Kolkata | 22nd April 2020: Wow! Momo Foods, which owns and operates two quick-service restaurant brands Wow! Momo and Wow! China, has recently announced the launch of its grocery arm ‘Wow! Momo Essential Services’ to help Indians stuck under lockdown with inadequate access to basic supplies. The brand has partnered with ITC, Nestle, and P&G to drive this initiative on a pan-India level, while its association with Haldiram seeks to manage the delivery in the country’s eastern belt. All the deliveries are being done through the Swiggy Grocery platform.
The brand is currently serving the quarantined populace through 60 Wow! Momo outlets across Kolkata, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Chennai. In the second phase of the initiative, the brand will extend the services in two more cities – Bhubaneswar and Mumbai – while ramping up the count of servicing outlets to 100. The locations have been strategically chosen keeping in mind the population densities – due to the presence of migrant students and young professionals in PGs and hostels – in these regions.
Speaking on the initiative, Muralikrishnan – Chief Brand Officer, Wow! Momo commented, “The essence of brand Wow! Momo is to serve maximum people the maximum number of times. All of our initiatives – including this one – are epicentred on this idea. In the present scheme of things, we are partnering with players from our own ecosystem to expand the scope and efficacy of our current initiatives. However, we are also working closely with NRAI nationally. Now, your favourite Wow! Momo outlet will deliver your daily essentials as well!”
Sagar Daryani – CEO and Co-Founder, Wow! Momo commented, “We are implementing the necessary measures across all our Wow! Momo stores to help us seamlessly transition into the post-pandemic world. On the one hand, we are diversifying faster and quicker. The launch of our Wow! Momo Essentials, our grocery arm, is a product of this development. We are also focusing on developing a web-app for enabling our customers to access take-away more conveniently in the future. Most importantly, we are building an in-house model of technology at all levels from food creation to delivery. The aim is to minimize human intervention and maximize perfection of taste along with the quality, speed, and scale of service delivery. We will be integrating state-of-the-art machines to ensure that hygiene is not compromised”.
Wow Momo! Believes that we are in the generation of shared competencies. Hence, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to say that the support-driven depth of reach to be had in times of ongoing lockdown has unlocked another dimension of growth for the essential goods and grocery deliver landscape. The current lockdown has changed the face of grocery ordering for all time. The birth of what is called as ‘Dark Kiranas’ has opened a space in the market where the current as well as future e-market players are engaged in a race. In this competition, the online aggregators showcasing superior fleet management and delivery executive network will emerge as the winners!
Besides this, Wow! Momo has also opened all of its base kitchens across the country to prepare food for the poor migrant workers stranded away from home amid the lockdown. To date, the brand has been able to reach out to more than 5,000 migrant workers and 5,000 daily wagers with food and other essentials (including rice, dal, potato, etc.) for each family. As part of the campaign, the brand has also served over 25,000 plates of Masala Khichri to those in need.
The brand’s grocery arm is being managed by more than 2800 employees who are making sure that the delivery services are driven seamlessly. Adopting an employee-first approach, the brand has taken several necessary measures such as Employee Education Program and regular delivery scans to ensure safety and well-being of its employees on the front-line.
“The safety of our customers as well as employees is at the heart of all of our operations. We do not give the order to the executive if the executive has temperature fluctuations or is not wearing a proper mask/gloves,” Murali added.
Sagar also shed light on how the QSR industry will be affected on account of the Covid-19 crisis, “After the pandemic is taken care of, the industry will see a tectonic shift. Social distancing is here to stay and at the same time building loyalty is only possible by displaying absolute transparency. So, open restaurants, kitchen tours, and knowledge of the ingredients etc. will become the new normal. Further, health and hygiene certification will be mandatory and most importantly the delivery business will (re-)enter the mainstream with greater vigour!”
Historically, market processes have pushed service providers to deliver a superior experience to customers. Such that, now you don’t buy the store or the kirana shop anymore, you buy convenience and the speed of service. Consequently, speed coupled with a seamless network is the success mantra that we have embraced at Wow! Momo with the launching Wow! Momo Essentials.
Some of the basic categories that Wow! Momo Essentials aims to look at include:
· Daily Needs & Craving: Eggs, bread, milk, Nescafe Sunbean Coffee, Goodwyn Tea, Maggii, Sunfeast Yumfills, Sunfeast Dark Fantasy, Sunfeast Farmlite, etc.
· Grains/Ghee/Salt/Sugar: Aashirwad ataa, Aashirvaad Svasti ghee, Aashirvaad salt
· Beverages & Snacks: Wild Vitamil drinks, Redbull, Pepsi, and Nectars, Sunfeast Wonderz, Milk Fabelle chocolates, Haldiram Bhujiya
· Ready To Eat: Kitchens of India ready-to-eat products
· Utilities: Savlon Soap, Vivel Soap, Fiama Hand Wash, Savlon sanitizer, Savlon, Fiama shower gel, Nimyle floor cleaner, Diapers, Whisper Sanitary pads and Gillete shaving range etc.
