Mother's Recipe targets to double growth from its foodservice division

After taking the entire country on an unparalleled coffee journey and putting Indian specialty coffee on the global map, Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters, India’s largest specialty coffee brand, has opened the doors to its 100th café in the country. 

With its latest cafe in Kolkata, the company has achieved its target of hitting the milestone before FY24 and is well on its way to curating a pan-India coffee experience that brings people together over shared interests.

“With the increasing affinity for high-quality coffee, consumers are now actively seeking out-of-home coffee experiences that extend beyond just transactions and focus on the need for inclusive, safe spaces. Such experiences, when paired with a thoughtfully curated food menu and experiential offerings like workshops, have transformed the way people see coffee shops. Our growth in the last 12 months reflects the impending demand for go-to coffee spots and increasing brand loyalty. Our aim is to take this count closer to 200 by the end of the coming fiscal year,” shared Shivam Shahi, Co-Founder and COO, Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters.

For Blue Tokai, while it started as a small roastery experience centre in the lesser-known neighbourhood in Said-ul-ajaib in Delhi, these cafés have proved to be an instrumental channel in shaping India’s coffee preferences across demographics. The brand has witnessed a 2x growth in its café presence since FY23, mirroring the ever-increasing demand for specialty coffee - a segment popularised by Blue Tokai’s inception in 2013.  

Blue Tokai’s cafés are located at places of convenience like premium markets, corporate parks, malls, and residential neighbourhoods - an organic extension of the consumers’ daily schedule. Echoing the aim of making great tasting Indian coffee more accessible across the country, Blue Tokai’s 100th café is strategically located in the bustling neighbourhood of Ballygunge and brings together the soulful aroma of freshly brewed coffee, an extensive range of artisanal bakes, delicious food options and a perfect spot for readers, with a bookstore by Bahrisons Booksellers on the first floor. 

The Ballygunge outlet will be home to several hot and cold brews like Espresso, Pourover, Americano, Cappuccino, Flat White, Trioccino, Vietnamese-style iced coffee amongst many others - all brewed using Blue Tokai’s high-quality roasted beans. Customers will be in for a treat with food preparations ranging from healthy to indulgent and a wide variety of sweet and savoury options, baked to perfection by Suchali’s Artisan Bakehouse. This café will also be home to a compelling collection of roasted coffee beans, fresh breads and other coffee and bakery retail offerings.

Plant based meat brand, GoodDot has recently launched "Pro Chaap," a substitute for traditional chaaps.

This product, known as the 'Zero Maida Soya Chaap,' marks a significant advancement in the food industry.

With its nutritional composition, flavor, texture, adaptability, and convenience, this protein-rich is poised to change the protein consumption habits.

Soya chaap has gained immense popularity in northern regions of the country and is now expanding its reach nationwide.

While many available soya chaaps contain a significant amount of maida (refined flour), Pro Chaap stands out as a zero maida and zero cholesterol product, enriched with dietary fibre.

From tikkas and fillings to curries, keemas, biryanis, and even beloved Chinese Chilli dishes and Asian-style stir-fries, Pro Chaap offers endless possibilities with just one product.

With an impressive protein content of 64%, Pro Chaap provides an alternative to both paneer and chicken, making it suitable for positioning as either Chaap or plant-based meat.

Additionally, its extended one-year shelf life and ambient stability make it a convenient choice for people in the food service industry.

It is priced around 30-50% lower than chicken or paneer, Pro Chaap introduces a new protein source for chefs and food service providers, enabling them to offer fresh and innovative choices to their customers while reducing food costs.

This product combines a delightful fusion of protein and nutrient-rich ingredients, elevating vegetarian and plant-based dishes to different levels.

"The plant-based meat and alt-protein industry is at an inflection point, and it is poised for explosive growth. With the advent of Pro Chaap our team has met all the vital benchmarks of taste, price, and nutrition. Now consumers can enjoy tasty and high-quality plant-based proteins at a price of almost 40-50% lower than chicken and paneer.” said, Abhishek Sinha, Co-Founder & CEO, GoodDot.

