An analysis of over 29,000 investor introduction requests across 500+ F&B franchise listings on the platform reveals where franchise investment in India is actually happening
National, India, September 9, 2026: Food & Beverage stands out as the largest category in franchising, making up about a third of all active franchise listings (553 of 1,770), more than Consumer Retail and Education combined, reveals SMERGERS. SMERGERS is a Bengaluru-based online investment banking platform that connects small and medium-sized businesses and franchise brands with investors, buyers, lenders, and M&A advisors across the world.
Within F&B, Fine Dine Restaurants, Cafes and Fast Food Restaurants alone account for over half the listings, while smaller formats like Bakeries, Ice Cream Parlors and Juice & Snack Shops are where new listings are growing fastest. Investor interest in F&B is unusually strong: brands here average around 54 introduction requests each, well ahead of the platform-wide average of about 39 requests per listing, and ahead of other major categories like Consumer Retail (35) and Education (23). While average investor demand across franchising has fallen since 2019 due to Covid Lockdown, F&B has held up and is now back to near all-time-high levels.
Looking at over 29,000 investor introduction requests across these 553 F&B brands, three clear patterns stand out.
Niche beats scale
Bakeries, Ice Cream Parlors and Juice & Snack Shops, smaller and more specific formats, get 2-3x times more interest per listing compared to larger F&B categories like Fine Dine Restaurants and Cafes. Brands like The Bake Shop (Bakeries), Lassi House (Juice & Snack Shops) and Giani Ice Cream (Ice Cream Parlors), and Drunken Monkey (Juice & Snack Shops) are among the platform’s most sought-after names. Nice brands attract maximum investor interest for example a Juice & Snack shop brand called Drink Your Selfie, has received over 200 introductions from investors around the world. These niche formats are also where new franchise listings are growing fastest, so a focused, specific concept clearly stands out more than a generic one, even in a crowded category.
Fine Dine and Cafes, by contrast, are the two formats that have slower investor interest in recent years, and the reasons likely go beyond the platform itself. Both are relatively capital and space-intensive formats, harder to replicate cheaply at scale, at a time when rising urban rentals and staffing costs have squeezed dine-in economics. The rapid rise of food delivery and cloud kitchens has also given brands a lower-cost way to build a customer base without opening full-format restaurants or cafes, and inflation-conscious consumers have leaned toward quicker, smaller-ticket formats like juice bars, bakeries and ice cream parlors over sit-down dining. Fine Dine and Cafes remain large, established categories, but the newer growth is clearly happening in leaner, more asset-light formats.
Ticket size is the strongest lever
Franchises priced under ₹20 lakh get roughly 2-3x times more investor interest than those priced above ₹80 lakh, and this holds true across almost every industry. Cheaper entry point consistently means more interest from franchise buyers. Keeping the entry investment low is one of the strongest levers a brand has to attract more franchisee interest.
“Food and beverage has consistently been where franchise investors show up in India. What the data now tells us is that even as broader franchise investment has slowed, F&B has held its ground and continued to grow. But within that, the investor is becoming more selective. The formats drawing the most interest today are not the ones with the most listings. They are the ones with the sharpest concept and the lowest entry cost,” said Vishal Devanath, Co-Founder and CEO, SMERGERS.
Indian brands lead, but cross-border interest runs both ways
It’s often assumed that Indian investors would be especially drawn to well-known foreign F&B brands, but the data tells a different story: domestic brands win this race by a clear margin. The vast majority of interest Indian investors show goes to homegrown F&B brands, with only a small share directed at foreign ones. Foreign brands that do draw meaningful Indian interest include Hong Kong’s Le Bistro Winebeast and AOC Eat & Drink, UAE’s Orril Water, South Korea’s Mad for Garlic and Greece’s Mikel Coffee Company, brands where a large share of their platform interest comes specifically from Indian investors.
It is interesting to note, though, that there is significant demand running the other way too: Indian F&B brands receive real interest from foreign investors, mainly out of the UAE, along with UK, Malaysia and Singapore. So while Indian investors clearly prioritize homegrown brands first, F&B franchising is still a genuine two-way cross-border market, not a one-way street.
“If you’re an F&B brand owner looking to franchise, the data points to a clear playbook: a focused, niche concept will draw more investor interest than a generic one, a lower entry investment will multiply the number of leads you get, and don’t assume international appeal is out of reach, several Indian brands here are already pulling serious interest from investors in the UAE, UK, Malaysia and Singapore. If you’re an investor looking to take up a franchise, F&B remains the category with the deepest pool of active, well-performing brands to choose from, and the smaller, lower-investment formats, bakeries, ice cream parlors, juice and snack brands, are consistently where competition for a good territory is fiercest, so it pays to move quickly and do diligence early on brands in these formats,” concluded Vishal Devanath, Co-Founder and CEO, SMERGERS.
SMERGERS operates across 195 countries and 900+ industries and has facilitated over 23,000 business and franchise introductions to date.
