- Devyani International is India’s largest quick-service restaurant franchisee, built on a near three-decade partnership with Yum! Brands that began with a single Pizza Hut in Jaipur in 1997. Today it operates over 2,000 stores across four countries, but the business is fundamentally a multi-brand platform - it takes global chains like KFC and Costa Coffee, adds home-grown Indian formats, and runs them all on shared real estate, supply chains and technology, so each new brand costs less to launch than the one before. A proposed merger with fellow Yum! franchisee Sapphire Foods will make it one of the largest QSR platforms globally, and a management overhaul labelled “DIL 2.0” is now resetting how that platform performs.
Business segments
Four engines at different stages - a fried-chicken anchor that funds everything else, a pizza brand being rebuilt from the ground up, a coffee chain scaling fast, and a portfolio of Indian cuisine brands stitched together through acquisition - all run on a shared operating backbone.
1. KFC: the cash engine that carries the group
The largest fried-chicken chain in DIL’s portfolio, operating across four countries with improving same-store sales and a delivery model that now brings in more revenue than dine-in.
- Exclusive franchisee across three countries - DIL is the largest Yum! Brands franchisee in India for KFC and holds exclusive rights in Nepal and Nigeria, giving it protected territory in markets where the global brand owner handles product innovation and marketing.
- Value combos raise the average bill - marketing pushes “disruptive value” like the Crispy Shawowrma Wrap at INR 169 or Krispy Hours dine-in deals, which are priced to feel cheap but structured as combos and meals that lift the average order value.
- Thailand adds scale at lower margin - the 321-store Thai operation, acquired in early 2024, is the largest QSR chain in a country of nearly 70 million people, though it runs at a lower gross margin than the Indian KFC business.
- Nigeria is a damaged asset being nursed - the 40 Nigerian stores were hit by a near-200% currency devaluation against the dollar, forcing DIL to write off its entire INR 116 crore investment; the company now expects to fund the operation until stability returns.
2. Pizza Hut: the turnaround project
India’s number-two pizza brand, now shrinking its store count deliberately while management goes back to basics on product quality, pricing and staff training.
- Delivery-first, small-format stores - unlike a sister franchisee that runs large dine-in restaurants, DIL’s Pizza Hut outlets are compact and built for delivery, with a “dragontail” kitchen system owned by Yum! that cuts rider waiting time.
- Same-store sales are still negative - SSSG was -3.7% in Q4 FY26, and average daily sales have fallen to roughly INR 30,000 per store from INR 43,000 three years earlier, which is why the company added no net new stores that quarter and is instead consolidating the portfolio.
- The brand owner controls the levers - product innovation, pricing and promotions are controlled by Yum!, so the turnaround depends on continuous negotiation with the franchisor; DIL’s job is to execute on quality, fill gaps in the menu pricing ladder, and retrain store staff.
- Value layers to win back Gen Z - the “Flavour Fun Pizza” range and INR 79 value meals are designed to make the brand accessible to price-conscious younger customers, while “Crafted Flatzz” (seven flavours, light crust) aim at the premium end.
3. Costa Coffee: the exclusive caffeine bet
The sole Indian franchisee for a global coffee chain with nearly 4,000 stores worldwide, scaling from 55 outlets to over 200 in three years while building a parallel food-court business with India’s largest multiplex operator.
- Pan-India rights locked in - a revised development agreement signed in 2021 gives DIL exclusive rights to roll out Costa Coffee across India in phases, with an initial five-year term that can be extended if store-opening targets are met.
- Flagships for show, small stores for reach - the brand opens large flagship outlets in prime locations to build visibility, while most growth comes from compact formats in high-footfall areas that are cheaper to fit out.
- Coffee and cocoa prices are a headwind - input costs have risen with global commodity prices, squeezing margins even though Costa Coffee was delivering nearly 30% brand contribution margin as recently as FY22.
- PVR INOX partnership opens a new channel - a 51:49 joint venture with India’s largest multiplex chain, formed in mid-2024, will develop and operate food courts inside shopping malls, putting Costa Coffee beverages and DIL’s other brands in front of cinema audiences.
4. Own Brands: the Indian cuisine platform
A collection of home-grown and acquired Indian food brands - South Indian vegetarian, handi biryani, butter chicken - that capture traditional eating occasions the global franchises cannot reach.
- Vaango is the home-grown workhorse - launched over a decade ago, this South Indian vegetarian chain has grown to 96 stores in airports, malls, hospitals and highway stops, delivering 22.8% brand margins on revenue of INR 59 crore in FY24.
- Biryani By Kilo was bought, not built - DIL acquired an 80.72% controlling stake in Sky Gate Hospitality in mid-2025 for roughly INR 420 crore, gaining over 100 outlets across 40-plus cities and the brands Biryani By Kilo, Goila Butter Chicken and The Bhojan; it then bought out the remaining minority stakes to make it wholly owned by March 2026.
- Express formats test the offline waters - Biryani By Kilo, originally a delivery and cloud-kitchen concept, has begun opening smaller “Express” stores to build a physical presence, and both BBK and Vaango posted positive same-store sales growth in Q4 FY26.
- Food courts bundle the portfolio - under “The Food Street” brand, DIL combines its multiple brands into single locations at airports, malls and railway stations, turning its brand breadth into a competitive advantage when bidding for high-footfall real estate.
How DIL operates
A shared operating backbone - real estate, supply chain, technology and talent - that lets every brand open stores faster and run them cheaper than a standalone chain could.
- Cluster-based expansion - stores are opened close together in the same city to share delivery radii, streamline supply runs and build brand visibility, with 53% of Indian stores now in non-metro cities where Western QSR aspiration is growing faster than in saturated metros.
- Centralised sourcing, regional distribution - 15 warehouses and one commissary supply all brands, with long-term contracts and forward buying on key raw materials to lock in prices; the multi-brand network means a single truck can restock a KFC, a Pizza Hut and a Costa Coffee on the same route.
- Own delivery fleet as insurance - DIL runs its own delivery riders alongside Swiggy and Zomato, keeping 70-80% of orders within a 30-minute window and protecting itself against take-rate increases from the aggregators.
- “DIL Commerce” is the digital glue - a unified technology platform under construction will connect digital kiosks (already in over 80% of KFC stores), AI-driven demand forecasting, energy management systems in 200-plus stores, and customer engagement across all brands.
Group structure and partners
A promoter-led conglomerate platform, soon to absorb its largest listed peer, with a web of subsidiaries and joint ventures that hold territory licences and manage overseas operations.
- RJ Corp is the controlling shareholder - the promoter/promoter group holds 62.72% of DIL, and the Jaipuria family behind it has over 30 years in food, beverage and dairy across South Asia and Africa.
- Thailand runs through a Dubai holding company - DIL owns 51% (rising to 56.7% after a convertible loan) of Devyani International DMCC in Dubai, which in turn controls a chain of Thai investment companies that hold the 274-store KFC franchisee Restaurants Development Co., with Temasek-linked Camas Investments as the 49% partner.
- The Sapphire Foods merger will reshape the shareholder base - the all-stock deal, with an appointed date of April 2026, will issue 177 DIL shares for every 100 Sapphire shares, cutting promoter holding from 61% to roughly 48% and creating one of Yum!’s largest franchise partners globally.
- Joint ventures open new real estate channels - a 51:49 venture with PVR INOX targets food courts in malls, while another with R.K. Associates & Hoteliers develops food courts and lounges at railway stations, turning infrastructure partners into store landlords.