How FreshMenu plans to build a foodtech giant in India

Photo credit: Dara O.

Every day at about four in the evening, the FreshMenu head office in Bangalore sees an increased buzz of activity. It is time to taste new foods that are the backbone of its “daily changing” menu.

Founder Rashmi Daga is vegetarian, but that has not stopped the two-year-old startup from experimenting with worldwide cuisine, cooked, packed and sent to customers with the promise of quality and sharp delivery. The plan is to become a top food brand in India, Rashmi says. The vehicle: riding the wave of a technology boom sweeping the country.

“The clear focus for us is in delivered food. Food for delivery is very different from food for sitting down at a restaurant. The cooking style is different, packaging style is different and how it looks when it is served is different,” Rashmi says, while talking to Tech in Asia about future growth plans for the company.

That focus seems to be working, as Rashmi says FreshMenu will be net profitable within the next 12 months, even as it opens more kitchens and scales up.

The Bengaluru-based company was founded in 2014, when foodtech was the flavor of the season. Things went sour in between, but FreshMenu weathered the storm. It raised US$16.5 million in a funding round in January, when rivals all around were scaling back, pivoting, or just shutting shop.

See: When others eat humble pie, this foodtech startup has a feast

That money is enough to last the company for the next two years, Rashmi says.

“From January last year till July, we have grown from one kitchen to 26. In the next two to three years we should have at least 80,” she adds as we sit chatting in her office on a weekday afternoon.

Gourmet

FreshMenu pioneered the concept of app-based food delivery kitchens in the country. Unlike delivery apps or aggregators, FreshMenu’s team of about 500 operates its own kitchens, cooks food in-house, and runs its own delivery fleet to control the entire process of food ordering. The company is also listed on delivery apps like Zomato and Swiggy, but 90 percent of its orders are fulfilled by its own delivery team.

Freshmenu’s Rashmi Daga. Photo credit: FreshMenu.

It launched a daily changing menu (popular foods stay on for 15 days though) that serves everything from chicken rice bowls to gourmet pizzas, all priced below US$9.

“Freshmenu is built with an intent that people would use it once or twice a week. I am not trying to get you to eat it everyday. Daily food offerings would probably operate at about 100 rupees a meal, but at that price point doing a delivered product is very hard. The cost of delivery is high,” outlines Rashmi.

Plans for tomorrow