Rebel Foods: Disrupting the Food and Beverage Industry in India

Rebel Foods (Rebel) was the world’s largest internet restaurant company, with 45 food brands and 450 kitchens in 10 countries. As Rebel scaled up, they were gradually venturing into the business-to-business (B2B) space by partnering with other food brands. Their transition to a B2B model, although necessary, had some challenges. As their reliance on third-party food delivery partners continued to drive up costs, Rebel considered how to better integrate their supply chain. However, their food delivery partners provided greater brand visibility. In Rebel’s one-kitchen many brands model, would they be able to leverage technology and automation to scale up and expand successfully?

This case is intended for use in undergraduate- or graduate-level courses on operations management and business strategy. The case can be used in courses that focus on evaluating business models in the food tech space, as well as on dealing with challenges in emerging economies. The case guides students in exploring the factors that have led to Rebel’s growth in India’s food tech space. Students will be able to understand the opportunities and challenges of running a cloud-kitchen-based food company in a developing economy such as India. Students will also evaluate how an F&B company can tap into multiple consumption occasions and provide high-quality food solutions using the same kitchen.<br><br>Students will learn the various operational strategies that the leaders in the cloud-kitchen-based food business employ to navigate this market. The instructor can also use this case to facilitate a detailed discussion on the concept of cloud kitchens, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of various platform-based business models in India’s food tech industry. The case also provides students with an opportunity to evaluate the characteristics of cloud-kitchen-based businesses and the challenges of scaling up these businesses. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to do the following:<br><br><ul><li>Discuss how a food tech company like Rebel can sustain its business in an emerging market like India’s F&B market.</li><li>Understand the roles that Rebel’s mobile app (EatSure) and their technology platform (Rebel Operating System) will play in differentiating and dealing with the threat of substitutes in the F&B service industry.</li><li>Discuss Rebel’s operational challenges in scaling up, including whether the company can maintain a sustainable competitive advantage in an industry with low entry barriers by serving the B2B space.</li><li>Critically assess whether supply chain integration is necessary for Rebel to scale up.</li></ul>

• Rebel Foods
• B2B
• F&B
• India's food tech market
• cloud kitchens
• operational strategies
• emerging economies
• business models
• supply chain integration
• operating system
• mobile app (EatSure)
• competitive advantage
• low entry barriers
• platform-based business models
• technology platform
• scaling up challenges
• threat of substitutes
• brand visibility
• consumption occasions
• high-quality food solutions.