Founded by Hitesh Ahuja in 2016, Yumlane is steadily making progress as a prominent seller of packaged food, specifically in the pizzas and momos categories. Yumlane, which is mostly present in supermarkets, sells products in about 300 modern trade outlets and through online distribution channels.
In its 18-month-old retail journey, the brand has successfully operated with retail partners such as Food Bazaar, DMart, Godrej Nature’s Basket in Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune.
“Our 18 months in the retail space have been very successful as our growth has doubled. People have really liked the concept of ‘heat and eat pizzas’. They have also liked the price point and packaging. Thanks to the category which was created by the likes of Dominos, we manage to get through to the people in large numbers. However, there’s definitely a long way to go for us to foray into more cities,” says Hitesh Ahuja, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Yumlane.
Retail Presence
Yumlane is currently present in four cities and cumulatively reaching 1,000 retail points across hypermarkets and urban stores.
“Over the next one year, we expect to hit a 5-digit number – targeting to reach 10,000 stores and build on our growth to grow more. We are focused to reach the target of 40 cities,” states Ahuja.
Product Range
Describing the product range of Yumlane, Ahuja says, “We stuck to pizzas and largely have 4 to 5 SKUs. Our top seller are the Double Cheese Margarita, Peri Peri Paneer and some more different flavours. We think we would like to tap and close out by building another 20-odd flavours before we go deep into momos and dimsums. Presently, our hands are full with managing the pizza and momos categories, but there are a few more products that we would like to work on, soon.”
Brand USP
The brand’s USP is their ‘Heat and Eat’ category. Yumlane has given people the choice of buying cooked foods, take them home and just heat them – on a tawa in a microwave or in an oven as per their convenience, choice and taste.
“We are currently using up all our efforts to bring in consumers to buy these two packaged foods,” says Ahuja.
Expansion Plans
The brand is focusing on trying to bring in B2B partners and retailers. “We don’t want to open real estate outlets. We don’t even wish to experiment with the concept of the franchise stores. Yumlane aims to touch a sales target of Rs 100 crore by 2020 from the current Rs 20 crore,” says Ahuja.
Mumbai-based FMCG startup QwikPik Technology, which owns and operates Yumlane, raised $4 million in April 2018 in Series A round of funding led by Singapore-based family office RB Investments.
