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India’s got some ‘Mojo’

Mojo Pizza, a $1.4 million brand in India, serves over 1 million customers via 120 full-stack cloud kitchens.

Photos provided by Mojo

October 7, 2020 by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com

Although Mojo Pizza serves over 1 million customers in India, it doesn't have a single restaurant. Instead, the brand — founded two years ago by engineers Anshul Gupta and Amit Raj — is a network of over 120 full-stack cloud kitchens.

"We have our own website and mobile app, and all our orders are accepted online, Gupta said during an interview with this website. "However, customers can opt for a takeaway instead of home delivery while placing their order."

Mojo, which is now a $1.4 million brand employing over 1,200 workers, is India's second-largest pizza chain in Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Gurgaon — overtaken only by long-time player Dominos.

Even more growth is on the horizon, however, thanks to the $3.9 million raised by Mojo's parent company, Poncho Hospitality. Known in India as BOX8, a to-go and delivery platform serving over 22,000 Indian meals each day, the company secured the funding through a mixture of equity and debt-funding from existing investors, U.S.-based venture capital firm Mayfield and IIFL Seed Ventures. Earlier in 2019, it raised $6.9 million.

Chemical Engineers Anshul Gupta co-founded Mojo Pizza.

"We will be investing further in geographical expansion, developing a much denser distribution network in the existing markets, technology, and acquiring new talent, " said Gupta, who founded Poncho Hospitality Pvt. Ltd., eight years ago, with Raj.

Mojo will expand to other major cities like Hyderabad, Chennai and Noida.

"We are targeting to open five new kitchens every month and double our footprint to 250 kitchens in the next 18 months," said Gupta, a chemical engineer. who obtained his BTech and MTech in Chemical Engineering from IIT Powai in 2009.

Mojo's winning formula
Mojo has several claims to fame, according to Gupta, and one is that it offers double the toppings of other pizza brands.

"Before we started MOJO Pizza, we noticed that all other pizzas available in the market had very few toppings," he said "We realized how consumers were being deprived of the ideal experience, so we decided to fill in the gap by ensuring double the amount of toppings on our pizzas."

Offering an efficient delivery experience is also key.

"Ninety-eight percent of our orders are delivered in less than 30 minutes," Gupta said. "We ensure that every delivery executive is provided complete training and SOPs on technology, app usage, communication skills, problem handling, safe riding, zero contact delivery, etc."

The fair price point has also helped Mojo thrive.

A 10-inch pizza, which serves two, starts around $7, and the average order is under $8.

"Customers can take a SlashPass membership from our app and (receive) 30% off, plus free delivery on every order," Gupta said.

What about the pandemic?
Although Mojo hasn't had to worry about dine-in customers during the pandemic, it has taken several measures to ensure safety among its off-premise customers as well as employees.

"That means strict no-contact delivery, mandatory masks and gloves, daily temperature screening and thorough kitchen scrub downs," Gupta said. "We monitor all activities through CCTV cameras. Customers can view the body temperature of the delivery person getting their order on the app."

About Cherryh Cansler

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Cherryh Cansler is VP of Events for Networld Media Group and publisher of FastCasual.com. She has been covering the restaurant industry since 2012. Her byline has appeared in Forbes, The Kansas City Star and American Fitness magazine, among many others.

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