There has been a recent rise in people adopting clear and healthy eating practices. Organic and natural foods are preferred over processed and fast food. While it is unclear if they have started to realize the benefits of it or are following just another trend, the healthy food and beverages market is surely seeing a rise. According to a report published by Avendus Capital, India’s health food market is estimated to reach $30 billion in the next 5 years, with a CAGR of 20%.
Gurgaon-based Salad Days set up by Varun Madan was early to the game setting up shop in 2013. It is a delivery and takeaway food chain with a focus on salads. Around 70% of the current menu consists of salads and the rest 30% includes grain bowls, baguettes, pita pockets, cold-pressed juices, ferments, smoothies, and healthy desserts.
“I believe that raw food, clean food like salads could be full meals rather than a side option.” CEO and founder Madan said.
The company farms most of its produce on company-owned farms to ensure product quality. A select few perishables are sourced from farmers in Assam. Other necessary ingredients are imported from countries like South Africa, New Mexico, the US, and sometimes New Zealand as well.
Salad Days has 10 cloud kitchens in Delhi delivering around Delhi NCR and recently started 3 cloud kitchens in Bangalore.
Having a team that is educated around nutrition, there isn’t a need to have in-house nutritionists or dietitians, said Madan. As and when required the company consults them for specific help, he added.
With a large portion of the menu consisting of salads, around 72% of the revenue is obtained from it as well. Currently present on platforms like Swiggy and Zomato, the company sees around 50% of the total orders coming in from such food delivery platforms while the D2C website garners the rest 50%. It sees around 70% of its orders coming from repeat customers on a monthly basis.
The bootstrapped company recorded a revenue of Rs 15.8 crore last financial year with a CRR of Rs 25 crore. It has seen a 50% year-on-year growth in the last few years.
While the company aims to explore new cities, it also looks at opening more cloud kitchens in existing geographies.
