Episode 82: Business Breakdown of the Indian F&B Industry w/Sarthak Ahuja

The One Percent Project- Entrepreneurship, Leadership & Resilience

About Sarthak Ahuja: My next guest and co-host on The One Percent Project is Sartha Ahuja. In this episode, Sarthak & I deep dive into India's Food and Beverage industry. We discuss the unit economics of running a restaurant to making butter chicken, ordering patterns in India, the business models of food aggregators like Zomato and Swiggy, cloud kitchens, and the reason behind the rise and fall of Uber Eats. We uncover the success story behind Domino's and how in such a competitive industry, Ankit Gupta and Chirag Chhajer built Burma Burma, a Burmese cuisine restaurant chain. Sarthak shares how consumer businesses must undergo a "speed Ludo test," emphasising time efficiency, small transaction sizes, and positive unit economics. This strategy is essential for long-term success in a price-sensitive market like India. ⁠Sarthak is a published author, a seasoned Chartered Accountant with expertise in startup advisory and investment banking and a LinkedIn top voice who brings a wealth of intriguing insights to the discussion. Key Take Aways & Transcript: https://bit.ly/TOP_BusinessBreakdownIndianFB Follow & Subscribe: WhatsApp: ⁠⁠https://bit.ly/TOP_WA2 ⁠⁠ YouTube: ⁠⁠https://bit.ly/TOP_YouTubeVideos⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠⁠https://bit.ly/TOP_LinkedIn Instagram: ⁠⁠https://bit.ly/TOP_Insta 00:00 Intro 04:10 The most ordered dishes 09:21 Indian Food Preferences and the Authenticity of Chinese Cuisine 11:06 The Business Models and Unit Economics of the Food Industry 15:40 The Challenges and Economics of Running a Restaurant 39:54 The Success Story of Domino's in the Indian Market 44:38 Identifying Opportunities in the Food Industry 45:18 Burma Burma's reason of success