Hunger Pangs

Having grown over four times in two years, HungerBox was famished for more growth. Then came Covid-19. Can the institutional foodtech startup now keep the fire in its belly intact?

- Rajiv Singh

The virtual town hall was scheduled for lunch time on a damp Friday in July. Food, though, was the last thing on the mind of Sandipan Mitra, who was addressing his staff for the first time since the lockdown in March. The soft pitter-patter amplified the inner turmoil of the chief executive officer who was ready for a trial by fire. ‘There would be a glut of questions’ but ‘do I have the right answers?’ mused Mitra who, along with Uttam Kumar, started HungerBox in August 2016.

Around 450 employees logged in through Google Meet at 1 pm. They were hungry for answers. Business for HungerBox, the biggest institutional food tech startup that provides management solutions to companies to run their cafeterias, and food and beverage business, had tanked by 75 percent. Thanks to the prolonged lockdown, work from home had become the new norm, offices were still limping along across the 18 cities where HungerBox is operational, and cafeterias largely wore a deserted look. From a high of processing over 6.1 lakh food orders every day—the startup was set to touch the million mark by mid-year and make an overseas foray—the numbers had dipped to around 1.5 lakh.