Snackit Vending fulfills the most basic requirement of corporate offices - food and beverages for the staff/associates. It provides 24/7 service this means that you can now expect to have a continuous flow of packaged branded foods and drinks- not only through the day, but also during the night!
In an interaction with Sujata Sangwan of BWDisrupt, Ashish Nimodia, Founder, Snackit, shares journey of his venture, the value proposition and future plans for the company.
Brief us about your company like how was it started and how does it work?After completing my management degree, I was selected to join a corporate banking company through the campus placement and went on to join the company like many others to become successful with hopes of climbing the corporate ladder. After spending close to 6 years, working in banking industry, I realized it was time for my entrepreneurial side to come out and venture out on my own.
Hailing from the corporate ecosystem and being associated with the Corporate Finance division in the company wherein life moved around deadlines, research, conference calls, managing clients expectation ,e-mails, co-workers asking questions. The next thing you realize at around 4pm is that you haven’t eaten lunch yet! All of us probably have such manic days at times. The cafeteria is closed, some tuck shops probably selling unhealthy food options and a long queue, as it is already a tea-time. This for me was becoming part of the routine more often, when I realized that snacking not only has to be quick, but at the same time a healthy one. That is when I thought and came up with a conclusion, that in order to save time of an employee and at the same time for them to remain productive, quick access to healthy snacking options are needed. This is how I came to think of setting up Snackit, a vending machine like no other.
Established in October, 2015, Snackit aims at providing 24/7 service, which means that you can expect to have a continuous flow of packaged branded foods and drinks- not only through the day, but also during the night! Our main focus is to ensure that the energy levels are quite high all the time at the workplace, and this can be achieved by ensuring that the nutritional needs of your employees is satiated with our Snack & Beverage vending machines that are not just smart but also focus on providing healthy options.
The one indispensable, productive asset of any organization is it employees. And we believe that the success of the organization depends on how "happy" its employees are. In other words, the daily productivity of the employees translates to the success rate of any organization. As such, efforts to improve 'employee productivity' are constantly employed in a corporate ecosystem.
Around 40% employees spend more than 60 minutes of their time during lunch and a discontinuous 1.5 to 2 hours in ordering a quick bite from their canteen and waiting for the order to process. This accounts to almost 20-30% of their work day. That's NOT productive for any company. The employee's side of the story is no good either. A long wait after ordering a quick filler or the long queues for a sip of juice or a bite of a snack not only frustrates the employee, it saps them out of energy and results in reduced brain function in the afternoon. The generic options such as chips and soda provide no nutritional value.
Moreover, the canteens have a time limitations for operations, leaving less options for an employee who misses the lunch timings or has a late call. That’s where Snackit comes into the picture.
We believe healthy food shouldn’t be bland and boring! It the absolute fundamental need for creating a healthier and happier workforce. And that is what we are here to do, bring composite state-of-the-art Snack and Beverage vending services in the comfort of your work space.
What are the unique key features/services of your startup?• Health First- Breaking away from the stereotype snack offerings, Snackit brings to you not just your usual snacking items but focuses on providing you with much more healthier options. We think healthy foods taste great, but it differs how one presents. We offer some exclusive Dark Chocolate and Ragi Cookies, Oat Honey Raisin Cookies, Jalapeno Peanuts, Hot Wasabi, Peanuts, Chocó chip Waffles, Cinnamon Waffles with Honey Twig, Fruit Medley, Baked Bhakarwadi, Maple-Honey Granola Crunchers, Roasted Mexican Chickpeas, Baked Pizza Stick with a Herby Dip, Himalayan, Black Salt Apple Chips, Cinnamon Apple Chips, Cream & Onion Whole-wheat Thins, Dark Chocolate Power Bars. All these products are stored keeping in mind the Health First.
• Great Consumer Experience - Snackit not only focuses on providing you with better and healthier products but also strives to provide a great consumer experience. What differentiate Snackit from other vending machine are its smart payment options like the usage of not only cash but also smart cards. There is a renewed interest to use Smart Cards among Corporate employees, which eliminate the need of carrying cash and coins around. We provide Smart Cards which can be used across our vending machines seamlessly.
• SEQ- We install Customized State of Art vending Machine which holds larger SEQ and keep up with the constant evolution of the corporate needs.
• High performing replenishment team - We have a service quality-high performing replenishment team to ensure quickest turnaround and reduced refill times. Now bid adieu to inadequate snacking options at any point.
• Hygiene- We keep up with our quality, maintaining high standards of hygiene and freshness in our products.
What is the funding status and monetization model?We install the vending machines close to workstations and earn revenue from renting out the machine, typically around 15000 per month and the margins from the product segment sold.
What are the traction details? What are your future plans in terms of expansion and product categories?We are presently associated with 45 plus corporates wherein we have installed the machines and are looking forward for growth of 40% by June 2017. We are also looking forward to cater our services to other metropolitan cities like Hyderabad, Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai in the near future.
The future of vending lies in tailored on-demand services. Our vision is to move to other segments of vending such as vending IT assets, FMCG and medicines once we make our spaces in ready food industry.
What has been the most challenging part of your journey till now?Since we are into the customer servicing business, a constant challenge that we face is finding the right talent and a committed workforce for seamless service delivery. We also are focusing on constantly identifying the right product segment with a wide variety of offerings.
What is the market size and how much of the market has Snackit captured?We are presently associated with 45 plus corporates with some clientele- top Global E-Commerce Companies, Banks, Hotels, Schools, Call centres etc.
The best and worst memories of your journey? I think what really swells me up with pride is the fact, that in our short journey so far, we have managed to gain access to so many customers, who are not only satisfied and happy with our offerings and service quality, but also take out the time to constantly connect with us and take out the time to tell us how this is adding to their overall employee well being initiatives.
I wouldn’t say that we as a team have some worst nightmares or memories, but only experience. What we have gone through and still face is no different from any other company. I think convincing the companies why they would need a vending machine, when they already have a canteen along with some tuck shops, calls for us to present a more compelling case for our product. But I think, this is all part of the learning and moving forward.