Pro Chaap is gaining traction in luxury hotels such as Marriott, Novotel, Radisson, Raffles, and others, as well as popular restaurants like Global Grill, Bodhi Tree, and Grillophilia.

Additionally, leading Dhaabas across West and North India have also embraced the product, further solidifying its market presence.

GoodDot remains at the forefront of the plant-based meat sector,  offers an inventive and eco-conscious substitutes for conventional animal-derived products.

By introducing Pro Chaap, GoodDot is commited to transform the food industry by providing cost-effective and highly adaptable choices for food service providers at every stage of the value chain.

Mayur Hola, the CEO of the hospitality brand OYO, has joined the food and beverage platform Culinary Brands as its chief marketing officer (CMO). The Italian luxury coffee company Lavazza and the US sandwich chain Subway are both owned by Culinary Brands.

Hola formerly served as SVP Global Brand at the hotel brand OYO before joining Culinary Brands. The tech-hospitality unicorn changed under his direction into a widely recognised brand. Hola is one of the most creative marketers in the business, and it has received recognition from marketing, effectiveness, and strategic organisations including WARC, Jay Chiat, and the Effies.

This is an interesting step in the QSR area in particular and the marketing industry generally due to Hola's capacity to generate growth by strategically pivoting a business and a brand and developing campaigns that go viral.

Everstone agreed to become Subway's master franchisee for Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka last year. In Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka, Everstone wants to open roughly 2,000 Subway locations. Additionally recently, Culinary Brands agreed to an exclusive licence for the Lavazza brand in India. Additionally, it purchased a sizable majority stake in Fresh & Honest Cafe Limited from Lavazza Group (F&H).

As a result, Culinary Brands' expanding portfolio of food and beverage brands now includes the two worldwide brands Subway and Lavazza. In a separate business with the American behemoth, Everstone also runs Burger King in India.

Philippines' largest food service network operator, Jollibee Foods Corp is acquiring the US-based coffee chain The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CBTL) for $350 million. This deal is part of the fast-food company’s plan to expand outside its home market.

Jollibee, which has a market value of nearly $5.5 billion, will buy the coffee chain through a Singapore-based holding company. It will be acquired from private equity firm Advent International and other investors including the Sassoon family, a large shareholder in CBTL.

The coffee chain has 1,189 outlets spread across the United States, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, and is rapidly growing in Asia. The brand’s nearly three-fourth outlets are franchised.

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, owned by California-based International Coffee and Tea, posted $312.95 million in revenues and $21 million in net losses last year. The comapny had a debt of $83.56 million as of end-2018.

Tony Tan Caktiong, Chairman of Jollibee, said, “The acquisition of Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf will be Jollibee's largest and most multinational so far with business presence in 27 countries.”

“The deal allows Jollibee to be a key player in the large, fast-growing and profitable coffee business. The priority is to accelerate Coffee Bean's growth in Asia. The acquisition will add 14% to Jollibee's global system-wide sales and 26% to its total store network,” he added.

Jollibee is known for its sweet-style spaghetti, burgers and fried chicken. It is operating the largest fast-food chain in the Southeast Asian nation with 3,195 restaurants.

Mother’s Recipe is eyeing to expand its food service division (HoReCa) nationally. The company, which is one of India’s leading Indian food brands, aims to double the growth in the current fiscal.

Under its flagship brand ‘Mother’s Recipe Food Service’, the firm offers various products like Indian gravies, pickles, spices, papads, condiments, ginger garlic paste, etc.

Presently, Mother’s Recipe has operations across Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Delhi NCR, Kolkata, Guwahati, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru. The company is catering to various segments of food service such as star hotels, restaurants and caterers, fine dining to QSRs (quick service restaurants) as well as railways and airlines.

Sanjana Desai, Chief Strategy Officer, Mother’s Recipe, said, “As a brand, we have been focussing on building the appropriate infrastructure to ensure timely delivery and consistency in taste and superior quality of products which are essential for this segment. Our products offer solutions for food service – great-tasting products that save time, costs and ensure consistency in the end offerings. We also innovate products together with our clients to meet their requirements.”

