Amit Jatia, Vice Chairman of Westlife Development—which runs the McDonald’s outlets in the West and South of India—is an unlikely ‘Hamburgerologist’ (one who has a degree from the Hamburger University run by McDonald’s). Jatia, a vegetarian who hails from a north Indian business family, was happily running his family’s industrial chemicals business when he decided to enter the world of quick service restaurants (QSR) by partnering with McDonald’s. Today, he presides over a chain of 325 McDonald’s restaurants dishing out vegetarian and non-vegetarian fare. In an interaction with Business Today’s Global Business Editor Udayan Mukherjee, Jatia talks about how the global burger chain customised its menu for India, why vegetarianism is important for him, how he deals with inflation, and his expansion plans. Edited excerpts:
Q: The first thing which leaps…
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Business Today (Digital) - 1 Issue, 18 September 2022