How "Desi Chinese" got to ₹8,000 Cr?🍝

And, no wonder Nestle the whole pie.

Aug 03, 2023

Welcome to the 170th edition of the GrowthX Newsletter. Every Tuesday & Thursday I write a piece on startups & business growth. Today’s piece is going to 95,300+ operators & leaders from startups like Google, Stripe, Swiggy, Razorpay, CRED & more

Indians love their spices. But we love our spices more with Chinese food. The whole Desi Chinese category did not exist a decade back and now a singular brand is being valued at over $1 Billion. This is the story of Ching’s secret 🤯

Some news 🗓
Nestlé wants to buy the ‘Ching’s Secret’ brand for a $1 billion (~8,000 Cr). A global consumer goods company trying to buy an Indian local "spices" company - interesting.

What is "Ching's secret"? 🧐
The brand sells its famous 'Schezwan Chutneys' & other products in the Indian market. It did ₹580 Cr of revenue last year in India alone.

So how did Ching's get to ₹580 Cr revenue ⬇️

1/ Right market wedge 🎯
Back when every consumer goods brand in India was trying to capture the sauces & noodles market, Ching's Secret focused on 'Schezwan Chutneys' used to make "Desi Chinese" at home/roadside eateries.

2/ Solved a regular problem for parents 👨‍👩‍👧
Back in 2015, every kid/teenager wanted to try Chinese food. Parents didn't want kids to have outside food (was still a taboo) & wanted the "restaurant" Chinese taste but in the homemade food. Ching's solved it.

3/ Insane consumer love ❤️
The Schezwan Chutney is a solid product. It created the right fusion of Indo-Chinese taste. The Chutneys elevate every part of the cuisine & consumers can't go back from the "set" taste.

4/ Borrowing trust early on 📣
The Ching's secret founder is a marketing veteran. He essentially got Rohit Shetty & Ranveer Singh back in 2015, built an Ad-film series and even made the whole thing about "My Name is Ranveer Ching".

5/ Investors who are building distribution 🤯
Kishore Biyani (Founder of Big Bazaar) at one point owned 44% stake in Ching's Secret. Biyani built the modern trade in India, period. No wonder Chings is in over 275K modern and general trade selling points.

6/ Extreme focus on cross/ upsell 🕹
Launched as only 3 products initially, Ching's focus has 8 products that are focused on specific niches from Soups, Noodles, and Chutney to now even Chicken Masalas. The distribution allows for such cross-selling built in.

This is where it gets interesting ✨

Every time you think of Ching's repeat purchase behaviour, you realise Ching's doesn't just focus on housewives but sells the "Great taste desi Chinese" pitch to the whole family. No wonder their ads target kids.

Ching's strategy isn't unique but it works ⚡️
Even Slack uses it - their core influence circle is always those software developers who struggle to communicate with other functions.

That’s all for now