An ATM for Food, in Chennai

Monday 24 March 2014

An ATM for Food, in Chennai

An ATM for Food, in Chennai
One just needs to key in some commands & swipe a card to get food from Atchayam Foodbox

SANGEETHA KANDAVEL & SANJAY VIJAYAKUMAR
CHENNAI

It could be a scene straight out of science fiction: a young lady and her daughter walk up to a machine, key in a few commands on the touch screen, swipe a card and lo, their food arrives on a conveyor belt. Only just that this did not take place in some megalopolis of the future, but in Chennai's Koyambedu bus stand, where the machine competes with several eateries at the terminus and roadside food vendors to win over the customer's palate.
The makers of Atchayam Foodbox, as the machine is called, claim that it is a first-of-itskind concept in food retail sector and insist it's not a vending machine.
"This is like an ATM where you withdraw cash by yourself," says Satish Chamy Velumani, a first generation entrepreneur from Coimbatore who is also the founder and CEO. "Some people say it's a vending machine but it's a lot more than a vending machine. I call it an 'intelligent restaurant'."
The Foodbox serves everything from snacks to complete meals from popular restaurants in the city. These include Adyar Ananda Bhavan, Aasife and Brothers Biriyani, Moti Mahal, Amaravathi, Kaaraikudi and Mr Chows. Many more are likely to join soon, says Velumani.
The food is packed and brought from the restaurants in boxes and stored in a climate-controlled environment. When a customer chooses a particular dish, it is heated and served in 90 seconds.
Restaurants like the model because it increases sales without too much investment. "Their packaging technology is superior. Also, we have restrictions in terms of having outlets in places such as railway stations and bus stands. This box can be set up easily," says KT Srinivasa Raja, managing director of Adyar Ananda Bhavan. "For us, it saves the cost on establishing retail outlets. Once they reach scale, I see a big scope for their service." Currently there are only two Foodboxes — one at the DLF IT Park and the second at the private bus terminus at Koyambedu. The company plans to open six more by 2015 across South India and then will take it to other parts of the country.
This venture is funded by mostly friends and family as well as an investor. "The investor is based out of the US but 80% of money came from them (friends and family)," said Ramesh Narayan, co-founder and chief financial officer of Atchayam Foodbox, who is a chartered accountant. "We are working with fund advisors to go for more funding." The entire box can hold 225 food packs. Sales at Koyambedu is currently 70-80 packs per day and at DLF IT Park it's anywhere between 200 and 300. There is also an online monitoring system that tracks when the food is packed and sends alerts when the stocks are low. It also automatically stops selling any food item that is beyond its expiry time.
"We did a six-month due diligence on food testing. The food remains good for eight hours but we have programmed the machine only for six as we are very conscious about the quality," says Velumani. Atchayam is now keen to patent the technology in India and aboard.
"We have applied for the patent. There are vending machines, but what this does, none of the vending machines can do," says Velumani. The Foodbox was designed at Synetics Automation, Coimbatore, but the software was put together by the company's chief technology officer Rajasekaran Mathuram.
Customers like it because of the choice the Foodbox offers as well as the ease of use.
"There is an assurance that the food remains fresh. Since it's packed, I know it's clean and no flies would have messed with the food," says Ramanathan Ramachandran, who works at IBM in DLF IT Park, Chennai. "Checking availability is also easy. I can click a button and check whether what I want is on the menu or not."
Narayan said pricing of food items is more or less the same as the restaurants. "We also give combo deals. You will spend less as an individual but yes the quantity would differ," he says. "We want to cater to each locality provide their local and regional food fresh and fast." Customers can pay through cash or cards. "We have repeat customers at DLF (IT park)," says CTO Mathuram. "So, we have cash cards where people can load money and use," Mathuram adds.