The demand for healthy products, especially food in the last year, post the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, has been on a constant rise. Interestingly, this has led to the blooming of food-tech startups, offering customized meals based on individual dietary requirements and fitness goals. Coupled with personalized diets, these brands have collaborated with nutritionists, doctors, and culinary experts to offer a subscription-based solution for their customers’ health needs along with doorstep delivery.
Compared to FY20, Food Darzee’s net revenue has gone up by 30-40%. When a customer subscribes to Food Darzee for around 30 days, it costs them Rs 245 a meal for four meals a day. They have around 1,500 customers now, Anirudh Ganeriwal, co-founder, Food Darzee, told BrandWagon Online. The health and nutrition company, says that its net revenue for FY21 was approximately Rs 18-19 crores and they plan to expand its presence to other cities such as Chennai, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Surat, Chandigarh, etc.
ParaFit, which delivers healthy meals in Delhi-NCR, also saw a growth in the delivery business by 80-90%. Parag Primlani, founder, ParaFit, said that the health and fitness sector has seen good growth in 2020. They have tied up with Zomato and Swiggy for a-la-carte orders in South Delhi. They are also planning to expand their operations in Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad adding that hygiene, quality, introducing new menus will be their prime focus. The company aims to target growth of 80-90% in net revenue in FY22 at around Rs 3.5-4 crore. Also, it aims to expand into the retail sector with the launch of brownies, protein bars, healthy cookies, and organic vegetables.
Primlani also added that their customer acquisition cost (CAC) has decreased by 30-40% with the increase in the number of conversions owing to Google Ads, Instagram, Facebook marketing, etc. Conversion cost ranges from Rs 90-100 for a 4-week plan. With brands offering differentiated proposition, most companies claim that word-of-mouth along with performance marketing and social media marketing has helped in acquiring consumers.
EatFit plans to spend 90-95% of the advertising budget on digital media. Their brand ambassador will be Devdutt Padikkal and they plan to spend Rs 5 crore on branding and advertising. They will be creating digital films focusing on healthy foods informed Ankit Nagori, co-founder, EatFit, said. The Bangalore-based company, which also operates in Coimbatore, is planning to expand its operations to Chennai, Mysore, and Hyderabad.
Experts believe that brands need to work on a more focused approach to increase their reach, especially as the alternatives available are more accessible and affordable. Building trust about the product is important. It matters to show and communicate the value proposition for the price being paid to get the customers hooked to the products. Also, micro-influencers favoring the products in the same city communicate the message well.
Mostly these brands thrive on word-of-mouth marketing and hence it is important to get more people to consume the food products so the brand becomes popular said Upasna Dash, founder, CEO, Jajabor Brand Consultancy.
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