The startup ecosystem in India has changed tremendously over the last decade. Instead of going for conventional jobs people are opting for new opportunities unexplored hitherto. They are pursuing careers in startups and venturing into dealing with out of the box ideas. One big example for this shift in attitude is the order food online ventures.
Order food online ventures have created new opportunities encouraging youth to think beyond traditional jobs and chase their dreams. Thanks to our beloved Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for initiating start-up campaign in India in 2015. The main aim of this campaign is to promote bank financing to start-up ventures to boost entrepreneurship and encourage start-ups with jobs creation. This assurance has ensured more people venture to give their dreams a shape.
From the past few years, food start-ups and online grocery are in the spotlight. Food start-ups seem to have growing appetite in the country. Online grocery has grown exponentially while food start-ups are not far behind. Since last two years, food start-ups are mushrooming all around the country. This area is gaining investor’s interest. By 2020, Indian food market is expected to reach rupees 42 trillion. Currently, the market is around rupees 22 trillion.
There iscut throat competition in this sector. Many players are implementing new strategies to gain an edge over the others. They are striving to win customer hearts through their bellies. The main focus is on the innovation in providing a unique experience to the customer. Apart from IT infrastructure and fancy apps, the importance is given to create innovative food products for people.
Initially, food tech industry began with a simple idea to find a good restaurant through a user-friendly platform. Later food aggregators came into the picture. They brought many restaurants and food joints on to a single platform. It gave numerous options to people as they have the choice to order from any restaurant and cuisine they wish for. Apart from these, a new trend also emerged, preparing fresh food to cater instead of simply aggregating food joints.
As it appears, everything seems quite rosy but it’s not. Despite the vast potential the sector has, lack of differentiation and innovation is pushing these start-ups to shut down. New startups are mere clones of the big players in the market. It’s really hard to survive in the competition without proper strategy and differentiation. Startups like Tinyowl and Zupermeal are best examples. The Recent analysis says out of 110 startups that are registered only 55 are still operational.
Let’s see the other side of the coin. There are few business models in the food tech industry such as online food delivery, Restaurant, and food discovery, and home cooked food models. Out of these home cooked food is top most valued and unexplored. For instance, Freshmenu provides farm fresh foods directly from their kitchens. Later Freshmenu expanded to Mumbai, Gurgaon, and Delhi with multiple operational kitchens. For example, with the advent of Freshmenuonline food ordering in Gurgaon is now possible with new delightful fresh menu’s every day. They implemented a strategy of installing kitchens across various localities in the city ensuring fresh food is delivered instantly.
