Every business starts with solving a problem. For one Gurgaon tech professional in 2018, the problem was simple: there weren’t enough fresh, affordable, and filling salads. Frustration with soggy lettuce and too much mayo turned into an idea—a cloud kitchen serving hearty salads.
Six years later, the business had 5 million orders and 78 cloud kitchens across India. But success wasn’t the whole story. In a recent social media post, the founder shared how rapid growth and financial struggles brought challenges.
Starting small in a basement
In 2018, the founder quit their tech job and used Rs8 lakh in savings to set up a small kitchen in Gurgaon. The idea was to create salads people actually wanted to eat.
The menu had eight salads priced at Rs 250 each. But there were problems:
Food cost per salad: Rs 85
Packaging cost: Rs 45 (eco-friendly materials were expensive)
Delivery platform fee: Rs 75
Staff cost per order: Rs 28
Each salad lost Rs13, even before accounting for rent and marketing. But customers loved the fresh ingredients and balanced flavors. Word-of-mouth helped, and orders grew from 12 to 200 a day within six months.
The COVID Boom
By 2019, the business was profitable. Bulk orders for ingredients and packaging lowered costs, and the menu expanded to include smoothie bowls and protein boxes. Profits improved, with each order bringing Rs38.
When COVID-19 hit, demand for healthy, home-delivered meals soared. The business opened another kitchen in Cybercity and catered to corporate bulk orders. Daily orders shot up to 600.
Encouraged by this growth, the company scaled quickly. It opened 78 kitchens across India and hit 5 million orders.
The problem with growing too fast
But scaling up came with challenges. In their social media post, the founder explained how rapid expansion, funded by loans, became a problem. Delivery platforms charged high commissions (up to 30%), which hurt profits. Running 78 kitchens added huge fixed costs. Meanwhile, marketing expenses to attract new customers kept rising.
The founder wrote, “Scaling too fast on borrowed money and depending on platforms can turn your dream into a nightmare.”
This story is a reminder that while growth is exciting, careful planning and sustainable scaling are key to long-term success.