-away models have helped the market to recover significantly. The take-away and home delivery segments are expected to expand at a higher growth rate with a market share of~21.25% and ~40.81%, respectively in FY 2027 as compared to dine-in segment.