Sweetheart Kitchen adds Ramadan brand to the GCC’s $3 billion cloud kitchen market
With people fasting and homes and restaurants open, online food services can see a drop in orders during Ramadan. However, a hunger for more convenience and time together may cause a hike in the appetiser and dessert categories.
Capitalising on client’s heightened technology savviness, cloud-based Sweetheart Kitchen launched the seasonal Ramadanyat brand, promising to deliver Ramadan appetisers and desserts within 30 minutes after placing the order online, free of charge.
“Ramadanyat is a brand with purpose,” Firas Othman, Sweetheart Kitchen’s General Manager in Kuwait and the brain behind the concept, told Salaam Gateway.
Generating additional income for the online food business is one aim; tackling a dilemma Othman experienced first-hand is another intent.
Sweetheart Kitchen’s Kuwait branch opened in 2020, a year after the company started operating in Dubai. American virtual kitchen pioneer Peter Schatzberg founded the company, funded by Germany’s multi-national online food-delivery service Delivery Hero.
Advertising fast delivery service, quality food and great portions as a competitive advantage, the virtual restaurant company offers 23 brands, catering to every taste, including vegan, via the delivery application Talabat.
Othman, who has worked at the Swiss food and drink conglomerate Nestle for five years, said revenues dwindle during Ramadan when “no-one will order burgers or wings”. Traditionally the main Iftar dishes are cooked at home while family members buy takeaway starters and desserts, must-haves when breaking fast in Kuwait, on their way home.
“You can’t imagine the traffic in the streets and queues in front of the shops,” Othman said about the hassle of picking up the goods. “It’s very stressful as everybody wants to be at home before the Iftar call.”
Using the existing facilities, operations and logistics, Othman’s concept eradicates these consumer pain points through online ordering and fast delivery at no cost. Offering frozen and cooked food, both sections include the same items, such as sambusas, spring rolls and two types of desserts.
Success proves Othman’s concept right
“Since day one of the launch, Ramadanyat was in our top five best-selling brands,” he said looking at the pre-Ramadan season performance of the firm’s 23 restaurants.
Othman attributes success to the brand’s convenience and flexibility. He explained other online businesses in the frozen food sector require clients to buy in bulk and place orders three days before the requested delivery time.
While Kuwait isn’t the largest virtual kitchen market, it’s lucrative. According to an industry expert, with $498, the country has the highest average revenue per user (ARPU) in the region. The United Arab Emirates (UAE’s) ARPU stands at $356 and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s ARPU is $194.
Sweetheart Kitchen operates eight kitchens in Kuwait, generating monthly revenue of over $820,000 according to Othman. Each facility covers a radius of just seven kilometres to guarantee fast delivery.
With two more kitchens in the pipeline in the coming two months, the group expects to bolster its running rate. A run rate applies current financial information to predict future performance, mainly used for newly founded companies.
Moreover, the firm works on raising funds to finance its expansion into Saudi Arabia’s online food delivery market, valued at $1.8 billion according to an Entrepreneur Middle East report.
Othman said the company’s strategy calls for entering one more Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) country once the Saudi Arabia market has been opened, with Bahrain being the likely candidate.
“After that, we consider expanding outside the GCC.”
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