The Malaysian momos brand held out on the temptation to expand into outlets across the country, a move that has paid off in the face of the pandemic, Thakur says. Edited excerpts from an interview
When Shyam Thakur came to India with his Malaysian brand Momo King in November 2018, two things stood out for the food entrepreneur. Firstly, the business of dishing up momos was either a cottage industry—small carts and eateries dotted all over Delhi-NCR were peddling momos of questionable hygiene—or the product was being positioned as a gourmet offering by brands, at a price to match.
What was also missing was variety. “Nobody was selling authentic Himalayan momos,” says Thakur, who opened his first outlet in Kuala Lumpur in 2017 and specialises in traditional Himalayan delicacies such as kothey, sandekho, choila, jhol and more varieties from Tibet, Bhutan, Sikkim, Nepal and Ladakh.
Now that the food landscape has changed, “We look forward to opening as many cloud kitchens as possible,” says the founder in an interview to Forbes India. Edited excerpts:
Q. What were the early challenges when you entered the Indian market?
When we debuted in India, we realised that consumers were accustomed to momos being relished as a street delicacy. We were not sure if people would like the exotic taste of our menu and authentic Himalayan delicacies. It did take us some time to instill the idea of momos being offered in an extensive traditional variety.
Q. You have been bullish on cloud kitchen model…
The food and beverage industry has hit an unprecedented low over the last few months. Dine-in has yet to pick up, even in areas where the lockdown is lifted. So we decided to focus more on cloud kitchens to revive the business.
The model delivers higher returns with lower operational costs. We recently rolled out healthy range, which includes vegan, gluten-free, whole wheat thukpa and Malaysian Laksa momos. We are also coming up with a vast range of frozen momos.