“Currently, the food service division contributes only around 5-6 per cent of our overall India business. However, we have witnessed a rapid 50 per cent growth in FY18-19. Going forward, we plan to double our business in FY19-20, and in the next five years, we are targeting to contribute to over 20 per cent of our overall Indian business,” she added.

Making inroads into the city's food market, Uber launched its on-demand food delivery mobile application UberEATS. Hyderabad is the seventh city in the country where the cab aggregator has started the app.

UberEATS India head Bhavik Rathod said “Company has partnered with over 300 restaurants across the city for taking delivery orders. We are committed to make eating effortless for everyone, by giving them convenience of ordering food at the push of a button. We hope it helps everyone discover great food through the perfect pairing of amazing restaurant partners, our technology and the Uber delivery network.

Tollywood's leading actress Rakul Preet Singh, as the first customer, placed an order formally on the app.

In India, UberEATS was first launched in Mumbai in May this year. Within six months, the service has been expanded to Delhi, Gurgaon, Bangalore, Chennai, and Chandigarh and now in Hyderabad.

Jason Droege, the head of UberEverything, a business unit within Uber that focuses on creating innovative business ventures  said “The app has gained great momentum in India which has been one of the fastest growing markets in Asia Pacific region (APAC) for the company.”

According to a report Indian food services market is set to grow at 10 per cent annually to reach Rs 5.52 lakh crore in the next five years.

FICCI-Technopak highlights that the food sector has emerged as a high-growth and high-profit sector due to its immense potential for value addition, particularly within the food processing industry.

Food services sector is expected to have generated direct employment for 5.5-6 million people in the financial year 2016, which is expected to increase to 8.5-9 million by the year financial year 2021. Indirect employment has seen a growth at CAGR of four per cent from 2013-2016 and expected to grow six per cent till 2021.

Mumbai and Delhi NCR contribute to 22 per cent of the overall food services market followed by six mini metros (Pune, Ahmadabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata) comprising of 20 per cent share.

High percentage of young and working population which is well travelled have double incomes and more eating out is driving the growth of the market.

Availability of organised retail space is helping in consistent growth of Indian and international brands across different formats. Space is attracting significant interest from domestic as well as international private equity and venture capital funds.

The BBMP on Monday inaugurated 50 more Indira Canteens which sell food at concessional rates. The first of such canteens in the second phase was opened near KR Market of Dharmarayaswamy Temple ward.

Chickpet MLA RV Devraj said he would request chief minister Siddaramaiah to increase the number of plates per session at the KR Market canteen to 1,000 as against 300 to 500. “KR Market is a major transport hub and lakhs of people come here every day. We have to cater to the demand.”

Promising to consider the demand, BBMP commissioner Manjunath Prasad said they have readied 12 kitchens that supply food to Indira Canteens in different parts of the city. Some more are under construction. In the first phase, 101 canteens were opened on August 16. The BBMP plans to open another set of canteens in the remaining 47 wards on November 1.

A BBMP official said they have revised the quantity of food being supplied to Indira Canteens based on the number of customers. “While in some wards there are fewer customers, in others, there's shortage of food. We have increased the number of plates per session in wards where the demand for food is more and reduced supply in some other areas.”

Gujarat-based start-up Cook'dIN has launched a unique online convergence platform that offers its patrons access to the goodness and health of home cooked food. It has been launched in Ahmadabad in the first phase with both home-based cooks and consumers connected through its web interface. Now, the services are set to expand to urban centres of Gujarat in 2016.

"We have conceived Cook'dIN as a catalyst, a facilitator that creates a primary/secondary revenue stream for homemakers and low to median income groups by catering to the need of consumers for home-cooked food", shared Abhijeet Goswami, Co-Founder, Cook'dIN.

"The total size of Indian foodservice market is expected to be INR. 65,000 crore ($10 billion). The food delivery market in India is pegged at an approximate Rs 16,250 crore ($2.5 billion), out of which the unorganised home cooking and delivery market stands at Rs 9800 crore ($ 1.5 billion)," added Goswami.

