Foodtech startup EatFresh shuts down food delivery service

Posted on January 7, 2017

The Bengaluru – based foodtech startup, EatFresh, has recently shut down its doorstep food delivery service. The food tech startup will now only cater to bulk orders like marriage orders or party orders etcetera. It has updated this same information on its website. EatFresh was founded by Rajiv Subramanian and Ashrujit Mohanty in 2015. The startup has about 50 branches in Chennai. It prepares national and international cuisines on a daily rotating menu prepared by its top chefs. The website stated, “Dear Customer, We no longer operate our on-demand meal delivery service, and will only cater to party or bulk orders in the future. We strived to create a differentiated offering, and hope that we leave you with some happy memories. As a company, we operate two brands Ovenfresh and Eatfresh, focussed on bakery products and meals, respectively. While both businesses have profitable unit economics, Ovenfresh generates units generate 40% EBITDA compared to 20% EBITDA at Eatfresh units. As a result, we have decided to focus our capital allocation towards the Ovenfresh brand which currently generates 90% of our revenues”. Read more on Foodtech Startups

Last year EatFresh raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Kalaari Capital in December 2015. The reason EatFresh has taken back its food delivery service is because the costs involved in delivering food were more than the profit it got from the cost of the food it delivered. The foodtech sector in India has witnessed a number of shutdowns in recent years. More than eighteen foodtech startups in India had shut down their operations by June 2016. In May 2016, ZuperMeal, home delivery foodtech startup had shut down its operations shortly after raising its seed round of funding. Startups like Ola Cafe, Dazo, Peppertab and Bite Club have also shut down their operations. Currently, Swiggy, Foodpanda, Inner Chef and Zomato are the major players in this segment. The Indian Government must do a lot more to incubate, fund and mentor Indian startups. It must modernize and protect the Indian Startup Ecosystem. Read more on Startup News