IIT- D alumnus offers healthy food options to office-goers in Gurgaon with his venture FRSH
Technology is solving many real life challenges today through innovation and easy accessibility. However, one of the basic and essential needs of modern day life still goes unmet. Masses of young office workers in urban India are forced to resort to a diet of junk food leading to various health issues and rising obesity.
After observing and dealing with this issue for years, Badal Goel, a mechanical engineer from IIT Delhi, started looking for a solution. He received strong support from his friend Gaurav Lal, an alumnus of IIT-D and IIM Calcutta, who mentored him
on pivotal aspects like marketing and strategy.
“The relentless labour of the last three years has fructified into the company FRSH. To cater to its core customer segment of young adults who have the highest standards of quality, zero waiting time mindset, and incessant need of variety, FRSH experimented with multiple business models before achieving success,” says Badal. FRSH customers order online with a single click without the hassle of payment or minimum order amount. All preparations are done just-in-time at a centralized location ensuring freshness and best quality.
“For logistic efficiency and economies of scale all orders for a location are delivered at convenient fixed time slots. For example, to enjoy a freshly squeezed orange juice with a tasty sprout salad while you go through morning emails, you can place an order from your smartphone in 30 seconds while commuting to office,” adds Badal.
You can collect the order and pay for it at the reception when you arrive at office by selecting the appropriate delivery time slot.
There is one intangible yet essential ingredient to make this model work, and that is the taste and experience of the food options. After multiple iterations and continuous feedback process, FRSH has created a product ensemble which ensures taste with nutrition, freshness with short lead time, and quality.
At present, FRSH services limited office locations in Gurgaon and has continuously received positive reviews for its concept and service from customers. “The immediate plan is to scale up by adding service to many remaining office hubs in Gurgaon. The next step will be to start delivery to high density centers with similar needs like schools/colleges, metro stations, high-rise residential buildings and health centers,” points out Badal.
When it comes to traction, the startup does close to 80-90 orders on a daily basis with average transaction size in three digits. FRSH plans to process thousand orders per day by the end of this year.
“FRSH has a unique opportunity to provide a better lifestyle choice in the form of healthy food options and bridge the glaring market gap,” says Ankush Raina, who works at multinational corporation in Cyber City, Gurgaon.
FRSH’s model positions it at the right place to create a market for freshly prepared healthy food items like juices in urban India and become a leading player in the
F&B market. “To realize this vision, FRSH plans to invest heavily in technology, automation and quality controls as it scales up its operations with a goal to keep on providing good quality products at a reasonable price with consistency,” adds Badal.
The true way to assess the success of this model is through repeat customers, and with nearly 30% ordering daily and 50% ordering multiple times a week, there is no doubt about the need in the market, and FRSH is able to fulfil it successfully.