Table of contents:

1.

Introduction:...................................................................................................................................2

2. Key elements of the business:......................................................................................................2

3. Segmentation targeting and positioning of the giant rebel foods:...............................................3

3.1. Segmentation and targeting:.................................................................................................3

3.2. Positioning:...........................................................................................................................3

4. Why rebel foods has managed to achieve unicorn status?..........................................................4

4.1. Business Model Canvas........................................................................................................4

a. Value proposition:.............................................................................................................4

b. Channels:...........................................................................................................................4

c. Customers segments:.........................................................................................................4

d. Key partners:.....................................................................................................................5

4.2. Customer Journey Map.........................................................................................................5

a. Awareness:........................................................................................................................5

b. Consideration....................................................................................................................5

c. Purchase:...........................................................................................................................5

d. Retention:..........................................................................................................................5

5. Risks and Potential:.....................................................................................................................6

5.1. Risks:....................................................................................................................................6

5.2. Future potential of the company:..........................................................................................7

6. Conclusion:..................................................................................................................................7

7. Executive Summary:....................................................................................................................8

8. References:..................................................................................................................................9

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 1. Introduction:
In Today's world, the concept of startups is gaining popularity, every day is a new start
and we keep on hearing success stories of new startups. Moving further will be
discussing about an organization named rebel foods, earlier known as Faasos. This
company has brands like Behrouz biryani, oven story, Faasos, etc. company is operating
currently with 450 kitchens in sixty cities. The company is based on the cloud kitchen
model which has valued at around 1.4 million dollars in the month of October 2021 (The
Economic Times, 2021).
The main reason for selecting these companies is that these kinds of cloud kitchens
entails half or even less capital expenditure compared to the regular restaurants which
run. The point which motivated, the observation that the majority of consumers hadn't
ever visited a Faasos location but rather preferred to order from a food aggregator such as
Zomato or Swiggy. According to (Baisya, 2021) Rebel determined that the cloud kitchen
model was the way to go because the kiosk strategy didn't hold considerable value at the
time. Several observers have noted that many cuisine-specific companies perform much
better than just multi-cuisine brands in the food industry. The capacity to establish and
develop many cuisine-specific businesses is really what sets Rebel Foods apart. Rebel's
brand selection across several cuisines has indeed been remarkable, not simply in terms
of implementation (Rakheja, 2021).

2. Key elements of the business:

According to (Nusra, 2021) customer service plays a very vital role when it comes to
rebel foods, the company provides the best offerings whether in terms of food quality,
delivery time, and hygiene or even in terms of cancellation. Marketing is a crucial
component for the success of the company. Visibility is high, companies individual
brands can be seen on various digital platforms, engaging guests with publishing new
content weekly/monthly in their interest. And finally, to ensure guest loyalty different
vouchers, discounts, and loyalty programs are initiated by the brands.

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3. Segmentation targeting and positioning of the giant rebel foods:
3.1. Segmentation and targeting: 
Segmentation of the rebel food can be made using geographic and demographic segmentation
of its different brands. Discussing further about the demographic segment, the target
consumers of the rebel foods mainly belong to the urban areas of the country. The brands of
the company have acquired the market in tier-one cities of the countries and have developed
their presence in a few of the tier-two cities (Sarvista, 2019). Moreover, the age group that
the company is targeting is from 8-34 mostly. Discussing customers target profile wise,
hostels dwellers because these students skip meals more often and always opt for the easily
available food. Then young married couples, the entertainment factor is greater, as are the
takeaways. On a regular basis, they like to try meals through different brands. Working wives
earn decently and they prefer to spend most of their income on food and entertainment.
Takeaways are common and typically 3-5 times a week. These consumers would like to skip
long queues and travel times, and they pay more for quick food.

