Chinese restaurant chain Chowman looks for expansion throughout India

Chowman, the popular Chinese restaurant chain, is actually the journey of a foodie, who dared to bring a bend to the food narrative in Bengal. He is not just a foodie but an avid traveller, a dreamer by heart, and madcap by nature, and is also the founding member of popular Bengali Rock Band, ‘Lakkhichhara’. Debaditya Chaudhury travelled all over Asia, learning the Chinese culture, understanding their food tradition before starting Chowman in 2010. Thirteen years down the road, with a wide array of over 600 menu and an amazing plethora of Thai and other Pan-Asian delicacies, Chowman has got over 20 outlets in Kolkata, five in Bangalore, and two in Delhi. And the journey continues. Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad will be its next port of call. Speaking to Bizz Buzz exclusively, the musician-turned-entrepreneur and the Managing Director of Chowman, Debaditya Chaudhury, narrates the story of the evolution of the Chinese cuisine in India and also the evolution and growth of Chowman. He also touched upon some other interesting aspects and trends of the restaurant business in India.

How has Chinese cuisine evolved and grown, satiating the Indian taste buds over the years?

To understand the evolution, we need to understand the origin first. See, Chinese cuisine had always been at the forefront. In Kolkata, if people found comfort next to Bengali food, it would be Chinese food. China has been so much into the trading business that the integration of Chinese food globally had been very prominent because of its quick preparation, quick adaptation to the taste buds.

Yes, to trace the evolution we can say that unlike Chinese food that was appropriated earlier, by the 21st century started reversing to its original flavours- what in modern times we call as ‘authentic Chinese’. And today, what is popularly known as fine-dining grabbed onto this specific area of concerning evolution. Fine-dining is not just about the elite experience that one has, it is also about experiencing the food. So, the reason that makes it different from any other atypical restaurant is mostly the distinctive taste and presentation of the food.

So, if we start tracing the evolution of Chinese food, we will find the predominant Indo-Chinese prominence in India and globally, along with line-ups of authentic Chinese as well. Another facet would be that earlier Chinese food was restricted to specific dishes namely ‘chowmein’, ‘Hakka noodles’, ‘chilli chicken’, ‘Hong Kong Style Chicken’ etc. But currently, there has been a revamp in the entire cuisine with introduction of dimsum platters, a plethora of dishes influenced from different parts of China other than the Capital like ‘cantonese style’, ‘shanghai style’ ‘Teriyaki’ ‘ Kung Pao Style’ and much more due to an easy access of imported ingredients, and skilled chefs with vivid expertise.

How has Chowman as a restaurant brand grown over the years?

Chowman started as a small neighbourhood dining experience within a 360 sq ft sitting area with a cosy, tiny set up in Golf green back in 2010. But it’s unique dishes, the ambiance reverberating the ethos of China paired with traditional, soothing Chinese instrumental as well as rising amidst the neighbourhood with easy accessibility and rising curiosity gave rise to three more in Jadavpur Broadstreet, Calcutta Club and Ballygunge in 2010 and 2011, followed by Saltlake in 2014, Patuli & behala in 2015, BT road, Russell Street in 2016, Garia Garden, Baguihati in 2018, Sodepur in 2019, Barasat and Newtown in 2020, Indiranagar, Arekere ,Marathahalli, Gouribari, Serampore, Kalyan Nagar in 2021, Birati, Kalyani, Kalyannagar, Electronic City, Bellandur, East of Kailash & Noida in 2022. This year till now, it has opened two more in Delhi, Indirapuram & Ghaziabad, Sainik Vihar.

Did you have to tweak the format or positioning of the Chowman brand in all these years?

Yes of course. Any entrepreneurial venture specially B2C has to undergo evolution and we too have done the same keeping in mind people’s changing lifestyle, demands and approach followed by the Covid-19. We took a big leap with a revamp of our brand logo with the copy, ‘bigger, bolder, brighter’ where each word would define the budding youth because this brand now had to make move towards its biggest consumer group between 18-25. However, our motto of being fine-dining in neighbourhood experience continues to be and will always remain the crux of our venture.

Would you continue with the same brand positioning in the years to come?

As reiterated earlier, our brand positioning has been emphasized upon the foundation of redefining democratized, neighbourhood fine-dining experience and that will be a static. Today, we are East India’s No.1 brand as a Chinese restaurant, and have further become one of the leading faces in Bengaluru as well. However, we are soon about to spread across the lengths and breadths of India with the motto of becoming nation’s No. 1.

What has been your experience of moving into tier-II, tier-III cities so far?

Well, so far, we’ve been in the metropolitans with a few in the suburban regions of Bengal such as Birati, Serampore, Kalyani and Barasat.

Do you think that the market is growing faster in smaller towns?

Well to be honest it’s a little tricky. We can say we have captured the hearts of the smaller town. However, from the marketing and sales point of view it’s a different ball game altogether as we have perceived so far from operating in the metropolitans.

Tell us something about your expansion plans and your current focus?

We look forward to soon expand ourselves throughout the nation. Our next expansion happening in the West with Bombay and Pune, in the North with Chandigarh and in the South with Chennai and Hyderabad. Finally our aim is to be present in all major cities of the country within 2026. Meanwhile our expansions will keep continuing in Kolkata because my love for homeland is pretty obsessive!

Would you take the franchise route to expand at some point of time or would the company continue to own all the outlets?

No. Till now, I have tried my best not to opt for franchise outlets. Many opportunities have landed our plates and I let it go. Whether or not we might have franchise outlet much later in the future might be circumstantial, but for now, it’s a big no. We will keep continuing only with self-owned outlets.

Now that you have more or less consolidated your position here, any overseas plans?

Right now the focus is at the national level of expansion and we’ve got a lot on plates already. However, we do have overseas expansion at the back of our mind and might implement it in later future.

None of your outlets serve alcohol, although there is often a perception that restaurant business thrives on liquor business. Any particular reason why you chose to be different?

Actually, we have recently introduced alcohol in Russell Street with live music pertaining to the office culture and after-party demand over there which is not the same case since most of our outlets are located in neighbourhood areas. So, we have intentionally dropped out the bar ambience from the list. But for national expansion if situation persist, we will surely take alcohol inclusion into consideration, as long as it doesn’t dilute our comforting experience of familial fine-dining aura.

You co-own another brand (different cuisine) - Oudh with your brother. Has it come in handy for your growth, in some way?

From the entrepreneurial point of view of course working with my brother, walking in his shadows of years of expertise has helped me a lot. I have got to learn a more humane side and dealing things with maturity. And Oudh 1590, Chapter 2 would not have been such a wonderful journey without having my brother beside.

Do you have any fund raising plans to back up your expansion plans?

Currently we have no fund-raising plans. I have mostly tried to chalk out my expansion and entrepreneurial venture devoid of any funding assistance and will be working accordingly.

How much of your current revenue comes from home delivery? Would it be the same way in future?

Our majority of revenue is now lying upon the foundation of home delivery, to be honest. Specially, with our exclusively owned Chowman App delivery facility, there is a good spike in revenue alongside that of Swiggy and Zomato. However, we are also doing pretty good in dine-in post Covid-scenario. I guess yes. There is now a roll out of digitization in the F&B industry and much revenue sourcing from home delivery and also cloud kitchen. So I am guessing the maximum profitability will be from online delivery followed by dine-in.