Foodservice company Jubilant Foodworks, which runs chains such as Domino’s Pizza and Dunkin’ Donuts in India, announced on Thursday that it is entering the FMCG segment with a ready-to-cook range ChefBoss, its new brand.
ChefBoss is a range of sauces and pastas with eight different products, with which Jubilant takes on companies such as Nestle and Hindustan Unilever.
Jubilant said that ChefBoss would first be launched online with Amazon and Flipkart, as well as Milkbasket, and eventually start retailing through supermarkets and hypermarkets. It will be available on Amazon nationally, Flipkart Supermart for NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru and Milkbasket for NCR.
It said that Chefboss products have only two-to-three steps, and can be made in five to fifteen minutes. Only vegetables, paneer or chicken need to be added by the customer, it said.
The products are Hyderabadi Biryani paste, Lucknowi Biryani paste, Makhani gravy, bhuna gravy, manchurian cooking sauce, schezwan cooking sauce, hot garlic cooking sauce and honey chilli stir fry sauce and dip, and are priced between Rs 75 to Rs 100 for 150-250gm.
According to analysts, this move could work. "There is synergy in sourcing, given huge buying of spices, condiments and sauces. JFL can cross-market these products and work closely with food tech aggregators like Amazon,” Edelweiss Securities executive VP Abneesh Roy told ET.
Vikran Sabherwal, Senior Vice President of New Business at Jubilant FoodWorks said, "The demand for ready-to-cook food products has been increasing over the last few years on account of busier lifestyles of consumers and their desire to explore different cuisines at home. During Covid we have seen an acceleration of this trend and therefore an exponential growth in demand for ready to cook products.”
Chairman Shyam S Bhartia and Co-Chairman Hari S Bhartia said their research suggests that the consumer now, “more than ever before, are looking to explore and add new dishes to their cooking. We believe ready to cook products that are quick and easy to make, are the right solution to aide consumers in the endeavour to broaden their culinary expertise.”