Comedian Zakir Khan partners with Cloud-kitchen brand Bigspoon; to launch Mehfil Biryani

BigSpoon, the multi-brand cloud kitchen startup has announced the launch of their new delivery-only celebrity brand Mehfil Biryani by Zakir Khan, in partnership with India’s top artist Zakir Khan.

Mehfil Biryani by Zakir Khan will be the largest single-day F&B launch ever witnessed in India, starting with 28 cities and 66 outlets that are all company-owned and operated.

“It is no secret that I have a soft spot for biryani. To tell the truth, touring a city is incomplete until I dig in and relish its biryani infused with local spices and flavours— it is my way to connect with my fans and the city I am performing in. Through this new venture with Bigspoon, I seek to give my fans a taste of one of my favourite dishes in the comfort of their homes. We have built this brand with a lot of love and hope you like it,” shared Khan.

The company plans to scale the Mehfil brand to 100+ outlets over the next quarter, and to 200 outlets in 2022.

The company will bring diverse biryani flavours and regional favourites in Matkas and premium container packaging options, along with regional starters and sides, local desserts, and beverages. It will continue to add regional favourites, limited-period products, and experience-led items in the dynamic menu and will be available in all major Indian cities.

Bigspoon signed a $2M lease and inventory financing partnership with Grip, India’s leading alternative investment platform, a part of which contributed to the launch and expansion investments of Mehfil. In addition to inventory, the kitchen and operational CapEx towards assets and tech hardware were funded by Grip. The company plans to deploy further growth capital to expand to 200+ outlets, and deepen their house of brands strategy in existing and new kitchens.

Bigspoon is a house of brands, with 8 owned and 6 partner brands in its portfolio. The company is currently present in 14 states and 30+ cities, with the footprint being doubled by the next quarter.

“Biryani has been the single largest ordered item in the country for a decade, yet it is a largely fragmented market with hardly 20% of it being organized. There are only a couple of national players that have a large footprint with Biryani as their USP. Mehfil will stand on three key pillars - standardized & high-quality offerings, value-for-money pricing and tailor-made, premium packaging,” added Kapil Mathrani, Co-Founder & CEO, Bigspoon.

Based in Ahmedabad, Bigspoon is a full-stack cloud kitchen company that own brands like Makhni Brothers, Meals101, Thali Central, et al.