From Burger Novice to Entrepreneur: IT professional discovers burger at 21, launches 'Biggies Burger' chain
3 min read 02 Jul 2023, 12:33 PM ISTBiraja Rout, an IT professional turned entrepreneur, established the 'Biggies Burger' chain in 2016 to reform India's fast food culture. The chain aims to offer authentic grilled burgers that resonate with the Indian palate while maintaining international taste and quality.
PremiumWith a dream of reforming India's fast food culture, an IT professional turned entrepreneur Biraja Rout established a quick-service restaurant chain called ‘Biggies Burger’ in 2016 which offers a delightful taste of authentic grilled burgers to its customers.
For Biraja Rout, a burger was more than just a meal, a representation of a statement, and a symbol of being a part of the global community when he envisioned Biggies Burger, the founder said.
“A burger is not merely a food item; it embodies convenience, a complete meal packed with the perfect combination of bread, protein, vegetables, and sauces. Unlike traditional Indian delicacies, which often require accompaniments like raita or kebabs, a single burger provides a satiating dining experience on its own," he told Livemint.
Rout revealed that he tasted burgers for the first time at the age of 21 years of his life when he shifted to Bengaluru to work at Infosys. This is when he had fallen in love with burgers.
The moment Biraja Rout started doing research on burgers, he figured out that Indian consumers literally did not have a single Indian homegrown burger chain to choose from years back. In the end, they are left with the options of American burger chains. And here, Biraja found a golden opportunity to scale up a global burger QSR from India.
‘No business experience’, Biraja only had ₹20,000 in hand and the passion to build an Indian QSR Burger chain in the country.
“I started from scratch which includes a basic understanding of burger ingredients, and the art of making it from YouTube and blogs. After diving deep into the burger-making process, I came up with a small kiosk that was 5x5 feet where I started Biggies Burger. I spent my weekends selling burgers at my kiosk near my office which attracted food enthusiasts from all around. The struggle to start Biggies Burger yielded initial results when one of my customers volunteered to take a franchise Biggies Burger. Today we are a franchising-led business," the food chain's founder told us.
Biggies Burger is super conscious about its product quality. The company even started the ‘Biggies Entrepreneur Programme’ that solely focuses on training its franchisees to become successful foodpreneurs.
Earlier, Biraja's vision was to build a homegrown burger chain that offered a diversified menu that keeps the customer delighted, but now it has been expanded to grow the food business on an international level too.
“Also I wanted to take this global delicacy to the Tier II and III cities making it accessible to the consumers who never tasted authentic burgers. Our recent funding round aimed at the same and today we are already seeing success in our mission to take Biggies Burger to tier II and III cities," he told Livemint.
In addition, the company has also entered the cafe segment with ‘BIGG Cafe’, the gourmet burger cafe.
“I am immensely proud of Biggies Burger's journey from a small kiosk to its current position as India's oldest and largest homegrown burger chain and look forward to continuing our growth while maintaining our focus on quality, customer satisfaction, and creating opportunities for aspiring foodpreneurs."
Speaking about the specialty of its product, Biraja asserted that Biggies Burger takes pride in crafting burgers that resonate with the Indian palate while maintaining international standards of taste and quality.
“Our commitment to innovation and creating a delightful customer experience sets us apart in the competitive QSR landscape. With Biggies Burger, customers get to enjoy the best of both worlds – the familiarity of global QSR chains and the uniqueness of flavors inspired by Indian cuisine," he said.
This year, Biggies Burger strives to achieve a revenue of ₹100 crore with its primary focus on increasing the store count and venturing into new regions, Biraja said.
Currently, it has a mix of franchisee-owned and franchisee-operated (FOFO) stores, company-owned and franchisee-operated (COCO) stores, and a few company-owned and company-operated (COCO) stores. Moving forward, the founder aims to establish more FOCO and COCO model stores in cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Pune.
“We are proud to announce that we are looking at reaching a revenue of 100 crores. This milestone is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team, as well as the support and loyalty of our valued customers," he added.
