Cloud Kitchen Aggregator Curefoods Acquires Franchise Rights For US-Based Pizza Brand Sbarro

Cloud kitchen brands aggregator Curefoods has announced its acquisition of exclusive franchise rights in South India for the globally renowned pizza brand Sbarro. Curefoods plans to open 50 Sbarro outlets in the next three years, starting with Bengaluru. The expansion will consist of a mix of walk-in outlets and cloud kitchens to ensure maximum customer reach.

Founded in 1956, Sbarro is a globally renowned pizza brand present in 630+ locations across 28 countries. Upper Crust Foods exercises Sbarro’s India master franchise rights, since its entry into the country in 2012. Since then, the RD Group (which includes Upper Crust Foods) has successfully grown and operates more than 32 outlets across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

Sbarro India is another feather in the cap of the ex-Flipkart and Curefit executive Ankit Nagori’s Thrasio for foodtech company—Curefoods. Currently, the 2020-founded foodtech acquirer operates more than 75 cloud kitchens. By the end of 2022, Curefoods looks to acquire 35+ brands, paying EBITDA multiples of 8-15x, eyeing an ARR of $100 Mn.

Its current portfolio includes MasalaBox, Paratha Box, CakeZone, Ammi’s Biryani, Olio, Crusto’s, Juno’s Pizza, Cupcake Noggins, Iceberg, Nomad Pizzas, White Kitchens and Chaat Street and exclusive franchise rights of pizza cloud kitchen YumLane, Indian and Mughlai food cloud kitchen Aligarh House, and biryani cloud kitchen Sharief Bhai.

The acquisition of the franchise rights of Sbarro India is closely followed by its complete acquisition of Swiggy-backed cloud kitchen player Maverix. Maverix will be merging its cloud kitchen business with Curefoods including 50 cloud kitchens across Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru; thus accelerating the latter’s manufacturing capabilities and market presence. It operates popular food brands such as Great Indian Khichdi, Canteen Central and Home Plate.

Curefoods’ growth in the market has vastly outpaced industry norms, with revenue growing 50% quarter-on-quarter over the last year.

Curefoods competes with foodtech unicorn Rebel Foods, which operates 450+ kitchens and 4K+ internet restaurants globally across 60+ cities in 10 countries, in the cloud kitchen category.

Some of the popular brands under Rebel Foods include Faasos, Behrouz Biryani, Ovenstory Pizza, Mandarin Oak, The Good Bowl, SLAY Coffee, Sweet Truth, Wendy’s among others.

Besides giants Zomato and Swiggy, who have entered the cloud kitchen market along with Rebel Foods, Curefoods also competes with Food Darzee, Healthie, Box8, among several others.

The fresh development also comes weeks after Curefoods raised $62 Mn in its Series B round of funding. Part of the investment came from Iron Pillar, Chiratae Ventures, Sixteenth Street Capital, Accel Partners and Binny Bansal; and $10 Mn came in debt financing from Alteria Capital, BlackSoil Capital & Trifecta Capital.