TheFoodstore.App: Franchising the cloud kitchen model

Redwan always wanted to set up a restaurant of his own but never had enough money for the initial investment.

And then he heard about TheFoodstore.App. The Badda-based cloud kitchen was offering satellite kitchen under a franchise model, where, for an investment of only Tk6 lakh, he could serve the eight brands on offer at the Foodstore within a three kilometre radius.

He set up a 150 square feet kitchen at home in Mohammadpur, hired two people, and dove wholeheartedly into the food business. Now, when anyone living close to his home has ordered from the Foodstore, he prepares the semi-cooked food in his kitchen and hands it over to the delivery company.  

"Setting up a restaurant in a location like Mohammadpur is really expensive. So I am grateful to TheFoodstore.App for offering a franchise at such a reasonable rate. Being a cloud format, I can operate it from my home. So my infrastructure cost is also very low," added Redwan.

Redwan's kitchen is also supported by a delivery system, logistics, and data analytics from TheFoodstore.App.

Acknowledging the trending popularity of a cloud-based food ordering system, The Foodstore.App, a technology-focused "phygital" (combination of physical and digital) kitchen, has introduced a franchise model that is carefully engineered for scalability, and capable of healthy expansion nationwide.

A novel concept

TheFoodstore.App is co-founded by Farzana Islam and Joy Mondol. Their journey over the years has been filled with trials and errors.

In 2016, they started their journey through a physical outlet named 'Desi Swag' in a food court at Mirpur where they only sold Indo-Chinese food.

With the increasing demand, Desi Swag started taking orders through a delivery aggregator company too and gradually started diversifying its menu by introducing burgers, wraps etc.

But the mall management had objections with them selling multi culinary food under an Indo-Chinese bannered venture.

Eventually, the restaurant was shut down due to pressure from the authorities.

In early 2020, just before the pandemic, Desi Swag switched its business model to cloud kitchen and rebranded as TheFoodstore.App

To maintain food quality, TheFoodstore.App implemented a hyper-local business model, serving only within a three-kilometre radius. As a result, the demand remained restricted.

Besides this, the delivery aggregator took up a considerable chunk of their profit margin for which the business started bleeding.

Finally, yet most importantly, the exacerbation of the pandemic brought the startup to an end.

After a year of intense research and development, TheFoodstore.App began again as a cloud kitchen in June 2021, this time in Badda.

Farzana, who is graduating with a degree in business management, also serves as the Chief Marketing Officer of the venture whereas Joy was a chef with Westin Dhaka before he co-founded TheFoodstore.App. He is also the Chief Product Officer of the brand.

The business model

TheFoodstore.App is a coalescence of eight inclusive brands: Fried Chicken Company, Wraps N More, Big Burger Company, Waffles N Donuts, Kebab Sultan, Fully Loaded Fries, Pizza Guru and Meal Out of Box.

People can order via their website or through the IOS & Android applications.

All its brands are unique and sell different items; hence, the central kitchen has eight different sections for these brands. The central kitchen employs around 9-10 people.

"We curated these brands meticulously. Different items are popular in different areas. Since we aim to serve the entire Dhaka and beyond, we tried to include as many types of cuisines and items as we can," said Farzana.

The central kitchen only serves Badda, Vatara, Gulshan 1 and other neighbouring areas, strictly within a three-kilometre radius.

For the area outside this zone, the concept of satellite kitchens has been introduced into the model. Each satellite kitchen is operated by 3 people - an in-charge, an accountant and an assistant.

But, how can a kitchen operate without a chef?

This is where this business has brought about a revolution. In the central kitchen, they invented the perfect formula for each of their items which is shared with the satellite kitchens. This allows them to run without a chef.

For example, if someone orders Khichuri from Dhanmondi, the order will be accepted from a neighbouring satellite kitchen.

The formula of Khichuri is already stocked in that kitchen in ready-to-cook format, in a fixed quantity.

Nothing needs to be added or eliminated. Someone will just have to put the Khichuri mix and water together in the cooker and wait for fifteen minutes and it is ready to deliver.

Even an unskilled worker can cook or assemble it with instructions or SOPs (standard operating procedures).

"We have spent an enormous amount of time in food engineering so that we can expand the business smoothly and cater to thousands of people even though it is a hyper-local model," said Chef and Entrepreneur Subhabrata Maitra, a seed investor of TheFoodstore.App.

Moreover, in this model, TheFoodstore.App offers franchisees to new entrepreneurs at a reasonable rate, that too backed up by logistics and supply chain.

Anyone can be invited for partnership and own a satellite kitchen in any territory; they can also alter the menu.

The target

The target is to go big, to take the cloud kitchen concept to another level.

"We aim to introduce TheFoodstore.App into two new countries within the next five years. Our business model is designed to scale up efficiently and quickly," said Joy Mondol.

Currently, TheFoodstore.App delivers all over Dhaka, from 10 am to 10 pm every day. Joy Mondol also shared their plan to operate the kitchen till midnight and also serve breakfast.  

Moreover, the founders are very sincere about their corporate social responsibilities.

They have also trained and employed people with physical disabilities (hearing impairment) in the kitchen.

"To me, leadership is all about helping people and myself grow in the process. I have always looked forward to working with disabled people and helping them earn their living. Hence, we plan to make up 10% of TheFoodstore.App team with disabled people," concluded Chef Subhabrata Maitra.