JOIN USInternational cuisine makes its way home on FreshMenu
As its kitchens in the city dish out tantalising cuisines from across the world on a daily basis, FreshMenu has made home in the hearts of many Bangaloreans.
The online restaurant has been in the business of offering the experience of fine dining at one’s doorstep since October 2014. “Our idea was and remains to bring home restaurant quality food — food that you aspire for,” said FreshMenu Founder Rashmi Daga.
“The concept of pre-plated meals was quite popular in the West. We wanted to introduce this concept here so that one person can have an entire meal with multiple dishes without having to order a la carte. But, the main intent was to make the idea of trying global cuisine easier and more accessible,” she said.
From offering Norwegian smoked salmon to simple fried rice, FreshMenu claims its journey to be about introducing new flavours to its customers in interesting formats. The company runs 17 kitchens across Bengaluru, which ensure that the food delivered is freshly prepared and served to its patrons. With standard recipes in place, each kitchen in equipped with about 20 members as part of the kitchen staff and delivery staff. Each kitchen caters to an area of 20 sq kms around it. The platform offers 15-20 dishes on a daily basis between 11 am and 10:30 pm. “We have recently introduced a special breakfast menu on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, which starts off at 9 am,” she said.
The app boasts of 1.5 lakh users till date, with active customers engaging with the app at least once a week. “Our target audience is the experimental youth that wants to eat fresh and healthy food but also wants to indulge in something new each time. Therefore, when we introduce new dishes, our focus is on popular food around the world, which could be made delivery friendly,” she said.
With its largest consumer base of up to 80% in Bengaluru, FreshMenu has begun the process of introducing its food in Delhi and Mumbai. Within a year, FreshMenu plans to set up kitchens in Hyderabad and Chennai also. In its plans for the future, the company also intends to introduce an extensive menu of bakery products and beverages.
Having raised its latest round of funding to the tune of $17 million in January this year, “The company hopes to become self sustainable financially within a year or year-and-a-half,” she added.
In food, the moment of reality is when one tastes the food and therefore word-of-mouth is a ver big marketing channel. “We constantly engage in opportunities to showcase our dishes, which helps us convert fence-sitters into consumers. This has been a strongest driving force and will continue to be,” she said.