Food Startups - Empressario

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Empressario

September 2015

...An Entrepreneurial Insight

Vol. XIX Iss. 1

IMT Hyderabad

CONTENTS

1. Prarambh Speaks

Page 1

2. The First Meal

Page 2

3. From Rags to Riches

Page 4

4. Eat bliss

Page 6

5. Crossword

Page 8

6. Business Tip and Add Ons

Page 9

Vol. XIX Iss. 1

IMT Hyderabad

Prarambh Speaks In this edition of Empressario, we bring to you the issue for September, 2015. This issue is devoted to the “future of food start-ups” in India. For this purpose, we have garnered some interesting stories of foodpreneurs of Hyderabad. The articles contain stories of start-ups that aim at delivering better food and eating experiences to the consumers, with insights into where they see the food delivery ecosystem going, and how that will affect consumers’ ability to find countless food options, no matter where they are.

In the recent times, there has been a sudden soar in food start-ups in the Indian market and these startups are making it easier to have restaurant quality meals at home. From providing delivery fleets to restaurants, end-to-end solutions for ordering, and food preparation, to novel structures, these companies are setting the benchmark in the city. All of this innovation is providing consumers with a deluge of options in deciding where their next meal would come from.

We tried to explore how these startups intersect with the restaurant space? With individual chefs? How consumers can get the most important meal of the day? How will these startups change the way that consumers interact with their food? What is the impact of these companies’ choice, price and efficiency in providing varied options for consumers? With larger companies getting into the food logistics space from other arenas, what are some of the challenges for new entrants looking to establish their market share?

We at PRARAMBH hope to continue our work towards providing the budding entrepreneurs a platform for showcasing their innovative ideas.

Happy Reading!!!

Team Prarambh

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The First Meal It just took a phone call for Yuv Raj to come up with the idea of “The First Meal”, an online platform that delivers breakfast. “My roommate’s mother called me up to complain that he was skipping his breakfast – the most important meal of the day.

This triggered the idea of starting a food delivery service,” recalls the 25-year-old.

Though the idea of delivering food through online websites is being used by quite a few start-ups, Yuv Raj stresses that none of them deliver “breakfast” exclusively.

This was his USP and he was sure that the idea would click. He brought together his colleagues Saswata De, Suraj Subedi, Ravi Varma, Sathvik P, Joginder T, from his previous start-up to make his dream come true. “The purpose behind “The First Meal” is to encourage every person to spare at least five minutes for their breakfast,” he explains.

It does not matter if breakfast for you means stuffed parathas or idlis or even salad – The First Meal has it all. From South Indian and North Indian cuisines to fresh fruits, fresh vegetable salads and even freshfruit juices – it caters to people from every corner of the country residing in the city.

One can subscribe to their meals for a week, two weeks or a month and avail some discounts too. You can also select the time at which you want your breakfast to be delivered.

“While south Indian meals will have dishes like podi idli, pongal, bisi bele bhaat, the north Indian will have poha, paratha, sandwich, etc. We serve special brunch during weekends which contains food items like Thai green curry,” informs Yuv Raj.

To keep the nutrition quotient intact, The First Meal also has nutritionists on board. “The meal is designed in such a way that it covers up for the nutrition requirement for the entire day,” the former Vellore Institute of technology graduate adds.

Further, its unique packaging system makes it easy for people to carry the food. “We did not want consumers to waste time transferring food to another container if they want to warm it up or carry it off.

The packaging is microwave safe and the food can be had on the go. For example, one can sip juice even when they are on their way to the office,” Yuv Raj says.

While the website only focuses on delivering food, they take help of the restaurants nearby to prepare it

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for them. “As our requirements are very specific, they cook the meal according to the food chart we provide them,” he says.

The start-up which functions in Hi-Tech City, Kondapur, Madhapur, and Gachibowli was started in January and also delivers food directly to offices. After a lot of trying and testing, they formally started service in June this year.

Asked what were the hurdles they faced he says, “Creating awareness about the importance of breakfast was challenging. But, after a month of operations, we are receiving an overwhelming response. Giving an example he says, “In last one week we received a few mails which thanked us for the initiative as it has improved their health.”

