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Americans are hungrier than ever for high quality Indian food—over the past 12 months alone, Instagrammers tagged over seven million posts with #indianfood. It’s the second most popular cuisine on social media, growing rapidly at 41%. Desi tackles today’s biggest trend by combining our award-winning Indian dishes, handcrafted drinks from our “Gabru Bar,” and a one-of-a-kind experience. Growing exponentially by over 30% year-on-year, we’re poised to capture additional shares of this new market.
Nationwide, there are only 5,000 Indian restaurants—that’s roughly one Indian restaurant for every 66,000 people. For Chinese restaurants, that number is 14,000, and for Mexican restaurants, 6,900. It's time for high-quality, fresh, fast, and affordable Indian cuisine to take center stage in this fast-growing market.
Desi has struck a chord with patrons, and our numbers speak for themselves. Our sales continue to grow exponentially by over 30% year-on-year, and haven't even been slowed down by a global pandemic!
Unlike your traditional "Indian restaurant," our business model reaches far beyond "butter chicken & naan" or a lunch buffet.
Desi serves our customers all the delicious and healthy contemporary Indian street food they've been drooling over on social media, all seamlessly. Food can be delivered with the same freshness, texture, and taste even after 30-45 minutes of delivery time. Leveraging data and technology, we bring speedy service to our guests without sacrificing food—something traditional Indian establishments cannot.
Our flagship store is strategically located in the San Francisco Bay Area with multiple diner demographics. With an average household income of $138K, 77% of area residents dine out at least once a week while 61% order delivery. Our lunch population increases to over 324K in the immediate area during the day. Thousands of startups and 38 Fortune 500 companies located in our technological supercenter also create corporate catering opportunities. Numerous colleges and universities are located in Silicon Valley, including Stanford and San Jose State.
Desi is poised to break into similar tier 1 metro suburbs thanks to its proven experience breaking into such markets and leveraging existing assets to capture new markets efficiently. We have 25+ planned locations and we're partnering with Food and Beverage Technology partners to place our signature recipes in automated vending machines.
Our global Indian dishes pull inspiration from a variety of world cuisines offering customers a new experience with the foods they already love:
Meanwhile, our “DIY” meals offer customers a fast yet highly customizable option: choose between a bowl, taco, naan wrap, or salad and select a variety of Indian fillings. Our food has the qualities of gourmet meals, but we are standardized enough so they can be prepared quickly like fast casual establishments.
We anticipate further growth from our Gabru Bar's craft cocktail program, which accounts for 13.5% of our profit. A partnership with Bittercube Bitters and mixology mentoring from the Drinks Apothecary lets us elevate Desi's drink experience. Find homemade infusions, original syrups, branded ice cubes, edible garnishes, and flavor profiles you won't find anywhere else.
The Distilled Spirits Council reported a 42% increase in revenue for Premixed Cocktails and Spirits-Based RTD suppliers between 2020 and 21. Desi's Ready-To-Drink Cocktails program, which delivers the bar to any location, will benefit from this. It offers the variety, taste, and convenience that customers are looking for - just open, pour over ice, and enjoy.
Despite being a young startup, Desi has won several coveted awards and has been featured nationally – giving a boost to a cuisine that has long been a sideshow in global gastronomy. Likewise, our customers are thrilled to express the exciting and scrumptious experiences they’ve had at Desi.
We've partnered with several leading and national delivery companies for corporate catering and events as well as through our direct website eatatdesi.com, bringing in over $200k+ in annual sales. We have 15 delivery partnerships, including Grubhub, Uber Eats, Bentobox, and Doordash to name a few.
The fast and contemporary casual restaurant market size is set to grow by $186B accelerating at a CAGR of 12.41%. With 44% of the growth to originate from North America, the US holds a massive market potential. Desi intends to capture market share using our existing infrastructure and limited competition.
Due to its bold, robust, and complex flavors, it continues to gain popularity among Millennials. A YouGov survey commissioned by Deep Indian Kitchen revealed a soaring demand for authentic international flavors. Notably, chicken tikka masala is the second most craved international dish.
Millennials are also increasingly seeking healthier meal options such as plant-based foods. SPINS retail sales data shows that grocery sales of plant-based foods have grown 6 percent in the past year—and 54 percent in the last three years.
Desi's stands to benefit from this trend as our flavors find influences from around the world, resulting in a unique, delicious, handcrafted experience. Further, our heavy use of plant-based ingredients such as beans, lentils, and so many other good-for-you ingredients capitalizes on this growing healthy eating trend.
With Indian Americans being the second-largest immigrant group in the United States, swelling north of 4 million, this will also fuel demand for Indian cuisine. Among the fastest growing demographics, Indians grew by 142% between 2000 and 2019. The median household income for Indians is $123K, almost double the national average, allowing for higher average check prices.
A streamlined process has been implemented to allow for scalability. Our operational assets include advanced equipment/automation for F&B manufacturing and a centralized kitchen to cut costs and boost efficiency. Our IT assets include a well-established web, app ordering platform, and rewards-based programs.We plan to add kiosk-based ordering systems, an automated kitchen and bar, innovative packaging for extended delivery, which can easily double our revenue.
We have the potential to fill the need for one of the fastest growing cuisines in one of the most underserved markets. With the help of our existing processes, experience, and infrastructure, we can expand into new markets and accelerate our growth.
Invest now in Desi and join the growth of an award-winning Indian food establishment. Plus, when you invest in Desi via Wefunder, you get access to limited time investor perks.
Per Unit Growth Analysis
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