Carnival Group, the operator of multiplex chain Carnival Cinemas, is foraying into the cloud kitchen business with Purple Foods & Beverages Pvt Ltd, its wholly owned subsidiary.

Over the next two years, Carnival Group aims to invest around ₹15 crore for setting up 100 cloud kitchen units in its cinemas and two more central commissaries, said Shrikant Bhasi, founder and Chairman, Carnival Group. These units will generate employment for 500 skilled workforce, he said.

The 100 cloud units will offer five brands — Purple Canteen (non veg), Green Canteen (pure veg), Red Bubble Cafe, Movie Munchies and Fresh Counter — across its locations, it said in a statement on Sunday.

Focus on hygiene

It aims to serve hygienically prepared and safely delivered food and beverages to customers in association with F&B delivery aggregators Swiggy and Zomato, it said. As a part of its first of four phased expansion plan over next two years, operations at nine locations in five States have started, including Huma Kanjur Marg in Mumbai, Green Field and Kariyad in Kerala, Bengaluru and Belagavi in Karnataka, Nasrani Jodhpur, Galaxy Jaipur in Rajasthan, Prayagraj and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, with eight more outlets to open in Mumbai and Pune in three months. The company shall also use a tech-enabled platform to manage the operations of all its cloud kitchens.

“Food is and always will be a huge industry. We understand the current scenario of Covid-19 pandemic is not very favourable for many existing restaurant and hotels. The idea is to think beyond it. We believe in providing healthy food options at the best-in-class price range. There is a huge potential in the cloud kitchen segment, that too when we have a strong network of around 150 plus theatres in over 120 cities across India so we don’t need to invest in the biggest expense traditional restaurants deal with — real estate costs,” said Bhasi.

The food options offered by Purple Foods & Beverages shall be up to 20 per cent cheaper, compared to others that are not made through a cloud kitchen, it claimed. With the current pandemic crisis, such services are now thrust in the forefront, and have accelerated the growth of and need for cloud kitchen set-ups, it added.

Contactless preparation

Purple Foods & Beverages’ cloud kitchen concept follows the 100 per cent ‘contactless’ preparation methodology. This method has been devised amid Covid-19, wherein none of the staff members of the central kitchen facility ever comes into direct contact with the ingredients that go into the dishes with bare hands, it claimed.

All food containers and packaging material are eco-friendly and fully biodegradable. These are sanitised and carefully packed before dispatch, the company said.

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