Fooddoo app that delivers home-cooked food launches in Coimbatore

“In Coimbatore where we are just a week old, we are managing 50 meals a day,” says Saurav Mukherjee, co-founder of fooddoo app. He says that, while there are many food delivery apps, what sets them apart is the health factor. “We are moving towards good health. We don’t want our children to eat restaurant food every day.” The mobile and web-based app, currently active in Chennai, Coimbatore and Tiruchi, allows customers to order home-cooked food.

The options are plenty. From an all vegetarian meal of kootu and poriyal or to a simple simple fish curry and rice, one can pick and choose from a menu put up by home cooks on the app. “We call them fooddoo moms. We have 4000 moms registered with us. Of this, 600 are active,” says Saurav. There is also a Jain Food option, food with less oil, no garam masala and so on,” he explains

Saurav touches upon how nuclear families, where single moms or both parents are at work, find it a a big challenge to cook and consume healthy meals. Unhealthy eating habits are a big factor in lifestyle illnesses. “We want to bring about a change in the way food is prepared and delivered.”

The fooddoo team picks home makers who enjoy cooking. They can stay at home and generate income by doing something they are good at. Says a fooddoo mom based out of Chennai, “I finish cooking the lunch orders by noon. This suits me, as my child is away at school during those hours. As I take care of my child and manage my home, stepping out to deliver the meals is not an option for me. I get regular orders for my vegetarian meals and breakfast items like wheat dosa, red rice puttu, godhuma upma, rotis and parathas. A delivery executive picks up the prepared meal from home.” The moms have the option of switching off the app when they are unable to take orders.

Once a customer places an order with a fooddoo mom, the order reaches her dashboard. She then confirms the order and prepares the food. Once the food is ready, it is picked up and the customer can track the status — from order confirmation to delivery. “Our network of delivery boys are trained to check consistency, quantity and quality, and also help with packing. That’s why our tagline reads — moms prepare, friends deliver. We deliver food in biodegradable boxes.”

There is a seven-step quality and verification to validate the home cooks and their kitchens, points out K Shanmugasundaram, founder of Fooddoo.com. adding that fooddoo kitchens are FSSAI certified. “We also make surprise visits to their kitchens.” The tech-driven company is motivating the moms further.

Saurav Mukherjee and K. Shanmugasundaram   | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

“There is robust technology in place and now we can scale up at will. We are currently delivering 200 meals in Chennai,” says Saurav who reels out the top sellers. “The vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals, lemon, coconut and tomata rice, rotis and gravies do very well. Some of the app users also buy festival palakaaram from the moms.”

The next big plan is to get funding and scale up. “We have the capacity to service 40,000 meals a day. We have sensitised the cooks to make diabetic-friendly food with millets, cater to specific diets such as the paleo, low carb-high fat, high protein and so on. Children who are settled abroad subscribe to us to cater food to their aged parents. ”

Another mom who has been a fooddoo mom for three years says she loves experimenting. “Besides South Indian food, I also make teplas now and specialise in moong dal halwa, milk cake (which I learnt from my mother-in-law) and my own recipes like thinai paayasam. As my children are grown-up, I have plenty of time now. I order vegetables and provisions based on requirements. There has been no negative comments so far.” As she speaks the delivery executive arrives and takes away her lunch order of arachu vitta sambhar, inji rasam, beans paattani poriyal and kalandha kootu.