Food of Thought

About 2-3 years ago I saw a video about 2 guys selling pizza in New York for just 1$/Slice and I was amazed by the whole mathematics behind the pricing and the efficiency of the process behind the whole thing. I mean, these two guys calculated how many slices they have to sell to be profitable (because the lower your margins the higher the sales volume you'll need to be profitable), then they are trying to save every penny they can by buying stock in bulk, made their cooking process as efficient as possible, kept highly trained staff who can handle many customers in less time and after all this work the price is 1$. 

One more thing that really liked about this is the social aspect like making available tasty and fulfilling food within everyone's reach be it a broke student, a tech worker, or a local person. After watching it, I always thought what if we take the fundamentals and do something like this in India if executed properly, it could really be a Profit making business. 

Rule:- No matter how fancy, exclusive or different you make a restaurant. If the food is not good then everything goes down the drain.

Here are my thoughts till now:-

The restaurant type will be a grab-and-go type like a cart and not a diner.

The Menu:-

Fewer items on the menu because streamlining the menu can result in a tighter focus on your core menu offerings (that you want to do exceptionally well), less inventory on the shelf, a more efficient kitchen, and less prep. Fewer choices can also make it easier to steer customers to select the items you really want them to buy (high quality, easy to make, and high profit).

Dish names are simply named after the city from which the meal is inspired like Hyderabadi Wrap, Mumbaiker Wrap, Delli Wrap, etc. (7-8 items like this).

The Food:-

The one thing that comes to my mind is Wraps. It is very popular and a staple of Quick food all across the world for example Tacos in Mexico(Latin America), Shawarma in the middle eastern. But for some reason it has not caught on in India may be because people offering these have not done enough to Indianise the dish. (Reference: Take Indian Chinese, it is nothing like authentic Chinese. Indian Chinese is its own thing with masalas, Indian veggies, etc).  So, I think there is room to do something about this.

Simple, Easy to make, very versatile, and scalable.

The Base:-

By using local and widely available ingredients in India like wheat to make the base (Roti/tortilla/samoli) the price can be kept low.

The Filling:-

India is the land of diversity, each region has its own regional dishes and distinct flavor palettes that have evolved over hundreds of years. We cannot come in like big American corporations and copy-paste the same thing here that's why these foods are considered foreign foods. To become successful we have to embrace diversity and become "THE INDIAN FAST FOOD CHAIN".

While building dishes certain things has to be kept in mind like:-

1) Appealing to the different regional flavor profiles of India.

2) Taking inspiration from different Indian fast foods like Vada pav from Mumbai, Sheek kebabs Shami from Hyderabad, and so on. 

We can limit the number of ingredients and switch up the flavors with masalas and sauces. 

(Nonveg patty - same size, shape, and thickness for all but different masalas. Similar thing with veg.)

The Drinks (Free Flow):-

Revenue can be increased by offering our own drinks (upselling). Drinks like

1) Simple Mocktails

2) Lemonade etc. 

The Chutneys & Dipping sauce:-

Sometimes these can become the star of the show. I have been to places where the main dish is ok-ok but the sauce on offer was too good and I would go there again just for the sauce. Sauces elevate the main dish. If we have an opportunity to take the dish to the next level with a sauce and in doing that we attract more customers then why leave it?.

(Take Akbars Fast Food for example)

Things Needed:-

a) Passionate Chef(s), who will develop the menu.

b) Central kitchen, improves efficiency, maintains quality, reduces costs, and enables us to open up multiple stores.

c) Obviously Capital 

Secrecy:-

In the food industry, it is very important to safeguard the recipes, if the recipe is out you'll lose your whole business.

Marketing:-

1)Food Challenges (Spicy, Huge quantity, etc)

2) Seasonal Menu Items (Something similar to what hyderabadi restaurants do with haleem).

One day if I have the money and time then this deserves a try otherwise it'll be just a good blog. 

ONE OF THE GOLDEN TRIFECTA (ROTI, KAPDA AUR MAKAAN).As long as humans are there on this planet these three industries will never fail. 

(Research Mcdonalds real estate thing to maintain quality and profits and also other models.)

(inspired by the 2BROS Pizza, New York.)