Marks & Spencer to bring its food products to India
Marks & Spencer is a leading British retailer bringing quality, great value food, clothing and homeware to millions of customers around the world
In an effort to meet the growing demand for quality food products in the country, UK company Marks & Spencer (M&S) plans to introduce its food products in a number of stores. its department, according to three people familiar with the development.
M&S plans to launch its food products early next year at two DLF-owned shopping malls in the National Capital Region (NCR), nearly 14 years after forming a joint venture with Reliance Retail. .
Marks & Spencer operates department stores at DLF facilities including Mall of India in Noida, DLF Avenue in Saket in New Delhi and DLF CyberHub in Gurgaon.
As a global business, the UK department store chain sells high-quality food and clothing, as well as household chains in more than 100 different markets, according to an M&S spokesperson.
“We have significant ambitions to further grow our business in India with our partner Reliance and we are always looking to offer the most relevant ranges to our local customers. However, at this time, we have no immediate plans to introduce M&S Food to the market,” the spokesperson said in an emailed response.
However, two of the three sources Indiaretailing.com cites for this story are people with direct knowledge of the plans.
“M&S is currently deciding on the menu and the dishes that will be introduced in India,” said the person with direct knowledge of the matter. A second person with direct knowledge of the plans said the UK retailer had been planning this option for a while and it had picked up speed this year.
A third source said DLF is “currently creating space” or has plans to add space to existing M&S department stores at two of the DLF-owned malls. “Initially, M&S plans to experiment with one or two stores,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
In the early 2010s, the sale of food products by foreign companies in India was a hot topic and it took years for IKEA to get government permission to integrate its IKEA coffee brand into stores. his big store.
Currently, Swedish furniture and home products giant IKEA sells food items such as jams, pasta, packaged salmon, sauces, cookies and crackers, and other toppings. , through the cafe, an integral part of department stores. IKEA operates three large warehouse-scale stores of approximately 400,000 square feet in Hyderabad, Mumbai and Bangalore, in addition to two relatively smaller stores in Mumbai.
Last month, M&S launched a new vegetarian meal series, Veggie, in the UK, amid growing consumer demand for vegetarian options. The vegetarian menu includes a selection of 14 delicious vegetarian dishes such as the Vegetarian Butter Roasted Risotto and the Vegetarian Grilled Mushroom Ravioli created by the retailer’s in-house chefs.
Marks & Spencer may also introduce some vegetarian offerings in India, one of the sources said.
