NEWS | Lo! Foods to expand its cloud kitchen presence

The startup plans to start operations in Mumbai and Pune in the next 6-8 months and is looking to tie-up with more delivery partners like Magicpin, Dotpe and Peppo.

Bengaluru based startup, Lo! Foods recently raised one million dollars in pre-series A funding. While the FMCG startup offers low-carb and keto-friendly packaged products, it also has a growing cloud kitchen business. ET Hospitality spoke to Sudarshan Gangrade, Founder, Lo! Foods to know more about his plans for the cloud kitchen segment post-investment.

Lo! Foods currently have 20 cloud kitchens across Bangalore, Delhi, Gurgaon and Hyderabad that offer low-carb and keto-friendly food. The company also delivers Parathas, Rolls, Sandwiches on demand through food delivery apps.

“We plan to further strengthen our cloud kitchen business through expanding to new geographies. We plan to start operations in Mumbai and Pune in the next 6-8 months.

We will also look for more delivery partners like Magicpin, Dotpe and Peppo that can help us widen our reach and plans to work more closely with Swiggy and Zomato,” Gangrade stated who also aims to introduce a few new services that can help accelerate the existing cloud kitchen business.

The cloud kitchen business contributes to almost half of the total business of Lo! Foods. Across 20 cloud kitchens, the company has served about one Lakh customers till date and services about 15,000 orders per month.

The company has recently expanded into international markets such as the US, Singapore and the Middle East.

In terms of food products, the company is looking forward to having a strong presence in HoReCa. “We have tied up with five-star chains like Hyatt and Sheraton to offer Low-Carb and Keto friendly menus to customers. B2B sales to the HoReCa segment has also begun to pick up, and we see it contributing significantly to our business over the next few quarters. Currently, it is in its early stages,” Gangrade said.

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The Masala Story set to open new cloud kitchen outlets amidst the pandemic

Times have never been tougher for the restaurant business than it is today. Despite that, The Masala Story, a delivery kitchen that serves authentic North Indian cuisine has opened four new outlets in India during the pandemic. The unpredictable times have urged The Masala Story to innovate and thrive in the business, leading them to the concept of delivery kitchen.

As consumers shift their dining behaviors increasingly to delivery, The Masala Story gears up to open three new ‘cloud kitchens’ outlets that are delivery kitchens, ready for home delivery and take away only. The Masala Story offers premium and authentic north Indian cuisine including freshly cooked dum biryani, kebab, phirni and more at its Haryana and Delhi outlets.

What sets The Masala Story apart is its traditional style of cooking authentic north Indian style food in personalized earthen pots and then carefully placing them in their specially curated boxes. This helps every individual to enjoy delicious food without any mess. The packaging also serves as a sustainable approach to the environment.

Catering to hygiene and safety guidelines, The Masala Story didn’t fold and had to sacrifice some of the energy and character that had defined them in order to operate safely during the ongoing pandemic. The delivery kitchen adds additional sanitary and social distancing requirements like checking temperature, sanitising the kitchen etc.

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