Former McDonald's North and East managing director Vikram Bakshi has acquired equity in home-grown premium foods startup AKU's backed by DIY western-cuisine foods company The Brrgrr Co, according to a report by Economic Times.
Following McDonald's, Bakshi is back in the burger business, the report added.
Moneycontrol could not independently verify this news development.
In a statement to ET, Bakshi confirmed that the deal involves equity investment. Declining to disclose other details of the deal, he said the brand would be scaled up "to a much larger audience than it already is".
A post on one of the Brrgrr Co's social media pages announced that it had raised funds from Bakshi. According to the company's website, Brrgrr Co sells hand-crafted buns, patties, and sauces, co-founded by Delhi-based chef Akriti Malhotra in 2020.
"The time is ripe to upgrade the burger culture in India. Their positioning connects with the present demand of millennials and Gen Z," Bakshi said.
There has been a scaling up of specialised western-style food brands in the past year, including AvoBeet and Feta from Nino Burgers, Louis Burger, and Speak Burgers.
Large quick-service restaurants in the mass western-style fast food space, however, reported declining or flat growth in the March quarter, as consumers downtraded to lower ticket sizes and multiple lower-priced boutique chains started eroding the share of larger companies, including Leo's, Tossin, GoPizza and MojoPizza.
McDonald's announced in May 2019 that it had reached an out-of-court settlement with Bakshi, purchasing Bakshi's stake in Connaught Plaza Restaurants Pvt Ltd (CPRL), which operated McDonald's restaurants in north and east India.
Bakshi had previously led McDonald's operations in the north and east for nearly two decades.
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