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This has been a phenomenon of most of the cities across the continent. The beautiful and pristine continent of Africa is no exception with the spurt of the cities and the settlements from the outside countries. An interesting cradle of development in the continent is the country of South Africa. As the standard of living of most South Africans has risen over the last decade, eating out has become a popular leisure activity. According to Statistics South Africa, restaurants and coffee shops are steadily growing their businesses year on year.
Take-away also did well, with businesses growing at an annual rate of around 15%. These increases were in spite of rising interest rates. In recent years, this market has grown and more restaurants have opened – offering a wide variety and an improving quality of food. So, while the market offers plenty of opportunity for a small business, it also demands quality and preferably a special or different offering. We, at Golden Restaurants , in our explorations to roll out across the seas , couldn’t help overlook this burgeoning market.
Hence, going ahead with our vision of taking our Flagship Restaurant Brand ‘The Golden Bowl’ to the International Market, we have thought of eating our eyes on the Africans , the beautiful South Africa to begin with . Being in the Indian Restaurant Market for quite sometime and having burnt our kitchens to serve clients from different classes , particularly , the rich and the creamy , we would like to conjure our expertise in positioning ourselves as a class apart and an amphitheatre for the Rich and the Super Rich Indian South Africans .
This document provides a peek into the South African Indian Market and our strategy to market and promote the experience of Dining in a different way to the Rich Indian populace. Setting up a restaurant means first deciding what type of food to serve. South Africa has plenty of traditional’ dishes of its own, and has long been a fertile market for cuisines from India, Italy, Greece, France, China and Japan. This exposure has grown in the last decade, and will continue as the country has become home to thousands from other African countries.
Knowing our expertise in the Indian Cuisines, we plan to target High-earning individuals or families of the large Indian Diaspora with plenty of disposable income but not much time as well as dual-income family groups and he Flux of Indian Tourists to the country. Though there are a sizeable number of Indian Restaurants, around 40, located in the Indian strongholds like Durban, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Pretoria catering to the different strata of the Diaspora, we intend to focus ourselves on the niche rich segment and provide an enriching experience with differentiated Service Value Addition.
We plan to start with Johannesburg, as our strategic location , it being a hotshot of Indian settlement and also one of the wealthiest cities of the country . We would like to offer our guests a dining experience like no other. A unique, interactive dining experience creating memorable moments with family and friends or the corporate honchos. From the time the first piece of bread is dipped and the last piece of dessert is savored, you’ll be graced with the time to discover new things about people you thought you knew. And, those you’re getting to know.
The emphasis would be on the first impressions and the power of contrast, simplified but exhaustive dining, an engagement of the senses and a choreographed ambiance. The pick of the cuisines of the four corners of India would be on offer and the Indian exotic feel would be the main forte. The history of the Indian Diaspora in South Africa is a fascinating saga of almost a hundred & forty years. Indian South Africans are people of Indian descent living in South Africa and mostly live in and around the city of Durban, making it ‘the largest ‘Indian’ city outside India’.
Many Indians in South Africa are descendents of migrants from colonial India (South Asia) during late 19th-century through early 20th- century. At other times Indians were subsumed in the broader geographical category “Asians”, including persons originating in present-day Iran and parts of the small Chinese community. The modern South African Indian community is largely descended from Indians who arrived in South Africa from 1860 onwards. The first 342 of these came on board the Tour from Madras, followed by the Belvedere from Calcutta.
They were transported as indentured laborers to work on the sugarcane plantations of Natal Colony, and, in total, approximately 1 50,000 Indians arrived as indentured laborers over a period of 5 decades, later also as indentured coal miners and railway construction workers. The indentured laborers tended to speak Tamil, Deluge and Hindi, and the majority were Hindu with Christians and Muslims among them. The remaining Indian immigration was from passenger Indians, comprising traders, and others who migrated to South Africa shortly after the indentured laborers, paid for their own fares and traveled as British Subjects.
These immigrant Indians who became traders were from varying religious backgrounds, some being Hindu and some being Muslims from Gujarat (including Mesons and Curtis), later Joined by Kiwanis, and Urdu speakers from Attar Pradesh.. There was also a significant number of Guajarati Hindus in this group. Indian traders were sometimes referred to as “Arab traders” because of their dress, as large numbers of them were Muslim. Passenger Indians, who initially operated in Durban, expanded inland, to the South African Republic (Transvaal), establishing communities in settlements on the main road between Johannesburg and Durban.
