Popular chain Jumbo King to expand to other cities; will have centralised kitchens just like MNC chainsMumbai: The city’s famous vada-pav will now be available in other cities of the country with Jumbo King, the Mumbai-based chain, set to expand its network.
And the new branches will not only have the same ingredients and menus but will also be similar in terms of the vada size, taste, price and right down to the temperature and method of cooking. This uniform offering will take place in Jumbo King’s new franchisees in cities like Nagpur, Nashik, Pune, Ahmedabad, Baroda, Surat and Navsari.
“We already have a centralised kitchen in the city and we will open such kitchens in other cities as well. We have such a kitchen in Malad where – through automated processing machines – about 20 ingredients are mixed and supplied to our 25 outlets throughout the day. At every outlet, the vadas are 2.5 inches in size and fried with maida at exactly 150 degree centigrade. At this temperature, the vadas are neither over- nor under-cooked,” Dheeraj Gupta, Managing Director of Jumbo King Foods Private Limited, told Mumbai Mirror.
Set practices to be followed everywhere
Gupta added that the same procedure will be maintained at all the other proposed outlets in the future. “Along with the system, we will also have audit checks for making sure that these set practices are followed at all outlets,” he said.
Training for the kitchen staff is another crucial aspect. “The raw material is preserved at a minus 5 degree centigrade. This is because the ideal temperature for developing bacteria in food is from 5 degree onwards to 45 degree centigrade. And we make sure that once the food is delivered for sale, it should be consumed within four hours,” Gupta said.He revealed that the idea of floating this retail chain originated from McDonald’s burgers. “As vada-pav is considered a desi burger, we wanted to offer the same as a low-cost food for the masses.”
‘Vada-pav day’, novel recipes...
Jumbo King was started five years back on August 23 and the company even observes the same as ‘Vada-pav Day’. It has a turnover of about Rs 15 crore and about 40,000 people eat vada-pav at its outlets across the city everyday. The firm expects no less than 9 lakh people for a bite during its ongoing vada-pav festival which will be held till August 23. “In a week or so, we may introduce such novelties as a chana-vada-pav, chole or even veg-manchurian vada-pav,” Gupta said.
