New recipes keep takeaways fresh – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Top restaurant chains that have witnessed a sharp increase in sales due to online deliveries are tweaking the composition of the most-ordered items on their menu. From changing the dough in buns that makes burgers remain soft longer to playing with biryani recipes to help retain the dish’s juiciness during its journey on the road — the makeover has been induced by the pandemic as more people have become comfortable ordering food over their smartphones.
“Delivery is both a science and art,” said Zorawar Kalra, founder & MD at Massive Restaurants that operates brands such as Farzi Cafe and Pa Pa Ya. “Half of the time of our senior leadership is currently taken up by the delivery business. ”

Kalra, who has been previously dependent on traditional dine-ins, is launching several online-first brands based on cloud kitchens. He said the company has applied for a patent for its new vented pizza delivery box that keeps the pie crisp for around 90 minutes. For other restaurateurs such as Murali Krishnan, co-founder and CMO at Wow Momo, deliveries have shot up to 50% of the business, up from 20% during pre-pandemic times. This spike has forced more brands, including Wow Momo, to take a fresh look at their menus to identify products which are being called “delivery heroes”. “Hero products are identified as a stable of products with which restaurants can create maximum sales,” said Krishan.
At Indigo Burger Project, for instance, items such as Grandmama’s chicken burger, Old Monk chicken burger and Thanos burger have emerged as “delivery heroes”. “The pandemic took most restaurants by surprise and put the focus on deliveries for their survival,” said Alex Valladares, CMO at Impresario. “The quickest to adapt have been able to see the upside of this business. From just another revenue stream pre-pandemic, it became a serious contributor to the sales overall. ”