ITC to Expand its Cloud Kitchen business across Metropolitan areas

ITC plans to expand the cloud kitchen business it has been testing in Bengaluru. The conglomerate, which sells North Indian lunch and dinner and bakery products via food delivery apps, has launched in Chennai, with plans to expand to Mumbai, Delhi, and Kolkata. According to executive director Hemant Malik, the company is also considering adding breakfast and oriental cuisines.

The company refers to this as food-tech, and it has identified it as one of the emerging growth vectors. It currently operates three brands: ITC Aashirvaad Soul Creations for daily or comfort food in North India, ITC Master Chef Creations for gourmet cuisines in North India, and ITC Sunfeast Baked Creations for bakery products. Bengaluru has 19 cloud kitchens, while Chennai has four.

"We have a winning formula, which includes having established brands that come with certain credibility, cuisine supported by ITC Hotels' chefs, and capabilities of the packaged foods business," said Malik.

"The tech-learning needed for the business comes from our focus on digitalisation. The model involves setting up of central kitchen and satellite kitchens in cities where we operate. We are already the market leader in Bengaluru in the premium space within two years of operation and will now scale up in other cities," said Malik.