In an interview with BW Retail World, Founder Dhruv Kohli says that the brand’s growth strategy is anchored in taste, repeat customers and scalable operations
As Indian quick service restaurants ride a wave of evolving consumer tastes, with young audiences driving demand for global flavours, Boba Bhai, a QSR brand specialising in bubble tea and other food items, is aiming for aggressive expansion. The brand is targeting 1,000 outlets over the next five years and Rs 1,000 crore in revenue in the same period.
In an interview with BW Retail World, Founder Dhruv Kohli says the focus on Korean cuisine taps into a broader trend, but the brand’s growth strategy is anchored in taste, repeat customers and scalable operations. Kohli says the brand expects to reach Rs 500 to Rs 600 crore in revenue over the next three years, with a longer-term target of crossing Rs 1,000 crore in five years. Framing the opportunity more broadly, he adds, “This is the time for Indian QSR brands to shine, not just in India, but overseas as well.”
Expansion Roadmap
As Boba Bhai accelerates its physical expansion, Kohli is clear that scale will come without franchising. The brand is targeting 1,000 outlets over the next five years, with all stores remaining company-owned. “The company is well-funded, so we do not plan to go for a franchise model,” he says, adding that unit economics support continued investment in owned infrastructure and capex. “That way, we can provide an optimal customer experience.” To fuel this growth, Kohli confirms that the company is preparing for its next funding round, expected to close by the end of this year or early next year, and says discussions with investors are already underway.
Beyond QSR expansion, the next phase of investment will also focus on scaling Boba Bhai’s fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) presence and quick commerce business. Kohli says capital allocation will be split between QSR and FMCG, reflecting their revenue contribution, noting that FMCG has helped the brand build distribution across 179 cities. While quick commerce currently contributes single digits, he says it remains an important growth lever. The brand is expanding beyond Blinkit to platforms such as Zepto, BigBasket and Instamart, alongside new product introductions. “Getting onto more platforms will help increase market share,” he says, adding that upcoming products are expected to help double quick commerce contribution over the next 12 months.
Kohli says the company looks beyond conventional QSR metrics to measure store performance. While same-store sales growth is tracked, he stresses that customer sentiment plays a central role. “For us, NPS is very important, how customers are rating us, how often they are coming back, and what kind of feedback we get,” Kohli says, adding that this feedback loop directly informs product decisions and menu launches alongside tracking average order values.
Running A Full-fledged QSR Business
For Boba Bhai, cloud kitchens have served as a testing ground before committing to full-fledged physical outlets. Kohli says the brand typically starts with delivery-only kitchens to understand local customers, train teams and gather product feedback. The founder admits that operating a retail business is fundamentally different from running a delivery business. “In delivery, you do not face the customer, you just prepare the food and send it,” he says. “When customers come to your retail outlet, their expectations are very different.”
That shift, Kohli notes, brings new operational challenges, particularly around customer interaction and service quality. In-store experiences are ‘more conversational rather than just product-based,’ requiring teams to engage more actively with customers. To manage this, Boba Bhai is leaning on technology to cut waiting times and improve service flow, while focusing heavily on staff training. “The main one is training employees to build the right rapport with customers,” he says, adding that the experience ultimately ‘depends on how they treat the customers’ when they walk into a store.
“There are always certain hero products that are going to contribute about 30 to 40 per cent of the revenue, and you do not want to move them anyway,” he says, underlining the need to protect proven sellers even as the menu evolves.
At the same time, Kohli believes constant experimentation is non-negotiable in the F&B business. “If you do not innovate, you will eventually fade out,” he says. The brand follows structured monthly and quarterly launch plans, recently introducing Korean ramen and rice bowls in select cities, which have already seen encouraging traction. “Anything that does not contribute at least 3 per cent of our revenue, we do not continue with,” Kohli says, adding that every new product must prove its commercial viability once scaled.
Tapping The Non-metros
As Boba Bhai looks beyond metros and tier 1 cities, founder notes early expansion into non-metros has already delivered encouraging results. The brand recently entered Lucknow and expanded in Udaipur, with healthy performance so far. Kohli believes tier 2 consumers are increasingly open to experimentation. “People are very active on social media, want to try new things and have disposable income,” he says, adding that while many QSR brands hesitate to enter these markets, Boba Bhai has already begun scaling outside major cities.
That confidence is shaping a far more ambitious roadmap. Kohli says the company plans to push beyond tier 2 into tier 3 and tier 4 cities as well. “We have seen great results,” he says, underlining the brand’s long-term ambition of deep geographic penetration. “If we want 1,000 outlets in India someday, a Boba Bhai outlet should be available every 3 to 3.5 kilometers.”
Beyond The Korean Wave
For Kohli, the brand’s Korean positioning is less about riding a cultural wave and more about building a food business anchored in taste and familiarity. He points to the natural overlap between Korean and Indian cuisines, from spices to ginger and garlic, arguing that the flavour profile makes the cuisine instinctively appealing. “People eat food because they like it, not because it looks good,” Kohli says, adding that food loyalty is driven by taste, not trends. “Food is very close to people’s hearts. You cannot have a bad product.”
While cultural hooks may bring in first-time users, Kohli stresses that food and beverage (F&B) businesses survive on repeat consumption. “The business is built on repeat rate,” he says, noting that the brand currently sees over a 50 per cent repeat rate. Whether the Korean wave fades or not, he remains confident in the fundamentals. “People are not just ordering because it is Korean; they are ordering because our product tastes good,” he says.
As Boba Bhai’s revenue scales, founder adds that the biggest challenge is not demand but execution. “The biggest scaling challenge in any business is building the right team,” he says, adding that rapid expansion brings twin pressures of hiring talent and securing quality real estate. While the company has been “fortunate so far,” Kohli notes that strengthening teams remains a continuous priority as the footprint grows.
