Food Business

Food Truck Business Boomi ng

Customers Remain Reluctant to Sit at Restaurants

Coronavirus has changed everything, including how one eats, and the blow on the food industry can’t be overstated. The restaurant industry saw a huge loss in revenue. The number soared gradually, but the anxiety goes beyond sobering statistics. Despite all the doom and gloom, however, there are a few food entrepreneurs who are actually growing their businesses. Creatively incorporating order ahead and mobility to reach the customers are the two things that hold the keys to success in the post covid restaurant industry.

Unfortunately, many of the food businesses that existed just a few months ago will not recover. The fact that some are thriving, however, makes hopeful about what the long-term future holds. One thing is for sure that the demand for food services is still there, but in different formats.

Bringing Meals To Customer’s Doorsteps

With the restaurant industry on hold for the foreseeable future, innovative brick-and-mortar establishments are turning towards mobile dining to navigate the new market. Here comes the concept of Food Trucks that are popping up and selling a custom menu. They set up an order-ahead option so that customers could pick up their food, and even allow public to request where and when the truck should show up.

The customer focused approach paired with the truck’s mobility meant showing up where there was existing demand, and it generated a good amount of daily revenue. An increased demand has being seen to bring food into communities, specifically neighbourhoods and apartment buildings. Unlike delivery, a food truck showing up creates a culinary event to break up the monotony and in addition, the food is prepared fresh and on location.

People still crave the community aspect of eating out, and some trucks have capitalized on that demand. In a market where food must go to consumers (not vice versa), being constrained to a single location, can be a disadvantage. To this, mobility is now a necessity to reach customers in their homes or as they start to visit parks, open spaces, and other areas.

Order-Ahead Instantly Increases Sales

Mobility combined

with order-ahead has been the winning combination during the pandemic. For the customer, order-ahead allows for a safer experience and they still get hot, fresh food from a truck, without standing in line with potentially large crowds. This kind of swift, efficient service is a major draw for healthconscious consumers who still want to participate in getting a delicious meal.

In some cases, over 50% revenue has come from orderahead sales. The coalescence of order-ahead and mobile dining recreates food experiences for a changing world; it preserves some social aspects of eating out, but does so while minimizing health risks now associated with indoor dining.

Sailing through Lockdown

The shutting down of the food truck businesses crept upon slowly during the initial days of lockdown, even as the food truck business is growing again at this instant. “Retail orders dropped rapidly, permissions for visits were being withdrawn by worried RWAs and soon the businesses were down to 10%,” shared Jyoti Ganapathi of DosaInc. that operates

food trucks in residential and corporate hubs in Delhi-NCR.

“A lockdown seemed imminent, and if we remained open and tried to operate the way we usually do, we would only be increasing our expenses. So we decided to shut down for a period, reassess and start again,” she added.

“Before we sent off the staff, we had to deal with our stocks - perishables, dry items, the inventory of packing materials, etc. We preserved every last bit of perishable item by pureeing, pickling, cutting and freezing,” added Jyoti. The point was to limit waste so that they wouldn't have to spend to get started again. And to be sure, this effort held them in good stead - “when we did re-open, we had enough and more to take us through the month of

lockdown without a penny to be spent on restocking,” she said.

Suspending services midway, without a whole regular income and with little reserves, the entrepreneurs found it very hard to cover the fixed cost, the vendor payments or the payroll cost.

Survival Game

As a food truck, they would go into gated communities, parks, take orders, serve and deliver. But RWA’s didn’t considered letting food trucks inside the gated and non-gated communities. So the revival is tentative.

Alongside food truck business, choosing an alternate business line segment is something to sail through during this hard time. “We launched packaged snacks, to be made to order

To provide support to consumers during such trying times, we decided to address the distribution challenge in line with our core principles of innovation, agility and empathy

B Sumant

Executive Director, ITC Limited and delivered,” said Jyoti. “Each day is still a struggle and day to day planning is the most important step forward.”

IT C Turns To Food Trucks

In a bid to ensure seamless supply of essential items to consumers, ITC has overhauled its distribution network and come up with a number of innovative solutions to reach the consumer’s doorstep. The company has adopted a twopronged strategy to reach its atta, biscuits, spices, juices and hygiene products to retail stores and consumers.

The company has stitched together several partnerships with national and local partners to deliver products to the doorstep of consumers through its ‘Store on Wheels’ initiative. This initiative is currently available across

six cities in the country and could be extended further in times to come. The initiative has partnered with housing societies in metros like Apna Complex, My gate, No broker and Azgo to supply essential products to housing societies across key cities.

Housing societies can order ITC’s Food Truck through these local apps for shopping at their doorstep. “With our huge apartment base across India, we can help ITC to scale up their direct-to-customer model very quickly,” said ApnaComplex CEO Raja Sekhar Kommu. ITC is also leveraging its direct-to-consumer portal itcstore.in.

For last-mile delivery, it has tied up with e-commerce

players like Zomato, Dunzo, Swiggy and even Domino’s. These emerging channels are likely to become main-stream in the new normal even after the pandemic passes.

Commenting on the new distribution model, ITC Executive Director, B Sumant said, “To provide support to consumers during such trying times, we decided to address the distribution challenge in line with our core principles of innovation, agility and empathy. Our unique partnerships with food delivery chains, consumer food apps, community e-commerce brands, and our own direct to consumer portal have been instrumental in providing timely supply of essentials to consumers during the lockdown and thereby ensuring that people remained confined to their homes”.

'Being Haangryy'

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, ever since the coronavirus pandemic hit the country, has left no stone unturned in helping the poor and the needy. He had donated for the daily wage workers. Recently, he even provided food packets for the local villagers who have been in need, from his Panvel farmhouse.

After initiating the ‘Anna Daan Challenge’, he came up with a new idea of donating food through his food truck. He has started his own food truck with the name “Being Haangryy”.

Shiv Sena leader Rahul Kanal thanked the actor for doing his bit and tweeted, "Thank you @ Beingsalmankhan bhai for being there and silently doing something which is needed, service to mankind is service to the almighty!!! Jai Ho!!! I shall surely try and do my bit following the lockdown norms and request our Fanclub family to practice the same #BeingHaangryy."

Dining Out Not Going Away

The majority of people would still feel uncomfortable going to restaurants even once restrictions are lifted, unfortunately meaning Covid19’s effects on the restaurant industry will be long lasting. However, no matter what happens, people need to eat, and food has an intrinsic link to community, occasion and ceremony. It is expected that the demand for food truck types will grow as mobility and order-ahead both becoming necessities.

Together, they allow food businesses to reach customers where they live, work and play -- and give everyone all a taste of what the world was like before this madness just months ago.