The rapid-expanding Qmin App by IHCL is now downloadable in 9 other countries

• Eastern Eye
• 24 June, 2022

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By: Eastern Eye

Qmin was born from a vision fuelled by guest feedback and IHCL’s drive towards ensuring complete guest satisfaction. As the pandemic gripped the country in March 2020, the need for the familiar taste of the food from our signature restaurants began to generate queries on how one could enjoy these tastes without having to step out of their homes. Thus, was born the vision of Qmin, a safe, hygienic, environmentally sustainable, flavourful concept to enjoy in the comfort of one’s space.

The vision became reality when Qmin was launched by IHCL in June 2020 Qmin which started out by bringing home signature dishes from the company’s iconic restaurants now also includes comfort menus as well as specially curated festive menus offering one the opportunity to truly enjoy Taj@Home.

As disruptive as COVID-19 has been for the hospitality industry, it has given IHCL an opportunity to reimagine its business.  With the launch of Qmin, IHCL was able to develop a significant alternate revenue stream in the F & B space. Qmin was established without any capital expenditure and contributes incremental revenues with only variable costs of logistics and packaging. It allowed for sweating the existing assets which were idle during lockdowns and restricted movement across the country.

Qmin also is an example of deep synergies within Tata group companies. The app was developed by Tata Digital in association with IHCL in a record time of just 10 weeks. What is even more incredible is that due to the lockdown, the teams working on Qmin across the country met only virtually for execution. This remains the case even today.

• Since its launch in Mumbai, Qmin has expanded its presence in 20 cities across the country, delivering favourites from across 40 hotels and over 90 outlets. Qmin is currently present in Mumbai, Delhi (NCR), Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, Cochin, Coimbatore, Jaipur, Amritsar, Lucknow, Guwahati, Ahmedabad, Nashik, Goa, Varanasi, Bhubaneshwar & Jamshedpur.

• In addition to home delivered meals, Qmin also launched a lifestyle gourmet store concept – Qmin Shop across 4 of our hotels in Mumbai and Delhi. With a variety of artisanal products, handpicked delicacies and a selection of coffees, Qmin Shop will soon be launching at our hotels across key cities. Qmin has also ventured into the QSR business with 11 Qmin Cafes in the city of Bangalore. This business will be scaled up further in Bangalore as well as across key metros including Mumbai and Delhi.

• Taking the Qmin experience even closer to the consumers, the brand has also launched The Qmin Food Truck (Qmin On The Move). There are 3 food trucks across Bangalore and Kolkata in service. With an aim to serve local communities such as large neighbourhoods and business districts, the Qmin Food Truck offers comfort foods and delicious small bites all created and dispensed with the highest standards of safety and hygiene.

• Qmin has broadened its scope and reach with several new innovations – from festive menus, hybrid concepts such as virtual celebrations, comfort food, hampers, online patisserie and deli and added loyalty program features for customers, there is something for everyone.

• Qmin Celebrations offers specially curated meals for bulk order fulfilment across the country is most popular with both corporate and social clients alike has made inroads into a new and interesting market segment of hybrid concepts in social celebrations, weddings and corporate events. With new formats of virtual celebrations and meetings – Qmin is the only app in the country which has successfully served the same curated menu to over 1000 guests across Indian cities simultaneously, leveraging IHCL’s extensive network of hotels. Interestingly, Qmin is also the only food delivery app where you can organise a complete celebration across the country and features a call back from an expert who will aid in organising it all for you. Over less than a year, Qmin has already served over 1 Lac meals for weddings, board meets, conferences and summits across the country through the Qmin Celebrations feature.

• The Qmin app is also now downloadable in 9 other countries including the US, UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, UAE, Germany, Australia, Canada, and South Africa. This feature allows the Indian diaspora abroad to download and seamlessly send the Qmin experiences to their family and loved ones back home in India.

• Unlike food delivery aggregators, Qmin has a fleet of dedicated delivery riders ensuring the end-to-end management of the product and platform which provides complete control over food quality, standardisation, safety and hygiene for every order.

• Qmin is therefore able to offer a differentiated experience to the consumer. It follows stringent protocols of safety and hygiene including contact-less delivery and the mandatory use of protective gear for its delivery fleet.

• Its environmentally sustainable packaging is eco-friendly utilizing bio-degradable materials, and with customized insulation boxes to preserve the food whilst being delivered.

• Qmin has contributed over 90Crs. (of incremental revenue) to IHCL’s F&B revenues since its inception. Qmin deliveries contribute appx 15 % of restaurant revenues where it operates.

• While its key markets in order of revenues have been the metro cities of Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, interestingly the top cuisines people prefer by the number of orders served are Italian, Indian, and Oriental.

• With encouraging acceptance and rating the Qmin app continues to be downloaded (over 5 Lac downloads till date) by users resulting in an ever-growing user base and repeat consumers.