BookMyChef: On-demand app that brings professional chefs to customers’ kitchens

Covid-19, the pandemic that changed many lives left an impression behind in the form of learning or a problem. During pandemic, many lost their jobs and many created new opportunities. Hospitality, or to be specific, businesses related to food is one of the sector that supported livelihoods by generating new income stream.

One such business idea that took inspiration from the crisis that struck during the pandemic is Hyderabad-based startup, BookMyChef (BMC). In a conversation with Bizz Buzz, the Co-founder of BookMyChef, Pramod Reddy, says, “The idea of a private chef came up during the pandemic. We hired a chef for a small gathering at home and everyone loved it. Everyone who came home loved the idea of a private chef and started asking for the chef. The chef was more than happy to provide his service as it is a good side income for these chefs who are otherwise underpaid and overworked.”

Pramod Reddy and Varun Reddy are the founders, who later onboarded Chef Shankar of Fusion fame and Vikram of UV creations as Co-Founders. While Pramod has 12 years of hospitality experience, Varun comes from a business family who introduced Budweiser to India with their family-owned Charminar breweries. BookMyChef is bootstrapped by founders Pramod Reddy, Varun Reddy along with Co-Founder Chef Shankar. Soon after idea validation, they raised a pre-series round of Rs 2 crore from Ganga Kaveri Ventures, Ronit Reddy, UV Creations Fund, and Vikram Reddy – are permanent members on the board.

What is BookMyChef?

BookMyChef, an on-demand app available on Android and iOS platform brings professional chefs to customers’ kitchens. The app is designed to meet the needs of food lovers and small event hosts. The user needs to register on the mobile app and verify their account. After that, the event date, time, number of guests, and choice of cuisine needs to be entered. The app will then show the user a menu which can be selected as per the requirement. Before checkout, the user can also opt for additional services for their event, such as a server or a bartender. The user then pays the booking charges. Once the payment is done, BookMyChef will confirm the booking after assigning a chef. The company conducts a background check of the chef, review of their culinary training and experience, including a practical cooking test, before onboarding. Chefs are compensated based on the number of items and guests.

Could you give details about the features of BookMyChef?

Currently, the MVP (Minimum Viable Product - Beta Version) of the app features four cuisines, including Continental, Oriental, North Indian and South Indian. Users can choose a cuisine and select up to 10 items for service and book an event for up to 20 guests. There is no minimum order quantity. Users can also book additional professionals like bartenders, service staff, and cleaners as add-on services at the checkout for stress free celebrations at affordable prices. Users can choose to arrange the ingredients themselves or ask BookMyChef to source them for additional charges. While in the current model a chef can be hired for any small event at home, soon, the customer will get to book a dessert chef or a multi cuisine chef. The user can also book a mobile kitchen incase their kitchen is small or for a farm house party. The final version will also let the user book an Insta chef for their immediate requirement. Currently the platform does not take same day bookings.

Who are your prospective users and how has the trial experience been till now?

Anyone who loves to eat hot and healthy food prepared in front of them and willing to pay for it is our prospective client. So far we had clients who are regular IT employees to even celebrities. Yes, we are in the MVP stage and in the process of validating it. The response has been very encouraging and we cannot wait to launch all the services. The final version is set to launch in July or August of 2023. The idea is to gather data by doing as many events before releasing the final version.

Whom do you see as your competitors? How has business been during trial phase?

We do not have any direct competitors in India except for a couple of startups from Delhi. But indirectly our competition is coming from Caterers and Food Delivery Apps as they are the only available alternatives to our services. So far we have catered to nearly 2,000 people and about 40 chefs have served more than three events each while 20 chefs have done one or two events. Many chefs are still in trial and training phase. Training is very important as it is very different to cook in home kitchen vs a commercial kitchen. All the chefs are vetted with background checks. Currently we have onboarded only 15 per cent of the total applications received from the chefs.

How is Hyderabad as a market for private chefs?

Although private chef service is very new to Hyderabad, so far it has been very encouraging. We believe it is a perfect test market. After the official launch we intend to be prepared to do 10 events a day and reach 50 events a day within six months of launch. To be able to do this, we estimate that we would need to onboard 500 experienced chefs in Hyderabad also.

How has the funding been utilised?

We have raised about 1/2 a million USD from our network and survive with this until Series A. The funds are primarily being used to build the technology of the platform, set up the operations, initial marketing and research for validating the concept. The team consists of eight full time employees and 25 contract employees apart from 150 chefs from different cuisine expertise. Currently all onboarded chefs are from Hyderabad only.

What is your revenue model?

The startup being D2C, we charge a small fee from the user and a small percentage from the service partner. BookMyChef also pays insurance on behalf of the chefs. All the onboarded chefs have an insurance coverage for any unforeseen incidents.

How will BookMyChef make an impact in the lives of chefs?

We bring big difference in the lives of the chefs who are otherwise overworked and underpaid. Our chefs make their monthly pay in just nearly 10 events by signing up with us. That’s a big impact. BookMyChef is also a great solution for busy professionals, working couples who find it hard to find time to invite friends and family over and treat them with homemade food.

Any expansion plans…

We are expanding to Mumbai and Delhi by end of August. And all the metros by the year end. And, hopefully cross border expansion also, as we are receiving partnership enquires from Middle East and Australia.

How have you positioned BookMyChef against the competition from the catering industry?

Identifying the exact requirement of the consumer and connecting him to the right service provider is the key. BookMyChef’s research on consumer trends is commendable. We are always learning and adapting from our experiences and feedback as we move forward. Any startup’s success totally depends on their ability to figure out the need gap.

What is the size of on-demand food industry? What is driving its growth?

According to our research the current On-Demand Food delivery market is around Rs 10,000 crore in India and another Rs 20k crore of event catering. The increase in spending capacity of the consumer and the increase in demand for convenience of On-Demand Services are driving the industry’s growth massively.

The hospitality sector is evolving rapidly, including catering services. What is going to be the trend going ahead?

Our current research says that personalisation as per the customers requirement will be the game changer. The consumers these days are well aware of what they want, thanks to globalisation.