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Beyond being an effort to flatten the curve of Covid-19, the lockdown has been a changemaker in many ways. For millennials who had become so used to paying for convenience, the responsibility had shifted to cooking rather than choosing from a menu on Swiggy or Zomato. But while many struggled, as apparent on social media feeds, others turned to convenience here too — with ready-to-eat, ready-to-cook, ready-to-serve categories have exploded and become a go-to choice for many young consumers.

Clubbed under the convenience food segment, these products which had been slow in scaling up have seen huge scope for growth now. Over the past decade, money spent by Indians on ready-to-eat food outside the home has doubled. The positives for the segment is that the industry is witnessing large-scale transformation, advertisement spends, distribution of free samples with the focus on improving the distribution network to make a strong presence in the Indian market.

Beyond the major players like Nestle, ITC, Tata, Haldiram, MTR Foods etc, smaller startups like Maverix (Fingerlix), Sattviko, Just2Eat, Being Chef, Samosa Party, Mom’s Kitchen, Sumeru etc have been leveraging the consumer attention.

However, in the foodtech space, dominated by food delivery, dining SaaS and cloud kitchens, the RTE market holds a minute share. DataLabs by Inc42+ research shows that foodtech investments have grown from $93.7 Mn across 14 deals in 2014 to 1.08 Bn across 42 deals in 2018 and $322 Mn across 37 deals in 2019.

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So, how does one deal with the economic challenge? 42-year-old Manmohan Singh, who started his venture Just 2 Eat, six months ago, believes that one can deal with economic hindrances by mass producing sustainable food items. “We produce packaged Indian food without using preservatives. Through our NGO Singh Educational Welfare Association along with the help of KVIC (Khadi And Village Industries Commission), we impart culinary skills to children above the age of 16 years in rural places. The advantage of this is that we are able to produce mass quantities of sustainable Indian food. These kids acquire the necessary skills to start their own small venture in the near future. Also, it stops rural migration of the children to metropolitan cities,” says Singh. His products start at Rs90 and include ready-to-eat dishes such as Aloo Gobhi, Rajma Chawal, and Chicken Biryani.