Manta’s Indian traders rapidly displaced small white shop owners in trade with other Indians, and with black Africans, causing resentment among white businesses. The South African Indian origin community currently numbers around 1. 15 million and constitutes about 2. 5% of South Africans total population of 45. 45 million. About 80% of the Indian community lives in the province of Zulu-Natal, about 15% in he Saut??ing (previously Transvaal) area and the remaining 5% in the Cape Town area. In Zulu-Natal, the major concentration of the Indian population is in Durban.
The largest concentrations of Indian settlement are at Catchword, Phoenix, Tonnage and Stranger in the Durban Coastal area, which covers approximately 500,000 of the Indian origin community. Pittsburghers – noted for its link with Mahatma Gandhi – has a community of approximately 200,000. Smaller inland towns in Zulu Natal such as Ladyships, Newcastle, Dundee and Cologne make up the bulk of the remaining Indian population. In the Saut??ing area, the Indian community is largely concentrated around Lanais outside Johannesburg and Laudanum and other suburbs outside Pretoria.
There are also smaller groups in towns in the Eastern Cape and other provinces. Settlement of Indian origin people in a particular area, as with other South African peoples, came about as a result of the Group Areas Act that forced racial division into particular designated areas. According to the figures provided by the Department of Education and Culture, in the Province of Zulu-Natal, the linguistic break-up of the Indian community is as allows: Tamil 51%, Hindi 30%, Guajarati 7%, Deluge 6%, Urdu 5% and others 1%.
Starting a restaurant in South Africa Product is a key element in the overall market offering. Marketing-mix planning begins with formulating an offering that brings value to target customers. This offering becomes the basis upon which the company builds profitable relationships with customers. A company’s market offering often includes both tangible goods and services. Each component can be a minor or a major part of the total offer. At one extreme, the offer may consist of a pure tangible good, such as soap. Toothpaste, or salt-??no services accompanying the product.
At the other extreme are pure services, for which the offer consists primarily of a service. Examples include a doctor’s exam or financial services. Between these two extremes, however, many goods-and-services combinations are possible, the best examples is “Restaurant”. A restaurant is an ideal case of a product meets services story and the success of the greater concept as a whole depends on the combined successes or excellence of the entire gamut of offerings right from the food served to the services rendered to the ambiance offered.
We are not Just offering our core Product with an elite Service but we blend it with a rich dining experience, one that would linger on for quite sometime. Now that we have identified the country, learnt about the population and have good statistical information which support the opening of an Indian Restaurant in South Africa, let’s put on the Thinking Hat and do some Brainstorming like a marketers. We have the vast South African Market which is more or less a mixed kind of market with heterogeneous culture.
So, at first we need to identify our target market and position our pro-seer-expo (product served in a unique manner to give an experience of lifetime) by the process of S. T. P (I. E. Segmenting, Targeting and Positioning) MARKET SEGMENTING:- A) High-earning individuals or families with plenty of disposable income but not much time, so they eat out often; this customer group includes the growing number of single-parent householders, as well as dual-income family groups. B) Business people with expense accounts are an important customer group for lunchtime business and evening meals.
C) Tourists are important for many restaurants in the major tourist cities such as Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, but also in popular rural destinations in places like the Garden Route, the Oklahoma Dressmakers Park and Mulligan province. D) Working women – married women who work but still do most of the household chores, so eating out means one less task to do. Price will be an important factor for them when they choose a restaurant, as well as the quality and healthiness of the food. E) Children can influence the choice of where a family eats.
The burger franchises target this group heavily in their marketing, and you could do the same if you plan to open a family-focused eatery. F) ‘Grazers’ are a group who choose to eat ‘on the hoof (on the run), largely ignoring the traditional convention of three meals a day. Convenience plays a large part in this group’s choice of venue. TARGET MARKET SELECTION:- We are targeting the following segments Segment -A is been targeted as they got the deep pocket and the elite lifestyle and fit within our Target Customer frame of the rich and the creamy.
