Jesse Van De Zand started ‘Janta Meals’ in 2013 located in Gurgaon
with the investment of Rs.40 lakhs. He is a migrant and 32 year old Dutchman.
He had been managing start-ups in the Netherlands since 2007 at Enviu
Foundation. He had never handled a food start-up before coming to India in
2013. The idea of serving meals for less to migrant workers was first pitched
to Van De Zand by Prabhat Agarwal when they met early last year in Gurgaon. Agarwal
later became the financier of Janta Meals. The motivation to start Janta Meals
came from the fact that cooking one’s own food remains an inefficient
proposition for a migrant worker- he doesn't have cooking gas, refrigerator,
running water, time or a large house.
Janta Meals supplies nutritious
food for migrant workers at economical prices. The meal, which included four to
five rotis, dal, sabzi, chutney and salad, was offered for measly Rs.20. Janta’s first two outlets in
sikandarpur market and sheetla colony were set up to test the demand for its
product. Both outlets could serve about 250 meals in one shift, had 12 women
cooks each and a manger to oversee operations. Once the demand was proven and
it decided to scale, Janta established a larger kitchen in Gurgaon. Janta Meals
runs six outlets, all in Gurgaon. The company aims to have at least 30 outlets
in Gurgaon by early 2015. As on date, Janta’s franchisees contribute 50% to its
turnover, the rest comes from sales to institutions such as factories and
schools. It has also set up a canteen in an apparel company in Gurgaon with
1,200 workers.
Van De Zand was surprised that
even at Rs.20; customers were very picky and expected free refills. To deal
with this, the company started charging an extra Rs.5 for a dal or sabzi refill. Currently, of the Rs.20, 50% is the cost of raw
materials and fuel, 30% is kept by the franchisee and the remaining 20% is the
company’s profit.
Janta’s vegetable supplies come
in every day from Azadpur mandi in Delhi.
Pulses come in about five times a month from a wholesale supplier while spices
and rice are bought in bulk from a local shop. The kitchen is equipped with
cold storage for vegetables and dairy products and a storeroom for dry raw
ingredients. Janta has been using signage and flyers to promote itself, but
most customers are drawn by word of mouth. On the face of it, Janta competes
with almost every restaurant and stall on the street.
Thank you for visit.
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business stories, keep on visit awanishgsurya.blogspot.com
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