Dipti Gore
“All of us were driven by the common goal of creating a world class company in an area which was close to our heart i.e. FOOD. That is how we started working on Bueno Foods,” says Pankaj Sharma, co-founder of Bueno Foods. He then along with Rohan Arora started Bueno Foods in 2012. In this article we look at the online food industry in India, consumer trends in the food industry and how Bueno Foods is creating a place for itself in this aggressively growing industry.
The Online Food Industry in India
“Convenience” is one of the key factors driving e-commerce industry in India. Besides taking away the huge cost of owing or renting a place, e-commerce players are able to provide better prices and service to their users, thus further driving the growth of this industry. The latest industry to receive lot of attention in the e-commerce space is the food delivery industry. While a number of players already existed in the food delivery market in India, the industry got a lot of attention when Zomato entered this space earlier this year.
The food delivery market holds a great chunk of profit. In 2013, Takeout and delivery held an 18% market share of the fast food industry, which is increasing since then. The organized food business in India is worth $48 billion, or Rs 3 lakh crore, of which food delivery is valued at $15 billion (Rs 94,755 crore). Online food delivery niche grew 40% in the last 12 months, which makes it the fastest growing segment of the Indian eCommerce market.
Home delivery and takeaways are expected to increase in popularity as consumers are looking for convenient options. Late working hours and chaotic traffic are driving sales of home deliveries. In addition, people attending late night parties and ordering food when they get home are driving sales of 100% home delivery/takeaway. Home delivery also works well for food operators. This type of outlet requires a smaller space, which translates into lower and cheaper rentals and consequently,lower capital investment (rental deposit, interiors, furniture). In addition, ongoing operational costs (staffing, utilities, etc) are also lower.
Zomato, Foodpanda, Tinyowl, Swiggy, Yumist, FRSH, SpoonJoy, I-tiifin, Tapcibo, Eatonomist, Holachef, Biteclub, Grofers, Delyver, LocalBanya, BigBasket, Peppertrap are some of the competitors that Bueno Foods will have to compete in this industry.
Customer Trends
Bueno conducted primary research covering more than 2000 participants in December 2012 to Feb 2013 to develop a better understanding of food habits of people. The second phase of this study was in December 2013 to Feb 2014 covering 1000 respondents. The target group for this study was working professionals with an income of minimum 600,000 p.a. and in the age group of 22-35 years, with at least 18 months of professional experience.
This research suggests that the key factors in decision making on food are in following order, a) perception or social approval, b) pricing, c) quality, d) consistency of experience. Average order in / Eat out Order Size per person is Rs 300-500 with an order frequency of 1-2 times Every week. The % of repeat order is ~40%
About Bueno Foods
Bueno Foods Pvt Ltd. is the Global Food Hub – a one stop shop for Quality Global Food delivering Fresh & Healthy Gourmet meals right at the consumer’s doorstep across American, Mexican, European, Italian, Lebanese, Indian & Asian cuisines. Bueno MenuMaker is the company’s gourmet catering offering and has a wide variety of food choices cuisines (currently delivering across NCR). Buéno XPRS, on the other hand, has a handpicked choice of the most popular dishes for on-demand needs (currently delivering in Gurgaon). Kitchen and Operations are handled by a team of experienced Five-Star Chefs and operations experts respectively.
Bueno is in the space of providing end to end solutions in food. It provides Multi-cuisine menu, Online ordering platform and Authentic, high quality food with better ingredients. It also caters to On-demand food delivery and pre-planned catering. Bueno is a one stop Online shop for Quality International Food. It is a company in Food+Tech space.The company was established in 2012 and targets working professionals with an income of minimum 600,000 p.a. and in the age group of 22-35 years, with at least 18 months of professional experience.
Bueno’s USP is Complete Control on Product & User Experience : Ordering, Product & Delivery (Owned or Franchised). In an industry that is run on the price war strategy,Bueno Foods is not driven by irrational pricing just to create user base. Growth is important to the company but not at the cost of profitability.The company is currently seeing a higher brand loyalty due to the quality of food delivered.
Pankaj Sharma, Co- Founder, Bueno Foods
The company by founded by Rohan Arora and Pankaj Sharma. Rohan is a Computer Engineer from University of Rajasthan, Jaipur & MBA from FMS Delhi with 12 years of experience in PepsiCo, HUL, Olam International & The Times group.Pankaj Sharma is an Alumnus of IIT Kharagpur& FMS Delhi with 15 years of experience in Citi Group, JP Morgan & UBS. The company also has a number of other members in the core management team. Chef Vipul Arora, Chef Puneet Jain, Kapil Gupta of OMLogic (OMLogic is our strategic partner in Technology Development & Activation) and Ankit Arora ( Certified Chartered Accountant) for the core team at Bueno Foods.
Rohan Arora, Co-Founder, Bueno Foods
Apart from a world class product, the marketing has been our key focus area. There are some key marketing strategies that the company has adopted.Institutional customers through referrals,Digital marketing,Targeted and segmented marketing,Institutional sales through front line sales,PR exercise are some of these initiatives.
The current team size is 20. The company is operating only in NCR as of now. The company is currently focused on Attracting Talent and gathering funds for growth and creating awareness. In the next 6 months the company is planning to cross Revenue of Rs 1 Crore per month, Closing fund raising from institutional investors and Expansion into one more city apart from NCR. The company is currently in the process of raising USD 1 mn.