Segment -B is been targeted as one of the strategic location for the restaurant is Johannesburg with an urban population of 1 Segment -C is been targeted keeping the data from South African Tourism in mind which shows an increase in Asian Tourist being 37. 5% from July 2011 to January 2012. Also keeping in mind the change in attitude and life style of Indian people, who now doesn’t hesitate to shell out money for a new experience in dinning POSITIONING: – We offer good quality Indian food from all four regions of India and an efficient service experience supported by a well trained take order/sale staff to enrich your dining experience. The Golden Bowl is the place for a rich dinning experience among all food Joints because we don’t Just offer food served with an excellent elite service but it comes tit a royal experience of being in India. ” 7 Up’s forming the marketing mix for services marketing The first 4 As being the core and the next 3 As being the extended marketing mix. * Product – Food is our core offering. This is “the thing” that will fulfill the needs of our customer. If our product is faulty, everything else fails.
The attributes of the product, vies-a-vies the attributes offered by competing products and substitutes, are important in estimating the competitive scenario for the marketing strategy formulation. * Price has a lot of impact on the service buyer’s satisfaction level. Often, paying a Geiger price makes a customer more satisfied. Price is often considered a proxy for quality and vice-versa. What is important to note that services being all the more intangible, the price becomes an important factor for the actual service consumption to happen, after service awareness and service acknowledgement. Place often offers a different side of value (utility) to the customer. Who would want to travel 10 miles to have a regular dinner, even if that is priced very competitively and has a super quality? Services are often chosen for their place utility. Closer to the customer means higher probability of purchase. Place utility is important to evaluate, for straightening on the other 6 As. * Promotion plays a role in the perception the possible target audience may have about your service. There has to be a fit between the promotion and the positioning.
Promotion leads to service (brand) recognition and further establishes a proxy to evaluate quality of services based by potential customers. Many different promotional tools are often used like internet advertisement, special events, endorsements which happen out of the store or in-store merchandising like plastic dump bins and digital signage. * People are crucial in service delivery. The best food may not seem equally palatable if the waitress is in a sour mood. A smile always helps.
Intensive training for one’s human resources on how to handle customers and how to deal with contingencies is crucial for one’s success. * Processes are important to deliver a quality service. Services being intangible, processes become all the more crucial to ensure standards are met with. Process mapping ensures that your service is perceived as being dependable by your target segment. * Physical evidence affects the customer’s satisfaction. Often, services being intangible, customers depend on other cues to Judge the offering. This is where physical evidence plays a part.
Would you like eating at a Joint where the table is greasy or the waitresses and cooks look untidy and wear a stained apron? Surely you would evaluate the quality of your experience through proxies such as these. Services’ marketing is that elusive concept which stays incomplete without a thorough understanding of 7 As. These form the critical success factors for any service as evaluated by a possible customer. The 8th P of Service Marketing:- Another P which has grown in significance in Services Marketing is the 8th P, namely ‘Productivity.
This is becoming a crucial phenomenon in modern Service marketing with the focus on Quality attaining a new level . Considering the inputs provided by the Marketer in terms of Services and the Output efficiency in terms of the success and the meeting of the objectives keeping the phenomenon of Total Quality Management in perspective is very crucial . The marketing should be productivity and quality based in serving the target customers and not Just a beating around the bush eye-wash.
A peek into the Pro-seer-expo to be offered through the restaurant:- ‘An Experience’ and not Just a ‘Meal’. First Impressions and the Power of Contrast Walking into The Golden Bowl there should be an immediate transformation which should draw the clients into the experience. The restaurant’s fit out should immediately create an impression that lasts for the rest of the day (and beyond). We plan to create a luxurious yet tasteful version of a Oriental flavored dining room. Dark , cozy and inviting – in stark contrast to the bright, stark, surrounds of concrete outside.
The first impressions matter a lot and can create a lasting impression that sets up the experience someone has of what you’re doing. Unexpected contrast is also something that will grab people’s attention and make them take notice of what you’re doing. Simplified Dining Sometimes dining in places like a restaurant offering many dishes can be an overwhelming experience for a guest. For many being confronted with a menu filled with dishes that needs translation and being overwhelmed with a wine list with so many options that one has no idea where to start isn’t a great way to start a meal.
