Dubai has now its own version of Amazon Go, with Greeno, a foodtech startup which visions itself as an Uber for office healthy eating, opening a series of self-checkout food kiosks in large office premises across the city, offering over 60 gourmet chef-prepared dishes daily, featuring quality nutritious ingredients.
Its offerings, comprising vegetarian meals, fitness salads, fish and meat dishes, fruits and vegetables, nourishing wraps, desserts, fresh juices, and more, are priced at an average of AED22 – which the company says are lower than that of most restaurants and food delivery services, but a little higher than that in fast food chains as they provide healthy products.
The meals are rotated biweekly, preventing employees from growing tired of repetitive options.
The startup, co-founded by four professionals-turned investors from fintech to foodtech sectors, has already secured tie-up deals with some of the biggest companies in the UAE, including Etisalat and Panasonic, and is currently in the process of several more such deals with other large corporate groups in Dubai to serve their employees through its ‘in-office’ kiosks.
“Similar to Amazon Go in the US, we utilise a business model where customers can purchase meals without requiring a cashier, directly within their office spaces,” Alexandra Dorf, Co-founder of Greeno, told Arabian Business.
“What sets Greeno apart from its competitors is its specialisation in whole-food meals and corporate healthy lifestyle programmes, she added.
Dorf said this convenience is particularly advantageous for employees, especially during the scorching months of heat in Dubai.
The Greeno co-founder is hopeful of a fast scale-up of its kiosks network across corporate offices in Dubai – as also into other emirates and even outside the UAE – based on the overwhelming response to its business at the very early stage, since starting of operations in July this year.
“The employees in the office were excited about a new option for healthy eating at work as compared to food delivery services and sandwiches from coffee shops,” she said.
Dorf said the startup’s objective is to promote a healthier lifestyle among local citizens, as a 2022 study by the National Library of Medicine on the nutrition situation in the UAE showed that the country grapples with various nutrition-related problems, including underweight, overweight, obesity, micronutrient deficiencies, and nutrition-related chronic diseases.
From continental dishes to Indian meals, varieties to suit each one’s tastes
Dorf said the startup collaborates with several suppliers who serve multinational clients to provide it with a variety of dishes that align with its target customers’ preferences.
“We have also developed our own IT system ‘Greeno GreatBox’ that helps us to analyse sales volume and demand for specific meals and products. With this data, we can determine which purchases to prioritise, whether they should be mostly Indian meals, European cuisine, and so on,” she said.
The startup, however, has plans to set up its base kitchen in the city, which, besides getting full control over quality, will help it to cut costs also significantly.
“We have plans to launch a proprietary food manufactory or dark kitchen in the future, as it would let us significantly drop the food cost,” Dorf said.
Greeno’s expansion and growth plans
Dorf said Greeno currently focuses on offices with 400-500 employees, but has plans to expand to business centers in the future.
“At this point, we are not targeting malls, as they require a different business model to succeed.
“In an office, people often seek quick, healthy meal options to recharge and return to work. In contrast, in malls, people typically have more time for entertainment and leisure and tend to opt for healthier food options in full-service restaurants over healthy food kiosks,” she said.
Dorf also revealed plans for ambitious expansion plans both within the UAE and outside of it.
“Our growth strategy in the UAE for the coming year – from now till October 2024 – includes building our chain of healthy food kiosks up to 40 locations in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah.
“After that we will start scaling our business in other MENA countries, starting with Saudi Arabia, which is the biggest and most promising emerging market in GCC,” she said.
Fundraising and strategic partnerships in focus
Dorf also revealed plans to hit the market to raise fresh capital to fund the startup’s proposed expansion.
“We are currently raising our first pre-seed round, with the goal of raising $400,000 and by next year, we plan to raise an additional $1.5 million in a seed round.
“We are also building relations with strategic partners such as major retail and insurance companies, with a future focus on exit for our investors,” she said.
According to food market analysts, the office healthy-eating market size in MENA is estimated at around $350 million currently, of which UAE accounts for over 15 percent.
The Greeno co-founder said the startup also has plans to diversify its business model by offering more B2B solutions – from nutriology mobile application to employee benefit packages.
“We also continue to develop our proprietary software and analyse data on food preferences to precisely adapt our offering to various multi-cultural tastes, health conditions, well-being status and goals,” Dorf said, adding that unhealthy eating at work is a vital problem in the UAE.
Studies say about 20 percent of the adult population in the UAE are obese, which is twice the world average, and 15 percent suffer from diabetes, according to the International Diabetic Federation.
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