In 2020, the food delivery market reached a value of US$ 4.35 Billion and is estimated to develop a user base of 300.57Mn by 2024. Speaking of the Indian scenario, the revenue in the Indian food market amounts to US$610,904m in 2021 and is expected to grow annually by 6.58% (CAGR 2021-2025). But as operations costs continue to rise, opening a restaurant or food truck without establishing your brand can be a very risky move.
While starting and mainly successfully running an F&B venture gets harder, award-winning culinary experts Pawan Shahri and Dhaval Udeshi of London Taxi have founded an incubation program that will enable 5 Entrepreneurs to launch their ideated brands. This not only includes utilising the restaurant’s existing resources, from its 650 sq ft space, head chefs to R&D teams and vendor management teams, they will also post launch support of marketing, ads, aggregator relationships, finance and accounting.
This inclusive program is open to anyone with knowledge of the food market, from home chefs and bakers, college students, nutritionists to senior citizens, fitness and fashion influencers and delivery start-ups, who are looking for a platform to effectively showcase their ideas. This is the first time that an existing kitchen is opening up its facilities to incubate brands.
By partnering with a culinary incubator, who have already tested the waters and have an existing customer base, this model is likely to take more of a firm role in the restaurant industry, with independent brands getting to bring their concepts to market before investing in a permanent brick and mortar space.
“The idea of the incubation program is to mentor young entrepreneurs, bring in good concepts and create jobs. During lockdowns, the only thing running is food and home delivery. And we believe this program will have a lasting effect in helping people realise their dreams of opening their very own restaurant,” believes Dhaval Udeshi. “We plan to work closely with entrepreneurs and mentor them. So along with marketing support, the teams, the chefs, everything will be provided, but the entrepreneur will ride the business with us. At London Taxi, we are looking for real people with an idea for a business and we’ll make it happen.”
Budding F&B enthusiasts can apply for the London Taxi Delivery Start Up Incubator via their website: www.thetaxiincubator.com.