The six-month-old start-up will start catering to dwellers in other parts of the city by next month.

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From Rags to Riches RAM SHINDE’S “RAM KI BANDI”

In Hyderabad's posh Jubilee Hills, two lanes away from KBR Park, people are flocking to the brand new “Ram's” Dosa House. The customers arrive in their stylish BMW and Audi cars, but patiently wait for their order, most of which costs less than Rs 100. The wait, they say, is worth it. Ram Kumar Shinde, the man behind the restaurant is all smiles. This is his second branch. His first was a roadside stall called “Ram ki Bandi” at Nampally near Karachi Bakery. Seven years ago, he was scrubbing dosa batter off a large tawa as he washed the dishes. Today, there is still a sense of disbelief at the back of his mind, as he looks admiringly at his restaurant.

Rags to Riches One of the first late night eateries in the city, Ram ki Bandi is rated 4.2 out of five on Zomato’s ranking. The juicy butter dosa with the trademark coconut chutney has made sure that people visit it, despite his erratic timings of 3 am to 8 am.

Ram Shinde Ram's bandi has been around since the year 1989. It was bought by his father when he was around eight years old. "Even as a kid, I used to tag along and see how the dosas and idlis were made and served. Seven years ago, I got the bandi and I set it up at Nampally." Today, the location of his bandi pops up at a simple Google search.

Ram's story is one of resilience and perseverance, and a lesson for every budding entrepreneur who thinks about quitting on the face of challenges. "Initially when I started, I had my fears that maybe I won't be able to make it," he says. Like his father, he wanted to continue the business and took over the stall despite having an MBA in hand. For the first few years that he set up his stall, he did not get a lot of customers. “The little money we had slowly started depleting and I was worried that maybe I had taken the wrong path. There were days when I hardly made a few hundred rupees. I invest more than that to run the stall,” he says.

Ram then asked his family to help him out with the stall and his brother-in-law agreed. More members of the family later joined in to help grow the stall. “Still things were getting worse. I had thought about quitting many times but I was determined at the end of the day that I could still make it work,” he says.

Ram lo two of his own dosas when his stomach grumbled. It was then that he came up with an idea. "People

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can get a good dosa in so many places so why would they come to me? It was then that I decided that I should do something about my dosas,� Then came the cheese and the butter and the paneer and gradually his reputation grew. "I was one of the first places in Hyderabad where you could get pizza dosa. I thought about the recipe myself and then saw after a little while that other people were also making it. That is why my pizza dosa is slightly different," he says.

"I only get good brands like Amul for my cheese and butter. I want to make sure that people are satisfied with the quality of my food," - Ram Shinde.

Ram opened the new branch on March 11 this year and it has already got a great response. Three months on, the place looks like it will never run out of business. "Already a lot of VIPs and big Telugu actors are coming in.

People are visiting with families and you see a lot of youngsters sitting on weekends," he says. The new restaurant was not something which he had planned for a long time; he decided to do it on an impulse. "I thought about taking my food to more people.

I had to save up a lot but I'm very proud of the new restaurant. It is completely air conditioned and has all the facilities," he says. Ram has always shied away from the spotlight, as he does not advertise anywhere.

"Teenagers come and take selfies with me. That's all the advertisement I get," he quips. Ram still wakes up at 2 a.m. and pushes his stall to Nampally at 3 a.m. He is also found at his restaurant from 8pm to 11pm. “I hardly get any sleep but it doesn't matter. I'm happy that people enjoy my food," he says.

Ram Shinde Entrepreneur

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Eatbliss “Eatbliss was born to serve vegetarian food lovers. Although there is a significant vegetarian population in the country, the lack of good vegetarian eating outlets always bothered me. Another important aspect that laid the foundation of Eatbliss was that people often do not associate taste with health. There is a common misconception that if it is healthy, it won’t be tasty, and if it is tasty, let’s not bother about being healthy. We wanted to change this thought of people & offer them something which is both healthy & tasty.

Moreover, we wanted to bring out new dishes to people. Give them something innovative & delicious. And also make simple yet healthy things like salad; curd etc. a part of their daily meal.