He further said, "The huge migration of skilled workforce and professionals crisscrossing different geographical and cultural zones to the country's teeming urban centres is what has generated this need gap. We realise that there exists a huge demand in consumers for home-cooked food and a variety of traditional food that is healthier and wholesome. In our 1st phase, we wish to take Amdavadis and subsequently the whole of Gujarat".

"To start with we are eyeing a potential customer base of 4.4 lakh households out of 11 lakh households in Ahmadabad city. Home Chefs who are registered on Cook'dIN have a huge marketplace to cater to and as there are not many restrictions on the Home Chefs they continue to remain their own bosses. The yearning in urban households for 'Ghar ka Khana' is what spurred the idea of Cook'dIN", concludes Goswami.

Nusra

For every diner, the experience and time spent is the key to a satisfying outing whenever one ventures out to a restaurant. Imagine going out to a restaurant with your loved ones and having to wait for a table or later coming to know that a better experience was waiting for you at another restaurant which you were not informed of. You would naturally be annoyed and irritated.

Loofre which started it service in Delhi expands its horizon serving the six more major cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad and Chandigarh.

With over 700 outlets under their service, Loofre.com turns out to be one of the largest restaurant merchant aggregator in the country.

“Our experience and expertise in the merchant aggregation space has given us the edge and has propelled us to a leadership position. With a young, robust and technologically advanced team a new history is being written in the field in the merchant sales solutions,” shared Rohit Mahajan Managing Partner, K5 Brand Solution. This festive season, Loofre.com a start-up online Table Reservation Services by K5 Brand Solutions, India’s largest restaurant merchant aggregator, has identified the service gap and promises to change the experience dramatically.

This is a big-leap forward from the traditional table reservation service and being interactive will connect restaurants and diners to discover the best offers or discounts in nearby locations along with the added advantage of personalised hospitality according to the diner’s need, cuisine, budget and preferred ambience.

K5 Brand Solutions is undoubtedly India’s largest merchant aggregator of dining offers and manages the Dining, Wellness and Online programmes of India’s largest banks like- ICICI (Culinary Treats),  HDFC (Food Fiesta), HDFC Times Card and SBI Cards, and is proud to have a working relationship with a network of over 5000 retail food joints across the country. In addition, K5 Brand Solutions had earlier even managed the dining alliances of websites like; EBay, Taggle and koovs.  

Adurcup, a BW ACCELERATE batch 1 startup from Delhi raised its first round of funding from the founders of Dineout.

AdUrCup is essentially a procurement application for Quick service restaurants-QSR. As an extension to procurement, it enables advertising on such inventory thus converting a cost center for QSR businesses, disposables, which accounts from a 5% to 12% of the bill value, into an asset. In US demand for foodservice disposables is forecast to climb 3.6 percent per year to $19.7 billion in 2017.

For advertisers this works as a mechanics to deliver a hyper local personalized advertising campaigns to customers while they eat their favorite meal, or sip a preferred beverage. As a market, OOH in India is pegged to be at INR 25 Billion, and experts suggest it to be a much bigger play vis a vis the mentioned numbers, as this is a deeply unregulated and fragmented industry.

Globally total OOH advertising revenue stood at US$36.32bn in 2014 and is set to grow at a 4.6% CAGR to reach US$45.37bn in 2019. Some of the experts further go on to suggest that applications with sharp ROI within this space will clearly have a higher absorption rate amid brands and advertisers.

Currently, operating in Delhi-NCR, this startup has acquired over 200+ QSR’s, large food delivery players, and travel food services providers, they are working to scale this model to other cities. Kushang and Abhishek, Co-Founder, AdUrCup, substantiate by saying- we are geared to expand our operations and acquisition across two of the major cities, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Ahmedabad across the next 2 months. These are exciting markets with a very strong trend of eating out.     

On the advertising side, they have acquired some of the major brands, and are helping them design incisive solutions.   

The first round of investment in AdUrCup has come from the founders of Dineout, a startup which was recently acquired by Times Internet. Ankit Mehrotra, Sahil, Vivek, and Nikhil have invested in their personal capacity.

