Burger Singh – Burgers for the Indian Soul

“I would love to eat a really great burger, but it doesn’t exist in our part of the world,” Rene Redzepi, the star chef, remarked once.

But well, the residents of Gurgaon and most parts of Delhi no longer share Rene’s sentiments. With Burger Singh foraying into Gurgaon in November 2014, the foodies amongst us got the first taste of the ‘desi’ burgers, customized to the Indian palate with generous spices, ‘punjabi’ masalas and unique flavours, giving Indians their first ‘craft’ burger, an interesting connotation by Kabir Jeet Singh, the man responsible for bringing the Singh into Burger Singh.

With patrons across NCR already swooning over Burger Singh’s unique offerings, the chain is soon set to open outlets in Bangalore and Pune, too.

Owned by Tipping Mr. Pink Pvt Ltd. and founded by Kabir Jeet Singh and Nitin Rana – partners in crime since they were 13 year old boys in boarding school (APS Dagshai) – the upbeat eatery specializes in serving droolworthy burgers (apart from chicken wings, ‘chat’ fries, desserts and and their own aerated drink “BANTA”, which sells more than Pepsi!) that have caught the fancy of foodies and connoisseurs alike, apart from catching attention as well as finances from several big investors. IN THE LAST 1 year they have raised a combined funding amounting to USD 1 million from investors such as Rahul Singh, founder of The Beer Café, Dheeraj Jain of Redcliffe Partners Capital, Avtar Monga, COO of IDFC Bank, and actor Rannvijay Singh.



Inception

Great ideas are often found in the simplest of situations, waiting to be cashed upon. The inception of Burger Singh lies in one such ordinary situation turned into an extraordinary service by Kabir Jeet Singh, the founder of Burger Singh.

While studying at Birmingham Business School, Birmingham University, he worked part time as a bartender and at a chip shop where he flipped burgers and would get a meal a day as a part of the deal. Eventually, he was bored with the burgers there and started to infuse Indian spices in them – for his own consumption. Soon after, he started experimenting with the rigid burger palate, modifying it to suit the Indian taste buds. His colleagues, and later, a group of friends which included the owner of one such chip shop he worked for, liked the new flavors and decided to put Singh’s burgers on the menu. On his return to India in 2011, Kabir, during his stint with a Beer Café chain, couldn’t help but notice the charm of the humble burger amongst the youth.

The moment was ripe. He decided to redefine the classic burger to create the very first ‘desi’ burger – larger in size, easy on the pocket and tantalizing the taste buds with Indian spices. Today, out of the 10 outlets in NCR, the homegrown burger chain flips the famous United States of Punjab (chicken) burger, the Paneer Burger, the highly innovative rajma and kala chana burgers and even a Chinese flavour burger! With the recently acquired funding, the founders aim to soon sell through 26 outlets, based on franchise owned company operated model.


Singh is King?

According to an estimate, the QSR market, currently pegged at INR 8,500 cr, is growing at a rate of 25% annually. Several international chains are cashing on this trend, McDonald’s, Johnny Rockets and Wendy’s being some of them.

However, interestingly, Kabir insists, “We are not a quick service restaurant; we are fast but not really quick.”

Kabir further explains the landscape of the industry over the years, “The burger market is going through what the pizza market went through in the mid 2000s, when a large number of players entered the market, increasing competition. Today, 10 years later, we have a few winners and some have disappeared.”

Speaking about Burger Singh, Kabir adds, “I like to define us as a casual fast dining restaurant which lies somewhere between a QSR and a casual dining restaurant. And we are the only ones selling ‘desi’ burgers.”

His take on the market is interesting – “Entrepreneurs are always biased to understate the scale of competition, but that is the biggest mistake a startup can make. The fatal temptation is to describe your market extremely narrowly so that you dominate it by definition,” he muses.

“We are the only ‘desi’ burger chain in the fast casual dining space. With that definition, we own the entire market and have no competition. But currently our competitive landscape includes all the restaurants in the NCR market and even in the nearby towns,” he adds insightfully.

The burger wars started in India with McDonald’s opening its first store in 1996. It grew exponentially thereafter and holds maximum sway in the market. 

In 2014, Johnny Rockets, Carl’s Jr. and Wendy’s made a beeline to join the Indian burger market. Dunkin Donuts, a chain that forayed into the Indian market in 2012, is also serving burgers as part of their regular menu.

Burger Singh found its feet in Gurgaon through its first outlet in the end of 2014. Today, Burger Singh is serving NCR through 10 outlets, aiming to open 75 outlets by 2019 when the Indian burger fast food market is slated to touch INR 1,688 cr according to a research firm, Euromonitor.

Undeniably, competition for feeding burgers to the Indian stomach has only increased. Feeding the Indian palate; well, that remains a niche touched by only Burger Singh. Be it the United States of Punjab Chicken Burger made with fire-grilled tikkas topped with onions, cheese & tandoori sauce or the Bihari Gosht Burger with its succulent mutton patty reminiscent of Bihari mutton curry, topped with onions, cheese & hot Bihari sauce or the Moroccan (lemon and pepper) fries, the quintessential old Delhi Dilli-6 fries and the Hot Shock Fries, Burger Singh definitely has too much innovation going on between two buns.

But what’s common between Burger Singh and other burger chains? Nothing, is the surprising answer.

According to Kabir, “We are not competing with any chain in the market. We sell what we love to eat and pride ourselves on our trademark desi ‘craft’ burgers. While most international biggies are targeting a broad market, aiming to turn people into burger lovers, we are simply offering scrumptious burgers mapped to the Indian palate to food lovers and burger enthusiasts.”

Burger Singh expects a turnover of INR 20 cr this financial year. With 100 employees at the moment, the company is looking to scale up in the near future, aiming to hire 6-7 personnel in top positions while gradually opening small outlets servicing various locations across the country. Staying true to the fast service model, the outlets will be small, the menu sprightly and the service quick – encouraging more of takeaways and deliveries. Many of these will also work towards satisfying midnight hunger pangs.

Burgers round the clock? Why not, time is always right for a perfect burger!