Jamie Oliver to continue to expand in India

Even as it faces closures in the United Kingdom, restaurants started by British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver will continue to expand in India, through their local partner for the country, Dolomite Restaurants. Earlier this week, Jamie Oliver's British restaurant chain filed for bankruptcy protection leading to the closure of 22 restaurants in the United Kingdom, amid increasing competition that made business unviable for the restaurants business started by Oliver. However, the bankruptcy process is not expected to impact overseas restaurants that run in various markets. The chef's international restaurant chains Jamie's Italian, Jamie's Pizzeria and Jamie's Deli will continue to run as usual. In India, the restaurant chain operates two restaurant formats, Jamie's Pizzeria and Jamie's Italian, through Dolomite Restaurants, the master franchisee for the Jamie Oliver restaurants formats in India. Its current shareholders include London-based International Market Management (IMM) and local Indian partner Hunch Ventures. Jasper Reid, CEO, IMM and MD, Dolomite Restaurants, said Dolomite will add five more outlets under the Jamie's Pizzeria and Jamie's Italian brand over the next few months, taking the total restaurant count to 12 up from the current seven. Reid added: “We're seeing an incredible demand for food services in the Indian market, but it is clearly under-serviced currently, while the UK market is oversupplied. “We are bullish on the market here; we have the capital to scale up the business."