Rebel Foods, the India-based virtual restaurant chain which has a major presence in the UAE, is betting big on the Middle East to build a $1 billion food delivery business in the region over the next three years.
Towards this goal, the online food major, which owns popular dark kitchen brands such as Faasos, Behrouz Biryani and Oven Story, has set in motion an aggressive expansion plan in the region which will include foraying into Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Egypt by the first quarter of 2022, a top company executive said.
This will be in addition to Rebel Foods’ already announced plans to enter Saudi Arabia by end of this year and expand its footprint all over the UAE soon.
“The Middle East is a key region for Rebel Foods and we are investing significantly to build our cloud kitchen network and to strengthen our brands,” Ajay Jain, chief executive officer in the UAE of Rebel Foods, told Arabian Business.
“The food delivery industry in the GCC is currently at $6-7bn and is growing at a healthy rate of 20-25 percent.
“We are aiming to build a $1bn food delivery business over the next three years by expanding our cloud kitchen network across the key countries in the Middle East such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Egypt,” Jain said.
The Rebel Foods top executives – either Jain or company co-founder Kallol Banerjee – however did not reveal how much revenue the company generates currently from its Middle East presence.
Kallol Banerjee, co-founder of Rebel Foods.
“Globally, we have tripled our revenue since pre-Covid levels,” is all that Banerjee was ready to disclose.
After entering the UAE in its first international expansion, Rebel Foods subsequently entered countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Philippines, Hong Kong, Thailand and the UK, operating 500 virtual restaurants.
“We are planning to enter these GCC countries by Q1 2022. There is a huge food delivery potential in countries such as Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait and the markets are growing in double digits. Each country has a potential of $100 million business,” he added.
Jain also revealed that since Rebel Foods launched its operations in Dubai in 2019, the company’s brands have witnessed 300 percent growth.
“We are seeing significant inbound requests from our customers to expand our brands’ presence across the UAE. Our 2021 revenue growth is 300 percent in the first half of 2021 and we hope to continue on this momentum.
“We are also looking to add another 150 internet restaurants by December 2021 in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Al Ain,” Jain said.
Ajay Jain, chief executive officer in the UAE of Rebel Foods.
Regarding Rebel Foods’ planned entry into Saudi Arabia, Banerjee said: “We have set aside funds and the required partnerships, and business plans are already in place. However due to travel restrictions very little progress has been achieved on the ground. We will be doubling down on this once the travel restrictions lift…hopefully by the end of the year we would have started operations.”
The Rebel Foods top executives also revealed that the company’s expansions in the GCC region would be supported its already existing cloud kitchen network in Dubai.
“We will leverage the existing players’ networks to reach the product-market fit quickly in each of these geographies and will launch multiple brands using our tried and tested formula.”
Banerjee said aside from the Middle East, the company also would be entering into few other overseas markets over the next few months.
“We aim to be present in at least 20 countries by the end of fiscal year 2021-2022. Being the pioneer in the internet restaurant industry, we possess the capabilities to launch and scale-up multi-brand cloud kitchens across different markets,” Banerjee said.
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