DI to expand Swensen's and Vaango

Devyani International (DI), a QSR chain plans to grow both its brands, Swensen's and Vaango through a market saturation strategy rather than expand rapidly across the country. Swensen's is a US-based luxury ice-cream retailing brand, while Vaango is a south Indian food brand. DI is the master franchisee for Costa Coffee, sole franchisee for Swensen's ice-creams in India and largest franchisee for Pizza Hut and KFC, while it owns the Vaango chain of South Indian food outlets. The company plans to add around 140 stores at an investment of about Rs 200 crore in the current fiscal across its five QSR brands. Swensen's, popular for its sundaes, currently has seven outlets in Bengaluru, and has plans to enter Chennai and Hyderabad during the next financial year. Similarly, Vaango, which has seven outlets in Delhi, will be taken to other regions only after the current fiscal.