Bengaluru First Stop on McCafe’s® Southward Journey in India

~ McDonald’s Announces Launch of 3 McCafés®Across the City ~

Bengaluru, April 20th, 2015: Westlife Development Limited (BSE: 505533) owner of the Master Franchisee of McDonald’s® restaurants in India, officially announced the launch of three McCafés® in Bengaluru today. McCafé® will take the expression “let's talk over a cup of coffee" to a whole new level with its aromatic coffees, flavored teas that can be enjoyed in a relaxing ambience.

Speaking at the launch event, Ms. Smita Jatia, Managing Director - Hardcastle Restaurants Pvt. Ltd.,said, “We are extremely excited with the launch of our first McCafé® in South India. The city of Bengaluru has a great significance as a coffee hub and there is tremendous potential for growth. With the launch of McCafe®, we will strengthen our beverage strategy and build our restaurants as a one stop destination for all customers to enjoy across all day parts.

The store-in-store format enables a quick roll-out of a McCafé® with an investment of Rs 30-35 lakhs per outlet across key trading areas in metro cities of West & South India to make it easily accessible to our consumers. Within a span of 18 months we have expanded our McCafé ® network across 41 restaurants in 6 cities – Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Nashik, Aurangabad, Pune & Bengaluru. Today, we are well on track as per the stated goal to launch 75-150 McCafés® over the next 3-5 years, a clear testament to the fact that our coffees, frappes and muffins have been very well accepted by customers.

The expansion of the McCafé ® brand and its product offering is part of the company’s goal to elevate its coffee portfolio and to become India’s favourite destination for good food and quality beverages. We believe that we will be able to delight customers in Bengaluru too with our freshly brewed aromatic coffees.”

McCafé® uses 100% Arabica coffee beans that are specially brewed by professionally trained baristas which are medium roasted to perfection, then freshly ground with every order to maintain flavour and quality and ensures freshness in every cup. The coffee beans and espresso blend at the heart of the coffee are locally sourced from sustainable farms in Chikmangalur, India. Beverages can be made to order by requesting baristas to add extra espresso or flavor shots like Caramel, French Vanilla, Roasted Hazelnut or Irish Cream, as well as real whipped cream for those who like their beverage a little richer. Prices of beverages range from Rs. 90 for a latte or cappuccino and Rs. 110 for a frappe.

McDonald’s brought its global successful café style brand extension ‘McCafé®’in India in October 2013. McCafé® is the third line-extension for McDonald's in India after it added McDelivery and Dessert Kiosks in the last few years. With a strong coffee foundation, HRPL (McDonald’s West & South India) recognized an unmet need, for existing and new customers, in the rapidly growing Indian specialty coffee segment. By embracing the coffee culture that is fast gaining acceptance in India, McCafé® aims to reach out to as many Indians as the best place to enjoy a range of premium specialty coffee including cappuccino, latte, iced mocha and frappe.

Besides extending its McCafé® product portfolio, the restaurant re-imaging initiative gave the company a unique opportunity to create a defined space for McCafé® in-restaurant, creating a brand within a brand at the point-of-sale. Bengaluru, is famous for its filter coffee and with the launch of McCafé®, customers will have one more coffee hangout to look forward to.

About McCafé®:
McCafé® is a coffee-house-style food and drink chain, owned by McDonald's. Created and launched in Melbourne, Australia in 1993, the chain reflects a consumer trend towards espresso coffees. The chain is spread worldwide, with the first one in the United States opening in Chicago, Illinois, in May 2001 when there were about 300 worldwide. Today, McCafé® is across Costa Rica, Japan, Paraguay, South Africa, Spain, Ukraine, Canada, Malaysia and UK. There are over 15,000 restaurants that sell the McCafé® products worldwide. Globally, McCafé’s® product line consists of mocha, cappuccino, espresso, Americano, latte, iced latte, iced mocha and hot chocolate iced frappés, iced fruit smoothies besides a wide range of pastries and muffins.

About the Company:
Hardcastle Restaurants Pvt Ltd (HRPL) is a McDonald’s master franchisee with rights to own and operate McDonald’s restaurants in India’s west and south markets. HRPL has been a franchisee in this part of India since its inception in 1996.

HRPL serves approximately 185 million customers, annually, at its 202 (as of December 31, 2014) McDonald’s restaurants across 24 cities in the states of Telangana, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and parts of Madhya Pradesh, and provides direct employment to over 7500 employees. McDonald’s operates through various formats and brand extensions including standalone restaurants, drive-thru’s, 24/7, McDelivery, dessert Kiosks. The menu features Burgers, Finger Foods, Wraps, Hot and Cold Beverages besides a wide range of desserts. Several of the McDonald’s Restaurant feature in-house McCafé.

The pillars of the McDonald's system – Quality, Service, Cleanliness and Value – are evident at each of the restaurants where HRPL operates.