Indian Foods Fermentation Limited (IFFL) was fashioned in 1992 by Narayanan to develop a specialist dosa manufacturer which will be utilized in fast food restaurants, "Dosa King". According to market research carried out by IFFL in 1992, on any particular day, 20 million dosas were have in India. Narayanan and his colleagues at IFFL chose to develop an automatic dosa delivery system which will provide standardized dosa with an interval of 30 seconds.
The system requirement was that the dosa should have the same size, colour, crispiness, and flavor. Venture capitalists funded the project and Narayanan needed to take several choices during the design and development of automatic dosa delivery system. The IFFL realized that their biggest stakeholder would thus necessarily be the retailer or franchisee who invested in dosa machines, batter, and masala, as well as interfaced with the customer. At various stages of product development, Narayan needed to take several crucial choices related to the plan and development of machine, selection on inputs for preparation of dosa batter and other accompaniments, etc.
In 1992, India didn't have any western fast food chains. India went through a period of major economic reform in 1991 and the market started growing much quicker after the nineties. Equipped with his encounter at Coca-Cola and Nestle, Narayanan was assured that he could alter the restaurant sector in India.
PUBLICATION DATE: December 01, 2013 PRODUCT #: IMB439-HCB-ENG
This is just an excerpt. This case is about INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP
