HeyChef, the online, on-demand personal chef service in Dubai, is gearing up to expand into Abu Dhabi, according to a leading executive from the company.
The foodtech start-up is also set to offer more services, such as conducting cooking classes and ancillary services, including providing waiters, bartenders as well as certain cooking equipment for parties through partner tie-ups in its bid to expand its business.
“We have completed over 3,000 bookings and have served over 500 customers in Dubai in just a short span of 12-14 months of starting our operations. This indicates a very positive response from the market to our unique services in the food services industry,” Pranav Arora, co-founder of HeyChef, told Arabian Business.
“Currently we operate across Dubai and seek to enter Abu Dhabi sometime early next year,” Arora revealed.
Arora said while the majority of the start-up’s bookings come from recurring customers, it has also been able to attract a sizable number of new customers each month, which showed the growing popularity of its services.
The HeyChef platform – a blend of hospitality and technology – allows customers to select a chef based on their preferred cuisine.
The start-up serves a wide range of clients, from single individuals, working couples, large families, to BBQ and yacht parties and corporate gatherings.
Arora revealed that the start-up would be targeting mainly the middle class for expanding its business and market.
“With HeyChef, the personal chef experience is no longer reserved for the elite. Our aim is to bring hospitality to everyone’s doorstep. We currently serve a very large base of customers from working individuals and couples to families to high net worth clients,” Arora said.
In terms of ethnic groups, HeyChef has been serving a diverse range, from Western expats to South Asian to Middle Eastern customers.
“This is mainly attributed to the wide range of cuisines we offer by virtue of having several specialty chefs who exhibit different and unique specialties,” Arora said.
The HeyChef founder said the personal chef service concept was still relatively new in Dubai and many people in the emirate were utilising this kind of service previously either through freelancers, temporary services offered by chefs from restaurants or via catering companies.
“Each of them has its own limitations. This will provide us a big opportunity for growth in this segment over the coming years,” Arora said.
On the revenue part, Arora said it was still early to comment as they continue to grow and invest into the business.
“However we know that there is great demand for this kind of service and is expected to expand significantly as more and more people become familiar with the service, which is a positive sign for us,” he said.
In terms of adding more business verticals, Arora said as the start-up evolves, they plan to provide more and more ancillary services to expand its market.
“We have added more service offerings, such as supplying ingredients for the chef services and continue to work with our partners to provide ancillary services such as waiters, bartenders as well as certain cooking equipment for parties. We will also be conducting cooking classes to customers,” Arora said.
According to the HeyChef co-founder, on average a UAE resident eats out four times a week which can get both expensive and unhealthy. HeyChef enables customers’ access to natural, nutritious and personalised food at the comfort of their home with rates starting from AED130 per hour for parties and AED 65 per hour for recurring services, Arora said.
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