3.2. Positioning:
Rebel foods has grown out to be the largest online restaurants brand in India. Under its
umbrella, it has various famous brands like Faasos and Behrouz biryani, the positioning of
the brands in the rebel foods can be differentiated by the price of the dishes and meals
offered to the customers. Rebel foods brands can be diversified right from economy to the
premium segment, moreover, brands such as slay cater to the economic class of the society.
The majority of the rebel foods brands such as Faasos, Wendy's, oven story, lunch box,
firangi bake, good bowl, and the biryani life are strategically placed in the sub-premium
section. Behrouz biryani and the biryani life offers the same product but difference can be
seen in the price of the products offered. Wherein, the biryani life is less expensive than
Behrouz biryani. Lastly discussing the premium segment, it has only one brand sweet trust
which targets niche customers.

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4. Why rebel foods has managed to achieve unicorn status?
To answer the above question, the business model canvas strategy and customer journey
map strategy could be used.

4.1. Business Model Canvas

a. Value proposition: According to (Biswas, 2021) a lot of innovative ideas can be
witnessed by the giant rebel foods. Rebel Foods prepares meals using software, robotics,
and mechanization in their kitchens. In partnership with select partners, the organization
uses an array of computing technologies, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of things
(IOT which helps in developing smart kitchen products and equipment that are currently
in use in restaurants. Cooked dishes are kept on SWAT machines, it is a device that
checks the food based on size, weight, Appearance, and temperature. Rebel food also
used a robotics-led smart fryer, it checks the food shape and adjusts the oil temperature.
Rebel’s foods provide many options to the customers to order online. Customers can
order from food aggregators (zomato, Swiggy, etc.), its website, mobile applications,
order from social media platforms. Rebel foods have many cuisine and dishes on their
menu, these services right from biryani to Chinese to pizza with wraps with desserts
(Roy, 2020). Rebel foods started with Faasos and came a long way to have brands like
Behrouz Biryani, Oven Story, Mandarin Oak, Lunch Box, The Good Bowl, Sweet Truth,
Firangi Bake, The 500 Calorie Project, Navarasam, and Slay in its portfolio.

b. Channels: The important distribution channel for the rebel food is its website. The
second most preferred and used channel is its mobile applications which are very
convenient to use. Swiggy, zomato, and other food aggregators do play a major role in
increasing the sales of the company. The predominant thing is its application interface
which catches the attention of the buyer.

c. Customers segments: Rebel foods are forying mostly in urban cities of India. The major
target customers are millennials who more often use their smartphones to order online.

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 Young married couples, working wives, students in hostels/ PGs, and foodies are the
targeted segments from different strata of society.

d. Key partners: The farmers are the key partners which provide fresh vegetables to the
company. The second most important would be retailers/companies which provide all the
affordable kitchen supplies for the chefs. Most importantly all the employees working in
the company, mostly quite independent. As they do all steps of the operation process
themselves, Suppliers of beverages brands act as a companion to the dishes.

4.2. Customer Journey Map

The company is more focused on providing the best services to the guests which will be
further explained using elements of the customer journey map.
a. Awareness: According to (Business Models, 2020) Google Ad Words is the most
popular and commonly used pay-per-click (PPC) marketing network in the world. These
paid search ads are run by the rebel foods on Google to attract customers. Ads on
YouTube can be witnessed to catch the interest of the particular segment of the guest. To
optimize local search and also get greater local visibility and to boost sales local SEO
strategy is used by the rebel foods.
b. Consideration: To engage and convey a message to the customers, rebel foods uses
social media to get its content quickly and easily delivered to the customers. Testimonials
and reviews highlighted on the website and media channels play a very vital role in the
decision-making of the guests.
c. Purchase: Purchase decision of the customer can be based on the convenience factor of
the mobile application and website. For example, if you are opting for payment options,
rebel foods give many options for payment. Customers in India prefer to pay by cash on
delivery. People do believe in COD services as well. They have a lower level of trust in
internet transactions. Behrouz Biryani accepts cash on delivery as well as all UPI
payment methods (Cloud Kitchen Expert, 2021).
d. Retention: Customer retention refers to a collection of steps taken by businesses to keep
people from leaving and to convert as much as possible into loyal customers. To retain
customers' rebel food is using coupons, vouchers, and loyalty programs. When booking
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 by Behrouz biryanis website twenty percent of credits get in the user's account. Free
desserts are given to the users who are booking for more than 6 times.

