How tech is helping foodies relish meals from across India within hours

By Vivek Singh Chauhan

New Delhi, June 26 (SocialNews.XYZ) Are you longing for a meal that you had in a different city or in your hometown while vacationing? In the quick-commerce era and advancements in technology, relishing the same meal, and fresh, within hours right at your home is not impossible anymore.

Several food tech startups have entered the market to deliver your favourite dish to your doorstep, not just from the city you reside in but across the country, and that might give a tough competition to food aggregators like Swiggy and Zomato.

Gurugram-based Inter-city delivery food platform JustMyRoots facilitates delivery of perishable cooked food across cities with packaging that is said to keep the food fresh for 24 to 36 hours.

"JustMyRoots is a platform for delivering food memories and nostalgia from across the country right to the doorstep, within 12 hours. The brand relies on innovation to continue expanding and growing," Samiran Sengupta, founder and CEO of Just My Roots, told IANS.

"They have implemented and invested in new technology in the packaging from Israel and India that will help keep perishable products fresh for 24-36 hours in all temperatures by maintaining the temperature and moisture content," Sengupta added.

The platform has several partnerships with airlines and cargo firms such as Blue Dart, Vistara, Indigo, SpiceJet, and others.

On being asked about the challenge that the platform faces, Sengupta said that it happens "when a customer orders from multiple locations and still needs the delivery together".

JustMyRoots offers same-day delivery in many locations, including Mumbai, Delhi-NCR and Pune.

"We presently have 670 restaurant partners in India, but our goal is to add another 5,000 by the end of the fiscal year 2022-2023. In addition, our long-term expansion strategy includes expanding globally with more touchpoints through restaurant partners and consumers," Sengupta said.

"We will be foraying into Europe and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in the fiscal year 2022-2023. Additionally, we have also planned to enter the US and Australia markets for the fiscal year 2023-2024," he added.

Meanwhile, another platform Big Bang Food Tech (BBFT) said that its mission is to scale up legendary food brands across the country, while, at the same time, preserving the traditional process, ingredients and sentiments.

BBFT said it has recently acquired Puran Singh Ka Mashoor Vishal Dhaba for an undisclosed sum of money.

The food brand aggregator mentioned that it will expand the legacy brand to new markets while retaining the taste and authenticity of the food which the customers have come to associate with the brand for the past 70 years.

"At BBFT, our sole objective is to identify the legacy brands which resonate with people of all ages, but for multiple reasons have not been able to expand and if the brand is not taken further, it may even get lost," said Manu Mohindra, co-founder, BBFT.

Mohindra said that the platform aims to solve pressing domain challenges such as heavy cap investment and high fixed and set-up costs by setting up a shared supply chain and logistics at the backend.

The startup said it has built a backend technology to drive the business via data analytics, develop a more robust product portfolio and iron out the supply chain challenges.

BBFT has also acquired 34 Chowringhee Lane and is aggressively pursuing more such opportunities in this space.

It plans to acquire eight more legacy brands by the fiscal year 2022-23, with a targeted cumulative revenue of Rs 120 crore.

(Vivek Singh Chauhan can be reached at vivek.c@ians.in)

Source: IANS