Good news for those missing their go-to burger joint. Connaught Plaza Restaurants Pvt. Ltd (CPRL), the north and east India licencee of American fast food chain McDonald’s Corp., has partnered with a new logistics firm and started reopening at least some of the 84 closed restaurants. CRPL’s original logistics partner Radhakrishna Foodland Pvt. Ltd discontinued supply chain services to the company on December 20.
Many vendors had also stopped supplying ingredients and packaging material to CPRL. This led to inconsistencies in the menu, with products such as its popular McFlurry and Soft Serve ice creams unavailable across some of its stores. Some outlets were even reportedly short on tomatoes and milk supplies.
CPRL is a joint venture between McDonald’s India Pvt Ltd (MIPL) and Vikram Bakshi. It operates 169 McDonald’s restaurants in north and east India. Bakshi, managing director of CPRL, said the company is working with a “strong group in logistics space” to deliver raw material to all 84 McDonald’s restaurants (starting with the ones in north India) that were closed on Monday because of supply constraints.
By the end of 2017, all McDonald’s restaurants will be up and running, said Bakshi, without identifying the new logistics partner.
Radhakrishna Foodland, which earlier managed the distribution network of CPRL, discontinued its services, citing “reduction in volumes and uncertainty of the future” as the reasons. The closure of the outlets came against the backdrop of an ongoing legal battle between Bakshi and MIPL. On August 21, McDonald’s India terminated its franchise pact with CPRL.
According to the termination notice, Bakshi was supposed to cease using McDonald’s name, trademarks, designs, branding, operational and marketing practice and policies and food recipes and specifications from September 6, 2017. This termination has been challenged by Bakshi before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for being in contempt of an earlier NCLT order, which had asked McDonald’s to refrain from interfering in the functioning of CPRL.
McDonald’s India and Bakshi landed in court in 2013, after the former voted against the re-election of Bakshi as the managing director of CPRL. Bakshi challenged his removal at the Company Law Board (now NCLT), accusing McDonald’s India of mismanagement and oppression. NCLT reinstated Bakshi as managing director in July this year.
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