Regarding e-commerce, we wanted to change the online food ordering experience of people. Online restaurants or cloud restaurants are in growth phase now due to their unique business models, yet it is still a new concept for many people, as such things exist only in metro cities. Many people are yet to understand the concept behind it & get used to it. Also, there are several limitations faced by people while ordering food. We wanted to bring a change in all that.”

Business Model: “Eatbliss is an online restaurant which prepares food in its own kitchen & delivers it to the customer’s doorstep. We have our e-commerce website www.eatbliss.com wherein customers can see the menu, prices, description etc. & order accordingly.

We own the entire value chain i.e. right from sourcing quality raw materials to preparing the food in our hygienic kitchen by experienced chefs to having our own platform for taking the orders & finally delivering it to the customers’ doorstep by our delivery team.

We make sure that the quality is maintained throughout the cycle and we never compromise on that. We wouldn’t really be branding Eatbliss with healthy food if the quality wasn’t top-notch. Our packing is also special where one can have their meal on the go.”

Future Plans: “We are now just based in a single part of the Hyderabad & presently serve 5-6 nearby locations. We plan to branch out in the city & cover all the prime locations within next 6 months. We are actively working to expand our menu, bring in different cuisines & hence appeal to different palates.

We will be focusing more on our supply chain as that is an important factor which would determine our growth.

Furthermore, we have thoughts for dine-in & takeaway formats as well. We want a direct relationship with our customers so as to satisfy them in the best possible way. We would want to create a unique dining experience for people besides serving them scrumptious food.”

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Founder: An amazing team is considered to be a basic requirement for any project to take off and become a reality. The founder of Eatbliss, Yash Raja, graduated from ICFAI business school with the sole dream of becoming an entrepreneur.

Over the years, he had a constant thought about doing something unique, building something valuable wherein he could fill a gap & make people’s life easier. It couldn’t have been better for him, than giving an option of healthy hygienic homely food right to the doorstep of people, whether home or office. Thus, he ventured Eatbliss - the joy of good food. The man behind Eatbliss, he operates seeking to build a team, having the same passion towards their work as he exhibits.

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CROSSWORD

Across: 2. A borrower’s ability to repay a debt as judged by lenders.

6. A document that describes a new business and a strategy to launch that business.

7. A formal, written statement of expected revenue and expenses for a future period.

Down: 1.Any item that will be held by business for more than one year, such as equipment, a truck, or a building.

3. The name, symbol, or design used to identify a product.

4. an ownership in a business 5. A binding legal agreement between two or more persons or parties.

The Answers will be shared in the next edition

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Business Tip Your reputation’s online, even if your business isn’t. Take control of how the online world views your business, and protect your bottom line.

Add Ons Readers’ Corner Got any comments? Would you like to contribute to the newsletter?

Get back to us at: ecellprarambh@gmail.com.

Your comments/views and articles would be published from the next issue. A few things to be kept in mind: Ÿ Articles / comments should not be demeaning in nature. Ÿ Articles should be to the point and of around 500 words. Ÿ The decision of selecting the articles to be featured and the number of such articles rests with the

faculty mentor and editor of the newsletter.

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Faculty Mentor Dr. Sivagnanasundaram

Core Team Apurva Sinha, Dhruva Banda, Karishma Sethi, Prakash Thakur, Ayush Agarwal

Editorial Team Apurva Sinha, Dhruva Banda, Karishma Sethi, Shivam Wadhwani, Abhishek Telukunta, Aayushi Pathak

Creative Credits Graphic Design: Prakash Thakur, Ayush Agarwal, Shawnell Godinho Write to us: ecellprarambh@gmail.com, prarambh.ecell@imthyderabad.edu.in

Institute of Management Technology, Hyderabad Survey No 38, Cherlaguda Village, Shamshabad Mandal, RR District Hyderabad—501218 (Telangana State) Tel: +91-40-30461662 Fax: +91-40-30461655 E-mail: info@imthyderabad.edu.in | Website: www.imthyderabad.edu.in Follow us at:

/ecell.imthyd

Vol. XIX Iss. 1 | Empressario | September 2015 | Prarambh | IMT Hyderabad