Faasos Parent Rebel Foods Joins ONDC Network To Ramp Up Its D2C Offerings

Mumbai-based cloud kitchen giant Rebel Foods has joined the government-backed open network for digital commerce (ONDC) in a bid to step up its direct-to-consumer (D2C) offerings across the country.

Founded by Kallol Banerjee and Jaydeep Barman in 2011, Rebel Foods houses popular brands such as Faasos, Behrouz Biryani, Ovenstory Pizza, Mandarin Oak, The Good Bowl, SLAY Coffee and Sweet Truth. The startup operates more than 450 kitchens across 80 cities.

Rebel Foods said in a statement that it will directly extend its own D2C platform, EatSure, to bring its multiple restaurant brands to ONDC. This includes brands such as Behrouz Biryani, Oven Story Pizza, Faasos, Sweet Truth, LunchBox, The Good Bowl, Firangi Bake, The Biryani Life and Wendy’s. 

Through Open Network, Rebel Foods’ brands aim to create multiple consumer touchpoints through disruptive innovations.

“We are leveraging cutting-edge technology for faster market access and increased flexibility. As the first cloud kitchen company of its magnitude to join the ONDC Network, Rebel Foods seamlessly aligns with our mission to establish an open, unbundled, and interoperable Open Network that fosters innovation, inclusion and accessibility,” said T Koshy, MD and CEO, ONDC.

Sagar Kochhar, Co-Founder, of Rebel Foods, said “Our collaboration with ONDC will elevate our footprint. Rebel Foods going live on ONDC not only unlocks new business opportunities but reiterates our commitment to bringing our brands across multiple geographies.”

The development comes as ONDC has been partnering with multiple companies to enhance the services it offers to network partners. Last month, Meta and ONDC announced a partnership to enable and educate small businesses to build conversational buyer and seller experiences on WhatsApp.

The government’s digital commerce network also launched the ONDC Official Guide App to help and support the user community like sellers, buyers, logistics providers and network participants. The app is available on Google Play Store with language support in English, Hindi and 10 other Indian languages.

Since its launch in September 2021, ONDC has come leaps and bounds ahead of where it was a year ago. As per a RedSeer report from earlier this month, the digital commerce network is poised to potentially generate $250-300 Bn in ecommerce GMV by 2030.

ONDC is an initiative of the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) under the ministry of commerce and Industry to create a facilitative model that intends to revolutionise digital commerce, giving greater thrust to penetration of retail e-commerce in India. The ONDC network is now live in 500 towns and cities across the country.