Potential for 'more than 200' Jamie Oliver restaurants to open in India

Jamie Oliver's international restaurant business is set for a rapid expansion in India and could reach more than 200 sites in the country, its franchise partner has said.

The chef's restaurants are already the largest Italian casual dining chain in India with 20 sites spread across nine cities, and now Jamie Oliver Restaurants plans to treble its footprint and expand to new areas of the country.

It will work in partnership with Dolomite Restaurants Pvt Ltd, which is the master franchisee for the Jamie's Italian, Jamie's Pizzeria and Jamie's Diner brands in India.

Jasper Reid, the promoter of Jamie's India, said: "Jamie's has been a great business and we are very bullish on the growing casual dining sector in India.

He added: "The market potential for great Italian, good and authentic handmade pizzas is huge and we see potential for more than 200 locations over time. But we don't believe in expansion for its own sake and every restaurant is unique and serves a local community".

Although Oliver's UK restaurant arm shut down in 2019, the Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group has continued to expand overseas and has 70 restaurants across 23 different countries.

Earlier this year the group signed a franchise partnership with BMB Gruppe to launch a Jamie Oliver Kitchen in Berlin over the summer.

The Dolomite business was founded in 2014 and owned by IMM (UK) and Hunch Ventures (India), which are both specialists in developing consumer brands in India.