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What is Rebel Food and how it is destroying the competition
Introduction
Following a $175 million Series F financing funded by the Qatar Investment Authority, Rebel Foods, the company that owns brands like Faasos, Behrouz, and Oven Story, recently declared that it had become a unicorn (QIA). QIA joins other investors who have supported Rebel Foods in the cloud kitchen market, including Sequoia Capital, Coatue, and Evolve.
Rebel Foods was valued at $1.4 billion after the fundraiser in October 2021, up 75% from the $800 million estimates following the Series E in July 2020. Rebel Foods has 450+ kitchens spread over 60 locations in 10 countries.
Over the past three years, cloud kitchen operators like Rebel Foods have generated a lot of excitement. According to RedSeer Consulting, the sector is anticipated to reach $2 billion in India by 2024.
About Rebel Food
| NAME | REBEL FOOD |
| FOUNDED | 2011 |
| HEADQUARTERS | MUMBAI |
| FOUNDERS | JAYDEEP BARMAN, KALLOL BANERJEE |
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What sets Rebel Foods apart from other firms using cloud kitchens?
There are several cloud kitchen firms in India, but only Rebel Foods has been able to reach unicorn status and spread to 10 different nations. While rivals like FreshMenu long maintained a single brand offering, Rebel continued to establish and scale-up brands one after the other (Faasos, Behrouz, Oven Story, Mandarin Oak, LunchBox, and many more). In that regard, the cloud kitchen industry is similar to FMCG; brand building is critical.
Many people have noticed that multiple cuisine-specific brands perform better than a single multi-cuisine brand in the food industry. Rebel Foods stands out for its capacity to establish and grow several cuisine-specific brands.
Given that biryani is the most popular order on food aggregators like Zomato, which supplied 22 biryanis every minute in 2020, Rebel selected biryani with Behrouz as its second brand. Rebel flanked the market by creating “The Biryani Life,” a biryani brand that competes in the lower price range, while Behrouz faced a discount war in biryanis.
Tech is another aspect of a cloud kitchen that is underemphasized. One of the few businesses, Rebel Foods, has utilized a software platform to integrate the operations of procuring raw materials, inventories, kitchen management, and transportation.
Rebel has amassed so much knowledge in that field that it is bringing on new food entrepreneurs and granting them quick access to its nationwide network of cloud kitchens and technology. For example, when they decided to enter India, it was how the American fast-food company Wendy’s was onboarded. This service was dubbed “the AWS for food” by the founders.
With its innovation strategy, Rebel Foods is “on cloud nine.”
By creating its full-stack technology-enabled platform, the Rebel Operating System, Rebel Foods has disrupted the traditional restaurant industry with more than 4,000 internet eateries worldwide (Rebel OS).
The four main components of Rebel OS are a full-stack digital platform, culinary innovation hub, cloud kitchen network or supply chain, and powerful operating DNA and infrastructure.
Full-stack tech platform
Rebel Foods created most of its algorithms, systems, and software in-house, giving it great flexibility and speed to develop streamlined procedures and experiences. For example, queuing, batching, and inventory forecasting was administered and managed by the tech platform that the company’s engineers and product managers created.
Center for culinary innovation
Menus were broken down into manageable, Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) driven procedures that didn’t require additional skill using culinary knowledge and abilities. Instead, the staff received internal training. As a result, chefs could discover their hidden culinary talents, learn about regional tastes, create meals of the highest caliber, and pay great attention to the quality of each ingredient, thanks to Rebel Foods’ well-equipped innovation centers.
Network or supply chain for cloud kitchens
The third factor was Rebel Foods’ extensive supply chain network throughout India, which served as its skeleton and enabled it to scale its brands. Rebel Foods established a pan-India supply chain network that included procuring raw materials, warehouses, managing logistics, cloud kitchens, and customers.
Rebel Food’s robust supply chain allowed it to source, store, and transport input materials in any shape or form across its markets.
Robust operating infrastructure and DNA
Rebel Foods collaborated with Amazon Web Services Inc (AWS) to develop an internal Internet of Things platform to automate cooking procedures and keep track of inventory, procurement, production, warehousing, and other things. In addition, rebel Foods deployed the hygiene and safety suite of Wobot Intelligence Pvt Ltd’s AI-based video analytics technology to monitor the effectiveness of the processes in its kitchens.
Upcoming plan
To strengthen its position in the cloud kitchen market going forward, Rebel Foods can use the following tactics:
- To stay ahead of the competition, concentrate on product innovation and keep spending money on technology.
- Collaborate with leading international food companies by providing them with its main technological attributes, including its reliable infrastructure, effective intelligent kitchen platform, and supply chain network.
- Entice new clients. Through monetary and community engagement programs, Rebel should concentrate on peer advocacy.
- Investigate data analytics to create operations like network optimization and a roadmap for expanding into other industries, such as fresh meat, groceries, and pharmaceuticals.
- By utilizing its clientele, distribution, and service experience, diversify into several new offerings.
Conclusion
The Rebel Foods team believed that if they could create and scale up new food brands across various client food profiles, they could also make food brands outside India. This was around the end of 2018.
The Middle East and Southeast Asia were picked as test markets for global expansion. Rebel opened 30 kitchens in Dubai and Jakarta between the middle of 2019 and the end of 2020, developing local cuisine brands while exporting its Indian names, including Behrouz, Faasos, Ovenstory, Sweet Truth, and Mandarin Oak.
Rebel also expanded to London in the second half of 2020 with five well-known brands and a customized healthy offering. In addition, new brands that are now available in other regions have the potential to expand globally and return to India.
Who is the owner of Rebel Foods?
Jaydeep Barman Kallol Banerjee
How many kitchens are there at Rebel Foods?
Rebel Foods has created its full-stack platform, Rebel OS, which allows many brands to be launched and scaled up in a relatively short amount of time. Rebel Foods has over 450 kitchens spread throughout 70 locations.
What is Rebel Foods currently worth?
Rebel Foods said its worth was $1.42 billion in response to Entrackr’s inquiries.
Does Rebel Foods provide its own delivery service?
Currently, Rebel Foods is in charge of 45 cloud kitchens brands that provide anything from Chinese to Indian to sweets via delivery services like Zomato and Swiggy. They also have a delivery app of their own.