German Doner Kebab, the UK-based fast-food chain backed by private equity firm True, is opening its first restaurant in India early this year, the opening move in a nationwide rollout run under a master franchise agreement. The brand is chasing £1 billion (about $1.3 billion) in global sales within five years.
GDK is entering India with GBC India, a Middle East-based bakery supplier taking on the master franchise. That structure — a single local partner holding country rights and building out the network — is how most international brands now scale into large, complex markets rather than opening company-owned stores from head office. Chief executive Simon Wallis told Reuters that India is “an important part of that growth plan” and pointed to rising incomes and higher protein consumption as the pull.
Following the same playbook as McDonald’s and Burger King before it, GDK will leave beef off the Indian menu and build around lamb to suit local preferences. Menu localisation of this kind is rarely cosmetic; it is usually the difference between a concept that travels and one that stalls at the border.
GDK today runs more than 170 restaurants across the UK, Europe, North America and the Middle East. The plan is to reach close to 900 outlets globally as it works toward that billion-pound sales milestone. The company expects revenue above £183 million this year, up from £161 million in 2024.
Wallis was blunt about the competitive opening India offers newer brands.
“It’s a thriving economy, which is one reason why a number of brands are attracted.”
GDK arrives as brands from Little Caesars to Papa John’s push harder into India, even while some incumbents wrestle with slower spending. A young population, a widening middle class and a shift toward branded quick-service dining keep the market near the top of most expansion shortlists. It is the same logic drawing operators across Asia, from the fundraising behind Minor Food’s Singapore IPO to the market-entry questions we work through in the Philippines investor playbook. For a brand still weighing whether to go direct or through a partner, GDK’s choice of a master franchise is the tell: in a market this big, local operating muscle beats remote control. More detail on the brand’s expansion sits on the GDK corporate site.
For now, Wallis said the focus is the sales milestone, not a stock listing that an earlier management team had floated.
Source: Business Standard / Reuters — German Doner Kebab to enter India, targets $1.3 bn in global sales
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