Flagging a slowdown in urban food consumption, Rebel Foods cofounder and India CEO Ankush Grover said that momentum is beginning to pick up this month. In an interaction with ET, the founder of the cloud kitchen startup, which owns brands such as Faasos and Behrouz Biryani, said that 15-minute food delivery will become the norm.
“The growth in the last three months is not as high as it was before, but we are still growing. So, it's not a negative or a zero number for us. It's still growing, but it has tapered down a bit,” he told ET on the sidelines of the launch of burger chain Wendy’s 200th Indian store in Gurugram.
Food delivery aggregators Zomato and Swiggy have also witnessed a slowdown in the segment – with year-on-year (YoY) growth during the October-December quarter slipping below 20% for both the players.
While clocking a slower first quarter of this calendar year, Grover said that Rebel Foods is beginning to see an uptick in March, driven by occasions such as Ramadan and Holi. The firm also saw a boost from the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy, which ended on Sunday.
ET had reported on March 5 citing Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal that the food delivery sector is facing systemic challenges, which have contributed to its slowdown.
Rebel Foods, which raised $210 million in December 2024 from Singapore’s sovereign fund Temasek, reported Rs 1,420 crore in operating revenue for FY24, a growth of 19%, even as its losses narrowed 42% to Rs 378 crore.
The company is also understood to be prepping for an initial public offering (IPO).
Rapid food delivery
According to Grover, 15-minute food delivery will be a key driver of growth for the cloud kitchen startup.
“I think 30 minutes was never a norm; it became a norm. 15 minutes is the next norm. As a technology-first and customer-first company, we are working hard towards it,” he said.
Rebel’s online food ordering app EatSure, which aggregates all its brands such as Faasos, Oven Story Pizza, Behrouz Biryani and Wendy’s, launched its 15-minute food delivery service, Quickies, starting in Mumbai in February.
This comes at a time when food delivery and quick commerce platforms like Zomato, Blinkit, Swiggy, and Zepto have all rolled out their 10-15-minute delivery services, betting on growth in this segment.
In addition, standalone players such as Accel-backed Swish are also offering 10-minute food delivery in Bengaluru.
Wendy’s expansion
Rebel Foods is looking to scale up Wendy’s – an American fast-food chain – for which the homegrown cloud kitchen startup has the master franchise for India.
From the current 200 stores, Grover said, Rebel Foods will open another 300 Wendy’s outlets over the next three years, at an investment of Rs 100-150 crore.
According to Grover, Wendy's is the fastest-growing brand for the startup, and it plans to double down on it with the goal of tripling its revenue.
“It accounts for a good double-digit percentage of our overall revenue... We aim to open more than 300 stores in the next three years," he said.
Wendy's opened its 200th Indian store in Gurugram on Wednesday, which includes 15 dine-in outlets.
“India is the fastest growing market globally for Wendy’s, to get to 200 touch points,” said Chris Conway, SVP, managing director, APMEA (Asia Pacific Middle East and Africa), for Wendy's.
“The growth in the last three months is not as high as it was before, but we are still growing. So, it's not a negative or a zero number for us. It's still growing, but it has tapered down a bit,” he told ET on the sidelines of the launch of burger chain Wendy’s 200th Indian store in Gurugram.
Food delivery aggregators Zomato and Swiggy have also witnessed a slowdown in the segment – with year-on-year (YoY) growth during the October-December quarter slipping below 20% for both the players.
While clocking a slower first quarter of this calendar year, Grover said that Rebel Foods is beginning to see an uptick in March, driven by occasions such as Ramadan and Holi. The firm also saw a boost from the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy, which ended on Sunday.
ET had reported on March 5 citing Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal that the food delivery sector is facing systemic challenges, which have contributed to its slowdown.
Rebel Foods, which raised $210 million in December 2024 from Singapore’s sovereign fund Temasek, reported Rs 1,420 crore in operating revenue for FY24, a growth of 19%, even as its losses narrowed 42% to Rs 378 crore.
The company is also understood to be prepping for an initial public offering (IPO).
Rapid food delivery
According to Grover, 15-minute food delivery will be a key driver of growth for the cloud kitchen startup.
“I think 30 minutes was never a norm; it became a norm. 15 minutes is the next norm. As a technology-first and customer-first company, we are working hard towards it,” he said.
Rebel’s online food ordering app EatSure, which aggregates all its brands such as Faasos, Oven Story Pizza, Behrouz Biryani and Wendy’s, launched its 15-minute food delivery service, Quickies, starting in Mumbai in February.
This comes at a time when food delivery and quick commerce platforms like Zomato, Blinkit, Swiggy, and Zepto have all rolled out their 10-15-minute delivery services, betting on growth in this segment.
In addition, standalone players such as Accel-backed Swish are also offering 10-minute food delivery in Bengaluru.
Wendy’s expansion
Rebel Foods is looking to scale up Wendy’s – an American fast-food chain – for which the homegrown cloud kitchen startup has the master franchise for India.
From the current 200 stores, Grover said, Rebel Foods will open another 300 Wendy’s outlets over the next three years, at an investment of Rs 100-150 crore.
According to Grover, Wendy's is the fastest-growing brand for the startup, and it plans to double down on it with the goal of tripling its revenue.
“It accounts for a good double-digit percentage of our overall revenue... We aim to open more than 300 stores in the next three years," he said.
Wendy's opened its 200th Indian store in Gurugram on Wednesday, which includes 15 dine-in outlets.
“India is the fastest growing market globally for Wendy’s, to get to 200 touch points,” said Chris Conway, SVP, managing director, APMEA (Asia Pacific Middle East and Africa), for Wendy's.
