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After proving its concept with a food truck, Curry Up Now moves forward with franchise push

Akash and Rana Kapoor have proven that food trucks can provide an economical way for entrepreneurs with limited resources and even less foodservice experience to gain the skills they need to establish a successful restaurant brand.

The Curry Up Now food truck theme is repeated in the brick and mortar location in Alameda, California.

October 3, 2018 by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

After getting its start with a food truck in 2009, Curry Up Now is carving out its niche as a franchisor of fast casual Indian restaurants. Once the food truck proved the existence of a market for Indian cuisine with a Southern California twist, the husband-and-wife team of Akash and Rana Kapoor turned their focus to brick-and-mortar restaurants.

Today, they operate one of the fastest-growing fast casual chains in the country, as noted in part one of this two-part series.

The Kapoors will continue to operate their existing three food trucks, which have established the brand in Southern California.

The Kapoors have proven that a food truck can offer an excellent way to test a new restaurant concept with a limited investment.

The Kapoors are not the only food truck entrepreneurs to parlay a food truck into a brick-and-mortar restaurant — other examples include I Love Bacon in Huntsville, Alabama; Aioli Gourmet Burgers & Catering in Phoenix; and Ch'Lantro in Austin, Texas — but Curry Up Now is now focusing its  expansion ambitions exclusively on brick-and-mortar franchising.

If the Kapoors succeed, they will own one of the first national brands for Indian cuisine.

A new direction

Akash Kapoor recognizes the branding and marketing support that the food trucks have provided his company-owned restaurants — as attested by numerous Yelp reviewers who cite the trucks as their first exposure to the brand — but he doesn't see it as a requirement for success.

However, he will continue to operate his three food trucks in the Bay area, along with six company-owned restaurants and a seventh under construction.Kapoor appreciates the important role the trucks have played in establishing the brand, but believes that expanding the business requires a separate focus.

One difficult aspect of the food truck business is keeping up with the unexpected hassles that arise, such as malfunctioning vehicle or kitchen equipment.

"[Food trucks] tend to break down very often," he said, referring to vehicle failures and kitchen equipment issues.

Another challenge is meeting the regulations of various jurisdictions: Time restrictions vary; some jurisdictions require food trucks to be close to restrooms; many restrict the proximity of food trucks to brick-and-mortar restaurants serving similar food.

Kapoor thinks he will have his hands full just focusing on the franchise business.

Investments to fuel expansion

Last year, Curry Up Now acquired a Bay area competitor, Tava Kitchen, a fast casual Indian chain that also features non-Indian menu items such as burritos. Following the transaction, Kitchen Fund, a restaurant investor, invested an undisclosed sum in Curry Up Now.

Kitchen Fund was established in partnership with Fransmart to provide financial capital and operational expertise to emerging restaurant brands. It is the global franchise development firm behind Five Guys Burgers and Fries, Qdoba and The Halal Guys. Its investment in Curry Up Now will go toward building infrastructure for corporate and franchise locations.

The San Jose restaurant features some of the same graphic styles seen on the food trucks.

The Kapoors recently signed their largest multi-franchise agreement to date with John Netto and the Netto Family Trust to bring up to 20 locations to Colorado and Utah. In fact, the couple has now solidified multi-unit franchise deals in nearly every major region in the country, including the Northeast, South, West Coast, and now the Mountain States.

These supplement more than 50 units already in development nationwide and anticipate pending franchise deals in more than 13 states. The brand expects to have another 100 units in development by year's end, with an additional 200 to follow in 2019.

The social media skills that the Kapoors honed in promoting their first food truck continue to play an important role for their restaurants; reviewers give the food high marks for quality, portion size and price, and Rana Kapoor responds to many of the Yelp comments.

While the focus going forward will not be on food trucks, the Kapoors have proven that they can offer an economical way for entrepreneurs with limited resources and even less foodservice experience to gain the skills needed to establish a successful restaurant brand.

Photos courtesy of Curry Up Now

About Elliot Maras

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Elliot Maras is the editor of Kiosk Marketplace and Vending Times. He brings three decades covering unattended retail and commercial foodservice.