Once you grow older and move out in the real world, you miss every little detail of your own home. And one of the primary things, is the delicious food which saved the day. Turns out, there is someone who can help you relive this nostalgia.
Team said “Just because you’re busy doesn’t mean you’re willing to compromise when it comes to food — in fact, your standards deserve to be sky high. You should be able to want and get delicious, all-natural, Home styled food, whenever and wherever you want it. Whenever you need mealtime on your terms, and that’s where Chefow comes in. Chefow – converting your Hunger into Healthy.”
Chefow, a food tech start-up from IIT Delhi, brings Grandma’s food right at your doorsteps! It is an on demand food delivery platform delivering homely comfort, nutritious and delicious meals to customers at their door steps. At Chefow, the meals get cooked at their own company kitchen in a hygienic setup. Chefow is also recognized by Govt. Of India under Startup India Program for innovation in the field of food technology.
Chefow started with incentive of how a lot of us, don’t have the time or patience to cook. Making us sicker and yet not feel fulfilled. They started off back in August 2016 with a mission to make lives easier and healthier through their products and services. They provide fresh and customized home style cooked food on regular basis, in addition to the al-a-carte fixed menu. The menu includes items like Khichdi Dahi Thali, Rajma Chawal, Ambal Chana Dal, Kashmiri Kawa, Turmeric Milk, Thandai, Fresh Nimbu Paani and a long list of simple, yet home like items. The idea is to have fresh, home-styled cooked food from all parts of the country, to cater to people of all regions.
Chefow was started by 3 close friends from college Rahul Singh, Prashant Saugat and Surbhi Sharma. Rahul is a Computer Science graduate from NSIT Delhi and has worked for 7 long years for a leading PSU. Prashant, is a Civil Engineering graduate from IIT DELHI. And Surbhi is a Computer Science graduate from Punjab University and had worked for BHEL as a E-Tendering portal developer in the past.
The team also includes prominent Chef Vaibhav Bhargava, Former Executive Sous Chef at ITC Maurya, and Mr Ashish Khare, an MBA Graduate from MDI Gurgoan , with 4 years of experience in Insolvency, Capital Markets and Equity Research, as their Financial Advisor and Mr. Avinash Singh as their Brand coordinator, Avinash have vast experience and has driven sales playbook for Rocket Internet Group of companies including Foodpanda, Printvenue & Jabong.
The moment they took off, Surbhi was the main cook in charge and she used to do all the heavylifting in the kitchen and business development, while Prashant and Rahul took care of the rest, including marketing, financials and logistics . She recreated dishes from her ‘Nani’s Handbook’ of recipes.
They have successfully organized an international conference for IEEE held at IIT Delhi, which had participation from various organizations & institutes like NASA, MIT and Harvard. It was then followed by their representation in, TechTopSummit hosted by MIT and Women startup summit at PHD Chambers of Commerce.
They use both the business models, B2C (Business to Customer) and B2B(Business to Business). Today, they serve to a customer base of over 15000 unique B2C customers in South Delhi and beyond, with a retention of approx.. 80% over a period of 18 months. Under B2B, they have association with institutions & corporates like IIT Delhi, IEEE, Fore Institute of Management, NDIM, PHD Chambers of Commerce, and leading Co-working places like AWFIS, Regus and Cercles and so on.
While Stating about their hardship, Surbhi said they were very lucky that their senior from startup ecosystem helped them a lot and Mr. Amitabh Sinha, Mr Mukesh Malik, Mr Prateek jain (PHD chambers) and Mr S D Joshi HOD Electrical deptt (IIT Delhi) played a vital role in their startup journey
The team started off it’s prototype project back in 2016 to vet the acceptability of the product and the solution it provides for target customers. Surbhi says “We got a great positive response and have successfully completed Phase 1. Phase 2, is now dedicated for providing a technological solution, which we are working upon right now, with a vision to convert Chefow into an Artificial Intelligent System that is able to cater to all the requirements of food and nutrition for its users.”