-KH News Desk (cbedit@imaws.org)
Mumbai: Another Foods, a newly launched plant-based meat company has found a unique way to help chefs and restaurants incorporate more plant-based dishes into their menus. By working directly with HoReCa to co-create food solutions for consumers looking for sustainable and delicious plant-based dishes, Another Foods not only supports their partners with original product development but also with marketing to differentiate their offerings from other plant-based products in the market!
“Having our own lab and manufacturing setup, Another Foods is able to create products specifically required by our partners. We’ve started with three SKUs including plant-based chicken mince, chicken burger patty, and chicken chunks. These products taste just like chicken and are texturally identical to conventional meat, but are non-flavoured, offering chefs the versatility to cook these products in different ways for different cuisines. We want restaurants and hotels to think of us as their raw chicken supplier – just like a Godrej or a Venky’s – the only difference being that our products are plant-based,”says Sharvil Desai, Founder, Another Foods.
Sharing insights on the potential for a startup like Another Foods to successfully break into the Indian market, Nicole Rocque, Senior Innovation Specialist, GFI Indiasays,“As category awareness in India grows, food service offers the opportunity for curious and conscious customers to try plant-based meats at their favorite restaurants. Conversely, adding plant-based dishes to the menu can help hotels, restaurants, and cafes attract new consumers, offer more inclusive group dining options, and appeal to younger demographics. Startups like Another Foods entering the plant-based market – with their tailor made product and marketing solutions for restaurants and their aim of becoming raw ingredient suppliers for HoReCa – gives back culinary creativity to chefs. This model has great potential to scale as it leaves room for versatility, experimentation, and ultimately sustaining consumer interest for an extended period of time.”
Another Foods is a by-product of the efforts of a team of food scientists and chefs, combining art with science to best serve their customers. Speaking about the startup’s origins, Sharvil says, “One of the biggest hurdles stopping people from being more sustainable is the notion that sustainability comes through compromises. I wanted to create something that gives people what they want, without making them think they are compromising. That’s how Another Foods was born.”
Starting in December, Mumbaikars will be able to try Another Foods’ plant-based chicken at Indigo Deli Colaba and at Indigo Burger Project, the restaurant’s cloud kitchen. Anurag Katriar, Founder, Indigo Hospitality and former President, National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI) says, “I have been interacting with Sharvil and Another Foods for quite some time now. My first meeting with him was over product trials and I remember offering blunt feedback about the necessity to work on the product further, before its commercial launch. To my pleasant surprise, instead of being defensive, Sharvil took my feedback on board positively and came back a few months later with a superior, improved product line! This incident speaks volumes about the culture of Another Foods and its promoters – they are chasing excellence, and that will surely hold them in good stead in the long run.”
The company is aiming for multi-city launches by the start of January, with several restaurant chains and hotels – including St. Regis – serving food dishes made with Another Foods’ plant-based meat across Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, and Goa.