5. Risks and Potential:

5.1. Risks:
Several risks are being faced by the company, these risks can be discussed above:
The thumb rule for the cost of the raw materials (food cost) to the Total revenues should be
limited to 30% to 35% of the total revenues. But the cost of the raw material in FY20 for
rebel foods was about 60% of the total revenues. This means their operating expenses are
slowing down their revenue growth, As a result, their losses increased by over 250 percent in
that fiscal year.
One of the major drawbacks of cloud kitchens to be precise rebel foods is that they are
mostly dependent on the food aggregators for the delivery of their food. The company
through their annual reports states that about half of their sales come from the food
aggregators like zomato, Swiggy, etc. and the other half comes from their mobile apps and
from the websites of their food brands. Using these food aggregators needs to pay
commission which is a form of expense to the company. This amounted to around 16 percent
of Rebel Foods' revenue, which was less than that of 20-25 percent of Average Order Value
(AOV) levied by Zomato and Swiggy (Parikh, 2021). In the future, if these food aggregators
increase their commission rebel foods would definitely lose a good amount of their profits.
Although running on a far larger scale than its competitors, Rebel Foods is progressing the
most. But discussing their monthly revenue per kitchen of the company is around ten to
fifteen lakhs extracted from the annual report of the fiscal year 2020, calculated along a total
revenue of 579 crores divided by the 400 to 450 kitchens as a whole. This seems to be lower
than their few of the competitors whose average revenue per month per kitchen is
approximately fifteen to twenty-five lakh.
Profit and loss account of the rebel foods looks like a much more profitable company, but for
an online-only business, visibility is the main function of the business. Advertising and
promotion are vital for the business to thrive. The company spends around twenty-five
percent commission as a standard rate these days (Jain, 2021). Companies are unlikely to gets
orders if they don't offer discounts. They will just get lost in the crowd. Furthermore,
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 discounts are the common reason for the customers to opt for specific brands. Therefore
profitability is more distant than it might seem.

5.2. Future potential of the company:

With the rise in adoption of the digital services in the small towns and villages as well as
known brands food outlets being set, future opportunities for the rebel foods can be seen,
looking from the price point of view most of the brands of the organization are placed on the
Sub-premium category.
Rebel is trying to expand its presence mostly outside of India, it is looking for new markets
in West Asia particularly in Saudi Arabia, Russia, and some parts of Europe. Rebel foods
have formed a strategic alliance with the company named Wendy's recently in order to help
the latter to develop its position in the country. It seems like they are creating a greater
market. Additionally, rebel foods have still not ventured into areas like Indian snacks and
Indian sweets, especially in south Indian cuisines. They can partner with the regional brands
and should also look for these businesses.
Rebel food should focus and should build a strategy for the upcoming events that are going to
happen in the country. Events such as Indian premier league and T20 World Cup because
people like to enjoy these matches having fun with their friends and family at their homes.
They should also consider festivals like Ramzan. These events will give ample of opportunity
to boost their sales. The company should also come up with healthy food options for the gym
enthusiast, offering foods with dietary supplements, keto diets, and health plans. This covid
era has changed the mindset of people toward a healthy lifestyle.

6. Conclusion:
In order to reduce material costs, various steps can be taken. Food costs of the rebel foods
can be monitored regularly using various methods like Menu engineering can be done on
a quarterly basis, these will help to eliminate unpopular dishes from the menu and price a
suitable rate for the costly dishes. Each week or two rotate inventories duty of the
employees. Such an approach reinforces the team informed and trained, as well as the
staff honesty.
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 Establishments are facing huge losses in commissions paid to the food aggregators. To
solve these issues a platform is developed known as Dot pe, it enables outlets to just
provide a much more personalized, brand-driven experience. Customers enjoy house-
style menus, ordering choices, as well as the ability to pay online, all for a considerably
smaller commission than Zomato and Swiggy. It just charges 3-5 percent commission
wherein food aggregators charge 20 percent commission or more, so this strategy appears
to be gaining traction, as evidenced by Swiggy's recent announcement of a new direct
delivery model. As mentioned above keeping eye on the inventory and dot pe platform
installed will increase the revenues of the company and if these suggestions are taken into
consideration these would lead into increasing the profits in the kitchens individually.
To conclude with the assignment, rebel food has managed to succeed for the unicorn
status because firstly it has identified its potential target audience which are generally
Millennial and generation Z. The company is updated with all technological features, all
the kitchens equipment’s are advanced and run rebel operating system that combines
culinary skills with supply chain management. Product and services of the rebel foods
helped the company to achieve its goals in the long run. Moreover, rebel foods has the
excellent marketing strategy, the company uses Google ads word, social media, pay per
click models to reach to mass audiences. To attract new consumers and ensure loyal
customers, different promotions and discounts are made available via the website and
applications of their different brands of the rebel foods, as well as home deliveries. In the
difficult times of the pandemic food aggregators played a major role in the growth of
sales of the company. Lastly, the company has the potential to capture new markets with
its innovative food ideas and may capture $2 billion valuation in upcoming 3-5 years.

