Ride-hailing firm Ola is betting big on the food business and is planning to launch a portfolio of in-house food brands and take them across the country. These brands would not only be available on external platforms like food delivery apps Swiggy and Zomato, but also offline stores including restaurants, cloud kitchens, food trucks and pop-up kiosks that Ola is also planning to set up.
Ola’s food business will focus on becoming a food-first company with a massive kitchen infrastructure and a slew of brands. These include brands related to desserts, rice bowls and biryanis which would be unveiled within this year. These initiatives will also help the company reach new customers by penetrating deeper into the existing markets and expanding to tier-2 and tier-3 cities and towns.
“It is a very big opportunity and there are very few food brands with a national footprint. Eating out was an indulgence four years back and now it is part of the daily routine. And the food and supply has to modify with that behaviour,” said Pranay Jivrajka, chief executive of Ola’s food business. “We aim to have a national presence for our (food) portfolio and our goal is to have 80 per cent penetration in the top markets,” he added.
To begin with, the SoftBank-backed company has launched its flagship brand ‘Khichdi Experiment’ which has gone live in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune and Chennai. It is offering more than 16 varieties of ‘khichdi’ and the flavours will keep expanding depending upon the feedback from the customers. ‘Khichdi’ is a comfort food which is liked by people across ages and demographics. Ola said the idea was to answer to the hunger pangs, reconnect with the nostalgia and comfort that one attaches with an item like ‘khichdi’ and at the same time surprise customers with different flavours of the dish...READ MORE
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