From high-street QSR to cloud kitchen unicorn: The Rebel Foods story

In 2011, Rebel Foods, born Faasos, wasn’t the cloud kitchen startup it is today. In fact, cofounders Kallol Banerjee and Jaydeep Barman set off with the idea to incorporate a high-street quick-service restaurant (QSR) chain selling wraps.

“We thought we’d be the next McDonald’s,” Rebel Foods cofounder Kallol Banerjee told Business Standard. However, the vagaries of the restaurant industry, from the lack of high-street locations to high rents to the growing competition, meant that even before the company could fully grasp the market, it had to think about cutting costs.

“We went dark around 2014 before the Zomato-Swiggy disruption happened,” said Banerjee. When asked about what Rebel Foods has done differently to become the first unicorn in a cluttered cloud kitchen market,