They also are part of the mentor panel at ACCELERATE, and have mentored this startups along with other senior professionals from Advertising industry and Technology major. 

AdUrCup, is part of ACCELERATE | ENTREPRENEUR, a business acceleration initiative by BW ACCELERATE, with very strong emphasis on the industry leader participation, mentorship & business access. At ACCELERATE, AdUrCup benefitted tremendously and improved from being an idea stage startup to reaching a point of sharp business longevity and reflection.

Ankit Mehrotra, co-founder of Dineout, commented saying “ Adurcup is an automated hyperlocal advertising tool! They are creating a 1st of its kind offline ad network already reaching more than 25,000 consumers per day across Delhi NCR and more than 5,000 consumers per day on trains. They are connecting the brand to the consumer at a fraction of the cost incurred through the digital platforms, and at a, moment when the consumer has spare time. This represents an exciting opportunity for brands to interact directly with their customers. “

Ashu Agrawal, Director, BW ACCELERATE added, saying “We are excited to see the progress AdUrCup has made. We believed in them and have faith, with right kind of mentors ACCELERATE has brought onboard, will serve as a strong foundation to this startup.”

He further added, it will be lovely to see this team-AdUrCup, expand into other cities soon.”

Founded on campus in January 2015, this startup by a driven team from IIT Kanpur is clearly working to make a significant impact on how this industry works.

Heritage Foods Ltd has reported a twofold jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 10.71 crore in the first quarter of the fiscal on higher sales from dairy and bakery business, reported PTI.

The Hyderabad-based firm had posted a net profit of Rs 5.29 crore in the same quarter last year.

Total income increased to Rs 578.45 crore in the April- June quarter of the 2015-16 fiscal as against Rs 505.76 crore in the year-ago period, it said in a BSE filing.

The income from the dairy business rose to Rs 436.77 crore from Rs 382.64 crore, while the revenue from the retail business rose to Rs 133.93 crore from Rs 117.68 crore in the corresponding period last year.

However, the overall expenses of the company increased to Rs 558.89 crore from Rs 495.84 crore year-ago.

Besides dairy and retail, the company has three other business segments -- bakery, agriculture and renewable energy.

The company's scrip settled at Rs 431.40 on BSE, up 1.34 per cent from the previous close.

India’s one of the largest Food Technology Company, Faasos has recently tied up with Citrus Pay for payments on their Mobile App.

The integration of Citrus Pay has made cashless payments seamless on the App, enabling reduced friction for the customer.

“Citrus has been working towards bringing more and more benefits to its customers. Thistie-up is another such step in that direction. We’re focused on making cashless payments a household practice. Faasos being a popular brand among the youth will also help us connect with the kind of users we cater to the best,” said Jitendra Gupta, Founder of Citrus Payment Solutions.

In order to encourage users to experience the Faasos App, Citrus is also enabling an interesting launch activity.

Faasos is giving Rs 100 to first time app users called Faasos Cash via the Citrus Wallet, which can be spent exclusively on ordering food from Faasos.

The offer is doing well and it wouldn’t be wrong to say that customers are literally lapping it up, shared the release.

The offer is in its initial stages but users can’t seem get enough of the free food that the Rs 100 gives them access to.

Starbucks, the global chain is planning to be next McDoanld’s, reported NYT.

The coffee chain is constantly introducing improved food offerings, according to a recent report by Deutsche Bank.

According to the report by the firm, the ore food offerings will increase sale at6 Starbucks.

"Starbucks is virtually the only large incumbent that can offer millennial parents the convenience of a (fast food chain) and food they would not feel guilty/embarrassed to feed to their kids," Goldman Sachs' analysts write.

However, traditional fast food chains are losing market share to up-and-coming establishments like Chipotle as millennial customers search for healthier options.

This shift in consumer mindsets puts Starbucks in a unique position to take over, according to a recent report by Goldman Sachs.

The coffee chain has been expanding its menu to include more food options such as sandwiches and salads. It has also added drive-thrus to many locations.

