Startup Circle: How HungerBox is making cafeteria operations "COVID-19" safe?

Companies are accepting that the new normal- which mostly comprises guidelines and protocols- is here to stay. They are cutting the number of desks, building an Aagroya Setu like the in-house app, changing the desk layouts or even using data to maintain social distancing at cafes to ensure the safety of employees. But, what will the office cafeterias/F&B Management look like in the new normal? Thus, HungerBox solution brings the future of institutional cafeterias. It helps institutions like corporate offices, restaurants, commercial complexes, educational institutions to follow FHRAI issues safety guidelines.

In conversation with CiOL, Uttam Kumar, Co-founder and COO of Hungerbox, outlines the journey, need and the potential of the company. Excerpts of the interaction follow:

What is HungerBox about?

HungerBox is an institutional food tech B2B2C company. It offers end-to-end F&B operations management for our clientele. We focus on solving the problems faced by the key stakeholders in the institutional F&B segment. Our platform serves as a bridge between the users and the food partners while also enabling facilitators (such as FM and Admin teams) with real-time data to make informed decisions.

Technology pervades every aspect of our business. Everyone uses it across the entire value chain. A catering business may use some technology but this is mostly confined to billings and kitchen operations. Whereas HungerBox’s offers complete tech-based management of the end-to-end food experience. The features include AI-based personalisation, Health Module to track calorie consumption, gamification etc.

How well equipped is HungerBox to combat the COVID-19 challenges?

Given the need of the hour, we have made some technological and operational enhancements to our core offerings and launched HungerBox ‘COVID-19 Safe’ solution which makes cafeterias COVID-safe. The HungerBox ‘COVID-19 Safe’ solution follows a five-pronged approach that envelops aspects such as technology, user connect and communication, WHO-prescribed supervisor training, and enhanced protocols for kitchen and cafeteria operations including rigorous checks on operations personnel and a tech-led monitoring system that encompasses a 360-degree view of cafeteria operations.

Using AI/ ML, the HungerBox platform regulates user flow into cafeterias and enables decongestion and enables enhanced crowd management. This ensures that users visit the café only when it is safe and social distancing can be maintained. HungerBox has also implemented improved safety protocols inside the kitchen as well as in the cafeterias. Only those ‘fit to work’ and handle food will be allowed to operate as Café Experience Managers. Regular temperature screening of staff and monitoring of compliance with food safety standards at the kitchen, food counters, and cafeteria are executed with the help of HungerBox’s tech.

And what of major kitchen operation?

All leading contactless payment options are provided to eliminate the risk of virus transmission due to cash handling. Clients are empowered with a data dashboard that helps track the real-time status of the cafe operations. As part of the solution, kitchen operations based on prescribed FSSAI standards envelop raw material handling, food preparation, kitchen hygiene standards, and food transportation with 11 different records being maintained at HungerBox partner kitchens. These include several logs for sanitization, cooking temperature, cleaning checklists for premises, transport, etc. Once the food reaches clients’ cafeteria, the focus on stringent standards is maintained across areas such as food service & safety; ordering, counter hygiene, café hygiene, and café monitoring.

We have also launched an app-based solution that helps staff at workplaces conform to social distancing norms at their office cafeterias. HungerBox Safe Cafe Suite has launched Proximity Alert Smart Bands to provide Corporates, Educational Institutes, etc. the most accurate method of maintaining Social Distancing Protocols in their premises. The HungerBox Proximity Alert Bands can be worn by the users of the facilities (employees, students, etc.), which would trigger alerts to the individuals coming in close proximity.

How did you come up with the idea?

The idea to build HungerBox came because we noticed an untapped profitable opportunity in the food space. While there were several players addressing B2C, there was a tremendous whitespace opportunity for a tech-led, disruptive solution that addresses the B2B institutional food space. All corporates have a food supplier and hence the demand for that already exists in the market. The missing element was a platform which can connect suppliers to corporate clients and hence add significant value in the entire B2B food-tech chain.

2 out of 3 meals per day are consumed at your workplace on an average. That being said, office cafeterias usually mean waiting at long queues, looking for the exact change to hand to the vendor. It is an unwieldy process. Also, we are so used to using our smartphones for every activity – whether booking a cab, movie ticket, ordering food in our homes or workplaces, watching a movie or taking in any other entertainment. However, when it comes to engaging in an activity 2-3 times a day, through the week, people still wait in queues. This was the pain point we were looking to solve with a solution that is a completely tech-based solution of the end-to-end food experience with features including AI-based personalisation, Health Module to track calorie consumption, gamification etc.

What has been your growth?

More than 200 million orders have been handled on the HungerBox platform as on date.  Annual food sales on the HungerBox platform have exceeded $100 million. We signed on our first client in Oct 2016 and have grown steadily since. For 7 clients in December 2016, we now have 131 clients.

What is the demand from different organizations and cities that you see in the market?

We operate across the country (23 cities). While our first clients were in the IT/ITES space, other corporates including from the manufacturing domain have embraced the solution. Besides corporates and educational institutions, players from restaurant business and malls have also felt the necessity to adopt HungerBox’s solution to combat the current scenario.

How are the blue collared employees looking at this digital change?

Many of our clients especially in manufacturing have a large blue-collar workforce. They have been digital café users for years now. Under the current environment, there has been faster adoption of technology and clients have embraced café digitization. Our core business model has been to offer digital cafeterias from the very beginning.

How do manage the hygiene factors?

Hungerbox solution is based on FSSAI (Food Safety & Standards Authority of India) and WHO guidelines, and the GOI’s AarogyaSetu App to make cafeteria operations ‘COVID-19 safe.’ As part of the solution, kitchen operations based on prescribed FSSAI standards envelop raw material handling, food preparation, kitchen hygiene standards, and food transportation with 11 different records being maintained at HungerBox partner kitchens.

These include several logs for sanitization, cooking temperature, cleaning checklists for premises, transport, etc. Once the food reaches clients’ cafeteria, the focus on stringent standards is maintained across areas such as food service & ordering, counter hygiene, café hygiene, and café monitoring.

What are the challenges that you have faced while introducing a tech-based initiative within the "New Normal"?

The challenges were mainly around rapidly reinventing the company’s offering in a very compressed time-frame. We had to adapt to a situation that was constantly changing. It meant reengineering and deploying solutions across geographies. Clients were under intense scrutiny thanks to the risks to their employees. So, we had to ensure that our solution mitigated these risks to the greatest possible extent.

And what are your post-covid plans?

We will look at cementing our positioning as the leader in the institutional food tech space in India. We want to also establish a global footprint.

Funding details

Funding - $18.5 M

Investors -  Paytm, Sabre Partners, Kris Gopalakrishnan, Neoplux, LionRock Capital