NEW DELHI: Co-founded by chef Sanjeev Kapoor and former Sodexo India president Ravi Saxena, the Wonderchef kitchenware and appliance company has expanded into two new markets: coffee makers and appliance renting. Amicus Capital, Sixth Sense Ventures, and the Godrej family office are among the investors in the 13-year-old business, which aims for quick growth. Saxena discussed the thriving forthcoming festival season and India’s expanding coffee culture in an interview. Edited passages:
Last year, you received funding from Sixth Sense. Will you make additional donations?
We are quickly growing. So, we might try fundraising again anytime in the next year. We expanded by 30% last year, and we are expanding by over 40% this year. We also make significant investments in design and development. For instance, we recently introduced a full stack of nine coffee makers because India is the place where coffee is at the moment.
We are building the equipment for black coffee espresso, Americano, and milk-based coffee. Here, we must create milk-intensive equipment with built-in foaming.
The fully automatic machine, serving cappuccino with frothed milk, costs approximately $1,500 released around Diwali priced at 90,000. Other people who pay between 14,000 and 17,000 can provide you with coffee similar to Starbucks at home.
So, interest in coffee is growing. It’s already taking place around Mumbai malls and carts on the streets.
How much of your future revenue do you anticipate coming from coffee makers?
In two years, perhaps 8–10%. Every single day, machines priced at 16,000 sell more than those at 10,000, and the 10,000 machines outperform those at 6,000. So the pyramid is turned on its side.
You’ve also started a company that rents out appliances.
It is called WondeRent, indeed. The millennial generation is our target market. However, they prefer to rent, and they could soon wish to improve. We are employing a third-party business that handles everything, including getting the product to the consumer and collecting rent.
What does the festival season seem to require you?
It has had a good start. One had worried that there would be an issue because of numerous inflationary pressures and other global uncertainties. But I believe that all of these factors are mostly irrelevant to India’s festival season. I anticipate a strong season.
Will increased costs affect demand?
We increased our prices three times in the past year as shipping and material expenses skyrocketed. The overall percentage increase since January 2021 ranges between 20 and 25%. Nevertheless, we saw a 30% growth.
How much digital advertising do you do?
Compared to other brands in our sector, our social media assets are almost ten times larger. We conduct a lot of content-based marketing and have about 2 million followers across Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube. We use the marketing platforms like Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Flipkart to advertise.
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