Starbucks has also been "steadily expanding kid-friendly snack options, such as organic fruit squeezes, organic food snacks, and organic Greek yogurt," according to Goldman Sachs.

Capturing millennials, defined by Goldman Sachs as anyone aged 15-35, and their children is key because they could become lifelong customers.

"With the continued expansion of the lunch platform and investments in both drive-thru and in-store throughput (Starbucks') advantages in these areas appear set to expand," the analysts write.

With more than 20,000 locations around the world, Starbucks also has the size and power to compete with McDonald's.

The fast food giant has more than 36,000 locations around the world. By comparison, Chipotle has 1,700.

McDonald's is struggling to convince parents that its food is healthy.

Families with a child age 12 or under represent 14.6 per cent of McDonald's customers today, down from 18.6 per cent in 2011, according to Technomic.

"Kids are more sophisticated," Mary Chapman, director of product innovation at Technomic, told Crain's Chicago Business in September. "They're not just looking for the Golden Arches and the toy."

Customers are demanding "great-tasting, high-quality food," and McDonald's needs to make changes to some of its core menu items to meet that demand, new CEO Steve Easterbrook said on a call with analysts Monday.

In a recent step in that direction, the company pledged to remove antibiotics and hard-to-pronounce ingredients from its chicken.  

The effective incidence of service tax on food bill in air conditioned restaurants will go up to 5.6 per cent as against 4.94 per cent previously, a senior finance ministry official said, reported PTI.

The increased incidence follows government raising service tax rate from 12.36 per cent to 14 per cent with effect from June 1.

Air conditioned hotels and restaurants attract a service tax on 40 per cent of the billed amount. At old service tax rate, the effective rate of taxation came to 4.94 per cent of the food bill and at the higher rate of 14 per cent it comes to 5.6 per cent.

"14 per cent service tax on food and beverage in air conditioned hotels and restaurants calculated on 40 per cent of bill amount. Effective tax rate 5.6 per cent," tweeted Shaktikanta Das, Revenue Secretary.

However, the bills in non-air conditioned hotels and restaurants are exempted from service tax.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget had proposed to raise service tax from 12.36 per cent (including education cess) to 14 per cent. The proposal took effect from June 1.

Majas Travels, Tours and Logistics will launch Majastique-1, a floating restaurant in Kochi on May 30, reported BusinessLine.

“The air-conditioned, 9000 sq ft, two-storey boat is one of the largest of its kind,” said Sajan Mathew, Managing Director, Majas.

The company has invested Rs 4.5-crore to make the largest boat which has dedicated areas for partying, business conferences and a restaurant with 400 seats.

It will cruise the backwaters during the day, carrying up to 145 people, and will serve as a floating restaurant after sunset.

VKC Nuts, one of the dry fruits conglomerate and one of India’s largest exporter for walnuts, has announced a new strategic partnership with Reliance Retail Ltd, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries.

This long-term collaboration enables VKC Nuts to enhance the accessibility of its premium consumer brand Nutraj, the world’s finest nuts & exotic dry fruits, while Reliance Retail further strengthens its proposition in the whole foods segment. Nutraj encompasses a comprehensive variety of superior Indian and imported products ranging from exotics like dried cranberry, kiwi, prunes and hazelnut among others to traditional favourites like walnuts, almonds, cashews and more in plain, roasted and flavoured variants.

These products of Nutraj and Nutraj Signature will now be available in more than 500 stores across formats such as Reliance Fresh, Reliance Super and Reliance Mart pan India. Commenting on the association, Gunjan Jain, Managing Director VKC Nuts Said, “This association is part of our current focus to further strengthen Nutraj’s modern retail footprint in India. Over the past few years, the consumption pattern for dry fruits has steadily evolved in our country.” Over the past 90 years, VKC Nuts has cultivated an extensive trade network for exporting its superior quality walnuts to the world. By strategically leveraging this strength for Nutraj, the company is able to import the world’s best produce and mother earth’s finest ingredients at the most affordable prices for the Indian consumer.