A NEW food franchise worth a total of $850,000 has opened in Namaka, Nadi, offering a wide variety of culinary choices for the local and international customer.

The Lunchbox opened its first outlet in the Western Division following an aggressive expansion plan over the past 12 months. With outlets in Labasa and Suva, the eatery is moving to the West with plans for more restaurants in Lautoka.

Company director and founder Vinesh Dayal said the investment was planned to market demands.

“This sort of investment takes a great deal of planning with a good understanding of the market,” he said.

“The good thing about it is that it’s not a franchise as long as it looks like a franchise. It looks like an international franchise but I call it the L.A franchise because it’s a Labasa developed product and the advantage of this local product is I am able to customise the product to suit the market.

“So Namaka required a more diverse product and so we got grills, rotisseries, grilled chicken, salads, pastas and authentic Indian curries.”

He said future outlets would be modelled according to the Namaka restaurant.

“This is now our flagship store and after which we will go back to Labasa and renovate it to the standard of what we have here in Namaka and Lautoka.

“We are looking at doing another two to three branches in the next six or eight months by June 2018. This is about choice and we are another player in the market.

“I designed this brand for the kids in Labasa to have the opportunity to have burgers, chicken and fries, ice-cream, coffee and pastries. We had the opportunity to get space at MHCC and later at Damodar which we opened in the last 12 months. After Nadi, we will be opening our Lautoka outlet and our target is at the end of September.”

He said the soft opening for the eatery yesterday was overwhelming and a positive start for the local franchise.