Curefoods chases multiple ₹300 crore premium and niche brands as it widens food portfolio

BENGALURU: For most restaurant chains, the goal is to build one blockbuster brand. At IPO-bound Curefoods, the strategy is the opposite.The Bengaluru-based cloud kitchen operator is working on adding brands to its portfolio that can each reach ₹200-300 crore in revenue, spreading its bets across multiple cuisines and consumption occasions.

It currently has eight brands including Kitchens of Eatfit, Sharief Bhai, Krispy Kreme and CakeZone.“The big learning is that it is very difficult to make a brand bigger than ₹300 crore in India,” founder and CEO Ankit Nagori told Mint in an interview, pointing to rapidly fragmenting consumer tastes in the country’s food market.Curefoods plans to tap the public markets with an ₹800 crore offering just as sentiment toward food companies has cooled. Shares of Domino’s Pizza parent Jubilant FoodWorks are down 15-20% over the past year, while Devyani International, the operator of KFC and Pizza Hut in India, has fallen 15-17%.Food delivery growth at Swiggy and Eternal’s Zomato has moderated after the pandemic boom, reflecting broader consumption pressures.

Executives said the slowdown is not limited to a few companies.“We have seen phases of weak consumption over the last six quarters. This is widespread across the country as macro factors touch everyone,” said Madhur Singhal, managing partner for consumer and internet at consultancy Praxis Global Alliance.However, Nagori said the broader slowdown narrative does not reflect what the company sees on the ground.“The last few quarters for the food industry have been a bit of a yo-yo.

Consumption had gone to a rock bottom earlier, but it is definitely improving now,” he said. Demand continues to evolve rather than stagnate as consumers shift