7. Executive Summary:
This report was commissioned to examine why the rebel foods has managed to complete unicorn
status in short span of time. Beginning the report with emphasizing on the target market and
positioning of the different brands in the company. Major part of question is answered drawing
two criteria that was business model canvas and customer journey map. Value proposition is the
first measures in the business model canvas, where it was identified that technology and
innovative ideas play a very crucial role in functioning of the rebel foods. In the second and third

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criteria it was witnessed that online platforms and food aggregators are vital factors for boosting
sales. Further, it highlights the buying behavior and how rebel food is using search engine
platforms to attract and get repeat customers to the website. Moving further report covers the
risks associated with the company and also highlights the future potential of the company.
Lastly, report concludes with the suggestion of the researcher on the risks associated.

8. References:

Baisya, R. (2021, November 10). Indian Unicorns in food sector. Retrieved from Processed Food
Industry: https://www.pfionline.com/indian-unicorns-in-food-sector-zomato-and-swiggy/

Biswas, D. (2021, November 10). Tech behind food tech unicorn rebel. Retrieved from
analyticsindiamag.com: https://analyticsindiamag.com/tech-behind-food-tech-unicorn-
rebel-foods/

Business Models. (2020, January 13). Rebel Foods Business Model Case Study. Retrieved from
WHAT IS THE BUSINESS MODEL OF:
https://whatisthebusinessmodelof.com/business-models/rebel-foods-business-model/

Cloud Kitchen Expert. (2021, Feburary 12). Behrouz Biryani Case Study. Retrieved from Cloud
Kitchen Expert: https://cloudkitchenexpert.com/behrouz-biryani-case-study-about-story-
founder-marketing-strategy/

Jain, A. (2021, 05 08). How Rebel Foods business model is taking Kitchen to the clouds.
Retrieved from The Strategy Story: https://thestrategystory.com/2021/05/08/rebel-foods-
business-model/

Nusra. (2021, June 22). How Rebel Foods is focusing on building ‘customer-first’ approach
brand. Retrieved from Restaurantindia.in:
https://restaurant.indianretailer.com/article/how-rebel-foods-is-focusing-on-building-
customer-first-approach-brand.13913

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Parikh, P. (2021, November 02). The story of Rebel Foods. Retrieved from Finshikha:
https://finshiksha.com/the-story-of-rebel-foods/

Rakheja, H. (2021, November 06). From high-street QSR to cloud kitchen unicorn: The Rebel
Foods story. Retrieved from Business Standard:
https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/from-high-street-qsr-to-cloud-
kitchen-unicorn-the-rebel-foods-story-121110600639_1.html

Roy, D. (2020, May 15). Sales Dip, But Average Order Size Up For Rebel Foods; Expansion
Plans On Hold. Retrieved from Entrepreneur India:
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/350679

Sarvista. (2019, April 16). Finding Diverse Food Lovers. Retrieved from Rebel Foods:
https://spirit.rebelfoods.com/finding-diverse-food-lovers-6370d3dd509

The Economic Times. (2021, October 07). Rebel Foods joins unicorn club after $175 million
fundraise. Retrieved from The Economic Times:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/startups/rebel-foods-joins-unicorn-club-after-
175-million-fundraise/articleshow/86836079.cms

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