Money
Voracious appetite for online food delivery in Ktm
The online food delivery business in Nepal is booming with mostly young entrepreneurs looking to grab a slice of the lucrative market.Krishana Prasain
The online food delivery business in Nepal is booming with mostly young entrepreneurs looking to grab a slice of the lucrative market.
These entrepreneurs understand that increasing number of people have hectic work schedules and want to cater to such people.
Online food delivery services allow people to order food from a variety of cuisines at any time to the location of their choice. Some of the popular options are Foodmandu, Foodmario, 911 Food Express, Lunch Hour and Bhok Lagyo.
One of the newest kid on the block is Bhok Lagyo, which started in January 2017.
The company’s unique selling point is delivering food from 11pm to 4am, the first of its kind in the country.
Bhok Lagyo currently has a limited menu and still receives more than 10 orders a night. Managing Director of Bhok Lagyo Abhisek Gurung said that the company is targeting this niche market and is optimistic about the company’s prospects.
They have six delivery boys that bring piping hot meals to customers in Kathmandu and charges an extra Rs100 for delivery outside Ring Road.
Another newcomer in the business is Foodmario, which started in July 2017. They offer homemade food without any delivery or service charges. They claim to have a monthly turnover of nearly Rs1 million, with an average of 250 orders a day.
Foodmario has 25 home chefs that whip up traditional Nepali food to Indian and continental cuisine with prices ranging from Rs50 to Rs1,300.
Food delivery is handled by 20 delivery boys with service opening from 8am to 8pm. During the World Cup, they were open 24 hours to cater to hungry football fans in the Valley. Foodmario is planning to launch a mobile app soon and will be expanding its services to major cities area outside the Valley.
Another food delivery service, 911 Food Express, opened for business two years ago. Four hotel management students came together to offer multi-cuisines with prices ranging from Rs100 to Rs1,200.
Customers can make an order from 9am to 11pm. A chef handles the orders and 11 delivery boys dispatch the food. The company gets nearly 200 orders a day with orders doubling during weekends. According to one of the founders, Genuis G Magar, the monthly turnover is around Rs150,000.
The company is also diversifying its services to providing catering and lunch box services. 911 Food Express also plans to open food outlets, service points across multiple locations for fast delivery in the future.
While there are many new companies looking to get into the online food delivery game, Foodmandu is arguably the most well known.
Established in 2010, Foodmandu is a platform where it connects restaurants to customers. Marketing Executive Ankit Raj Khatri revealed that the online food business is booming with growth at a double digit pace. Foodmandu has team of 100 people including delivery personnel.