At present, the Bengaluru-based restaurant listings and bookings company, EveningFlavors, has 40,000 listed restaurants in 20 to 25 cities. In 2009, four enthusiastic foodie techies co-founded the table reservations platform. When the company was launched in Bengaluru, the reservations were all manual and done by customer care executives in a call centre. Now almost everything is almost done online while the call centre handles customer queries. EveningFlavors' CEO and founder
Akash Shrivastava, in an exclusive interview with
BW BusinessWorld, talked at length about the company’s expansion plan in particular and the road ahead for the Indian food-tech industry in general. Edited excerpts:
On new productsThe Indian food-tech space is fragmented at the moment. Players can be classified by the services they provide be it food delivery, information or offers. We at Eveningflavors have new offerings which unify the various services provided by different players.
Apart from search recommendations and reservations, this year we have diversified our products and also launched a section for local getaways and day outings. These products particularly focus on resort packages and ready to grab restaurant deals with at least 30 per cent discount on offer.
We have also launched one of the most comprehensive dining and partying mobile app which, besides search recommendations, comprises of deals and night life info along with bookings.
Of the 335 online ordering and food tech start-ups in India, Eveningflavours is the only one which integrates food, nightlife, and getaways seamlessly together for its customers.
On innovations We have already launched our mobile app on Google playstore for its android users and soon the app will be made available on iOS.
The latest features best deals for resort packages, buffets and food with drinks package. You can get the updates about the special events and book the event tickets. Avail cash back offers while doing the on line transaction.
For restaurants we are developing a mobile app interface which will cater to restaurants to monitor the real time reservations, payments and notifications which will allow restaurants to directly confirm the bookings.
Restaurants will also be able to track transactions and manage the inventory through our app.
On the company's performanceEveningflavors has been on a growth spree since we expanded our product portfolio. Despite the challenges in the foodtech industry, we have grown and our metrics have risen 5 times from the previous year.
This also translates to our expansion to different parts of the country with our overall presence growing to include 32 cities across India.
Having achieved a footfall of 1 lakh customers per month for restaurants and lounges in Delhi, Mumbai , Pune and Bangalore through us, Eveningflavors is currently serving around 500 plus restaurants in the mentioned cities is another landmark which is growing every day.
On marketing strategyWe are seen as one of the top players in the space in terms of the offerings and services we are providing. Eveningflavors is currently ranked in the top 3 in terms of performance on Google.
We are currently doing 40,000 plus reservations per month in 20 to 25 cities across India. Some of the leading food chain restaurants like Barbeque Nation, JSM Corp, Speciality, Pan India food and Gold finch as our existing clients.
In order to further achieve our business objectives and goals i.e. to reach out to 5000 plus restaurants in the next one year, we are collaborating with various platforms and influencers in the industry who are supporting us to acquire consumers and restaurateurs at quick pace.
Besides this we are also analysing our curated data for the last five years for demand forecasting as well as understanding customer requirements which will help us in devising strategies to virally penetrate the market.
On new goals Our new goals are dependent on the growing response and execution of our current expansion plans.
Being in a product service industry our priority is to provide best quality service to our clients and consumers as this will quantify and keep the growth momentum we have been witnessing.
We are planning to introduce reservation management, call and lead management and last minute inventory.
In the next one year we plan to acquire customers and reach half a million reservations per month. We are also planning to cover all tier two cities in India and grow in terms of number of employees and plan to increase our employee strength by 200.
Our current payment gateway partner for digital payments PayU money and Paytm – wallet, we are also in talks with few more digital wallets and exploring possibilities to work with them.
This would thus increase the hit ratio for Eveningflavors from once to twice a week. We also aim to see ourselves as the single biggest creator and curator for restaurants and lounges in the city.
On market impactEveningFlavors is your recipe for food and fun. We believe foodies come in all shapes and sizes and we cater to fit them all. We want to provide our customers and clients a smooth and seamless experience by giving them a premium quality services in search, discovery and recommendations to consumers in terms of experience and pricing.
Of the 16,000 plus restaurants in Bombay alone without factoring in places to visit for getaways in and around the city we plan to serve our customers deals and offers along with vital make or break information for as many as we can.
On expansion planWe want to achieve footfall of 5 million per month in restaurants signed up with Eveningflavors in the next 3 years and acquire next 5000 plus restaurants in metros. We are also working to expand our presence in tier 2 cities.
BW Reporters
Haider Ali Khan is an alumnus of IIMC. He holds a degree in English Journalism from the prestigious campus. His passion includes Aviation, Technology, Politics and Sports.