Instead at The Golden Bowl we would like to warmly greet, seat and give a very simple menu (with an invitation for a more extensive one if required ). Conversation is not to be interrupted with choices of food and drinks and the overwhelming nature of those menus and wine lists would be eliminated. Choice is great but sometimes it can be overwhelming and simplicity can be appreciated. Engaging the Senses Throughout the meal it won’t be Just the taste buds that would be stimulated.
In the corner a three piece band would play eastern music, outside would be a court yard where people would smoke flavored Hookahs (creating sweet smell that would drift into the room) and at the end of the meal we would like to offer to have the hands inside in a little lemon cologne which would engage both their senses of smell and touch followed by a PAN as mouth freshener The cologne is likely to make a lasting impression – even when one falls asleep at night it would linger on and would remind one of the experience at the restaurant .
Hence engaging the senses we could transform something that can be quite one dimensional into something experiential. Unexpected Gifts When it is the time for the bill to be brought to the table the waiter / waitress would also deliver gift boxes with some small pastries / Indian sweets in them. These would CT as a little take home gift to extend one’s visit. These gifts would serve several purposes including: 1 . A something we didn’t ‘pay for’ feel- It is usually amazing what impression getting something for free makes , even to the richest of clients.
This perceived extra value and a gift will of course create a lasting impression. 2. Extending the experience – later as one would eat the pastry/ Indian Sweet one would still think about the meal. Focus Upon the Positive As the guests are about to leave our waiter / waitress would stop by the table. Instead of asking if everything was k (often the way the wait staff usually word this question) our waitress would ask about What one’s favorite part of the meal was’.
Couching the question by asking the guest for the best part of the meal would ( our experience says) usually be a pretty smart move as it shifts one’s minds away from parts one might not have enjoyed (not that there should be many) and onto the best parts of the meal Just as one is about to leave. One would leave pondering the good rather than what could have been better. This also would serve as a great way for the staff to gather feedback on what was working – something that no doubt helps them to continue to improve what they do.
Choreography/Process In effect the experience wouldn’t Just happen. Everything from the ways in which one would be greeted, through to the small touches like the lemon cologne and complimentary pastries are intentional and planned steps in a choreography to create an exquisite experience at the The Golden Bowl . The overall realization would ensure the best chances of a great experience for diners and a profitable business. The ‘choreography wouldn’t be obvious or intrusive in any way, it would Just naturally get unfolded.
Great experiences don’t always Just happen. A little thought can go a long way to helping people move through an experience in a positive way. Promoting the Restaurant We believe the location has lot to do in promoting a Restaurant. In the 1st phase we will start from 3 major cities of South Africa namely Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. * Location with plenty of passing trade. While it is important to build one’s business by word-of-mouth (happy customers telling their friends about you), a good location is one where passers-by can see and remember you. Restaurants are best located in clusters, so we will open in and around some existing Restaurants. Besides this, it will be easier to get a license as the Authority in South Africa doesn’t allow assistants to operate near residential area as they tend to stay open late at night. * Bring in ‘Love-Marks’ from India like Superstars who are very popular with the Diaspora and organizing get together and evenings * Invite food critics from the local papers and the television media to come and have a meal. A good review will help boost local interest. Listing in relevant food and restaurant guides. Starting with those guides that target the posh region and/or the city as a whole (like Johannesburg). * Advertisement in publications that the target audience reads regularly. We will also target public facilities, like theatres – where most of the South African Indian go to enjoy Plywood movies. * To stand out from the crowd, we would choose an exclusive image or theme based on the culture and heritage of India and apply it to our dcore, staff uniforms, crockery and cutlery, and menus.
We would promote the restaurant to different audiences, depending on the time of the day. The daytime and evening menus could be adapted accordingly, with daily specials to vary the usual menu. * Christmas is a crucial time for most restaurants along with the other Indian festivals; corporate parties are good business on their wan, but also introduce one’s restaurant to potential new customers who may return during the year. * We would like to become a member of the Southern Africa Tourist Services Association (www. Tats. Com), to assure customers that certain standards are being maintained. With the aggressive marketing and promotions and placing ourselves as a destination for enriching experience to the Rich Indian section and also as an exotic locale for the South African locals , the plan is to establish ourselves strongly in the Footing market in South Africa and open tallest 5 more restaurants across the cities f Johannesburg , Durban , Cape Town and Pretoria .