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D2C Food Brands and Platforms

Thanks for your love for the MountainSpeak Session on D2C Brands with Saurav Panda. You may want to watch the entire video here to get more insights on building D2C brands. Also, introducing new section called Opportunities Through MountainSpeak towards the end of the newsletter. See if you would like to explore some of these interesting opportunities. Do share your comments and suggestions. 

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If you would like to read a summary of the 45 posts in 2020, please do read this newsletter.

DTW

During the Week, we had multiple fund raising news stories by Indian start-ups including Meesho $300M, Swiggy $800M, CRED $215M, PharmEasy $350M, Groww $100M and ShareChat $502M.

harnidh @chiaseedpuddin

And it’s just the start. This year is a going to be a watershed moment for Swiggy, the concept of convenience in India, and how we build sustainable ecosystems. What a ride to be a part of!

livemint.comSwiggy valued at nearly $5 billion after raising $800 millionSingapore-based GIC Private Ltd. and Qatar Investment Authority are also expected to participate in the ongoing round at a later stage, following which the company is expected to close the fundraise

I was fascinated by at least the growth of cred, meesho and swiggy as they might bring more opportunities for D2C brands. I have written about Food and Platforms earlier here (Platforms are Hungry for Food) and here (Food is hungry for Platforms). We can see the D2C Food brands relationship with platform through the lens of last mile delivery , media and commerce. Of course, lockdowns and social distancing has put a dampener on the Dine-at-home options for home chefs but they have stepped up the online training sessions and have continued with food deliveries.

Conosh @ConoshOfficial

Conosh is turning 2 this April, & there’s no better way to kick off the celebrations than with two of the brightest stars of the international culinary world - Gary Mehigan & George Calombaris! Limited seats available Book your spot now on conosh.com!

For last mile delivery , both Zomato and Swiggy run Cloud Kitchens and are scaling them faster to serve multiple partners. Entry of CloudKitchen led by indomitable Travis Kalanick who knows a thing or two about scaling a business (He was Co-founder of Uber) points to exciting times ahead. We have also seen an increase in Do-It-Yourself (DIY) cooking kits. Both existing platforms like BigBasket as well standalone platforms like BlueApron are ready to bring a whole new food experience to Indian Homes. FoodTech start-up Rebel Food with brands like Behrouz Biryani have also started experimenting with DIY food kits.

Closer home, Trice Community has been experimenting with social commerce ecosystem approach thereby enabling home chefs to reach out to their customers directly. Trice provides digital engagement and delivery tools to women entrepreneurs to create a business of their own.

Trice Community @tricecommunity

Proud to connect neighbours in gated communities, supporting local businesses and women entrepreneurs. Read all about our journey here: linkedin.com/feed/update/ur…

Social Commerce in Food brings in more revenue and engagement. Instagram had announced a partnership with Swiggy and Zomato to order discovery and spur engagement. Many D2C Food Brands can also use these platforms and perhaps leverage on chef Influencers to get the foodies back to smaller outlets. Use of social media platforms as discovery and engagement tools has been a lifeline for D2C Food Brands and their promoters.

YourStory @YourStoryCo

Home Chef Abhilasha runs Marwadi Khana & uses @WhatsApp to share recipes & conduct live cooking sessions. Read about more trailblazing women entrepreneurs: bit.ly/SeeUsHearUs. Get a chance to be mentored by experts: bit.ly/WEP-WiTAce-Wha…

yourstory.comHow this home chef is cooking up a storm with generations-old recipes of Rajasthani cuisineBased in Gurugram, Abhilasha Jain’s home-based venture, Marwadi Khana is gaining popularity with a fast-increasing clientele on WhatsApp.

Talking about Commerce in D2C Food Brands associated with home chefs , we have Global Platforms like EatWith and AuthentiCook in India bring in good food and sense of community when guests can “Step inside hosts' homes to explore new cultures through intimate culinary events”. Of course, office as a social interaction platform would increasingly decrease in importance and perhaps food & bonding over food in food places (may be not restaurants )can provide that social opportunity for all.

Future of D2C Food Brands is filled with extraordinary opportunities as we see an increased use of last mile delivery, media and commerce platforms playing an important part.

OTW

Over the Weekend, I had an interesting conversation with Saloni Anand- co-founder of https://traya.health/. I was joined by Nupur Pavan Bang , an expert in Family Business research and consulting at ISB Hyderabad who brought her unique perspective from women led enterprises. Saloni spoke about her start up journey and it was heartening to note her progress and future plans. You may want to watch the entire video here to get more insights on building D2C brands.

I also finished reading “The Art of Happiness- A Handbook for Living” by His Holiness Dalai Lama. I have always been impressed by HHDL’s simplicity of looking at life and found his reflections on living a full life worth pondering over. His co-author Howard C. Cutler narrates a very interesting episode to depict his supple mind-

As he slowly walked back to his room, a bank of magenta rain clouds spanned the sky, absorbing the late afternoon light and sending the Catalina Mountains into deep relief, the entire landscape a vast palette of purple hues. The effect was spectacular. The warm air, laden with the fragrance of desert plants, of sage, a dampness, a restless breeze, holding the promise of an unbridled Sonoran storm. The Dalai Lama stopped. For several moments he quietly surveyed the horizon, taking in the entire panorama, finally commenting on the beauty of the setting. He walked on, but after a few steps he paused again, bending down to examine a tiny lavender bud on a small plant. He touched it gently, noting its delicate form, and wondered aloud about the name of the plant. I was struck by the facility with which his mind functioned. His awareness seemed to move so easily from taking in the complete landscape to focusing on a single bud, a simultaneous appreciation of the totality of the environment as well as the smallest detail. A capacity to encompass all facets and the full spectrum of life.

All of us must endeavour to develop this same suppleness of mind. We may make efforts to stretch our perspective and deliberately try on new viewpoints. This may result is a simultaneous awareness of the big picture as well as our individual circumstances. This dual concurrent view of the “Big World” and our own “Little World,” can act as a kind of triage, helping us separate what is important in life from what isn’t.

I Love You.

Shailendra

PS- Introducing a new section called OTM.

Opportunities through MountainSpeak available at https://traya.health/.

Saloni Anand is looking to hire for the following profile-

Interested to run a startup? - Opening for the CEO's office (Chief of Staff). 

Get an experience of running a startup alongside leaders from prestigious institutions like Stanford and ISB. Work closely with the founders on special projects that create huge business impact- strategize, execute and run it to success and then build plans to scale them. 

Traya - a direct to consumer brand aims to be the first of its kind to revolutionize the Digital Health space in India. The organization was born of a quest to find a scientific solution to a stubborn problem that many people face.

Responsibilities:

Support the objectives of the founders and the CEO Office; Lead and support cross-functional projects as needed to achieve the best growth for the company.; Identifying new opportunities to accelerate growth;Take full responsibility for profit, revenue, and budget.

To fit the bill:

A tier 1 graduation college ;Zeal to run a startup ;Loves independence and creativity;Top 1 percentile in execution AND Driven

How to explore further? Please drop a message in the comments section below and Saloni would reach out with more details

MountainSpeak is a Free-Form Conversation Style Platform for exchanging ideas about Multi-sided Networks, Business , Marketing , Endurance Running and Life in general ! You could sign up and join once-a-month session here !