Wow! Momo is a private chain of fast-food and beverage restaurants based in Kolkata, India. It was founded in August 2008 by Sagar Daryani and Binod Homagai, both graduates of the St. Xavier’s College. As of March 2021, there are approximately 350 franchises in 17 cities across India. The organization hopes to go public in the next few years to establish a global presence, i.e., competing with the brands like McDonald’s and Domino’s.
Wow! Momo Start-up
How It All Started?
Sagar Jagdish Daryani and Binod Kumar Homagai, the two founders of Wow! Momo interacted during their undergraduate studies at St. Xavier’s College. Binod Homagai attended St. Xavier’s Collegiate School and was enrolled in the B. Com curriculum at St Xavier’s College in Kolkata. His fondness for momos inevitable, considering that he was born in Nepal, where the food is supposed to have originated.
In the final year of graduation, he came up with the idea of opening a start-up, which finally became the famous Wow! Momo to his friend and batchmate Sagar Daryani. Binod came from a middle-class family and his father is a private company employee who had limited resources. Thus, Sagar convinced his father to do the initial fund and the duo launched the company in 2008, when they were 21 years old, with an estimated investment of Rs.30,000.
As one of their first stores, Wow! Momo opened as a 36ft storefront in a Spencer’s, another one was opened as a kiosk at a Big Bazaar that was rented for 18% of the overall profit share each month. The venture secured revenue of Rs.60,000 in the first month itself. While Daryani was in charge of advertising, promotion, and store activities, Homagai managed the manufacturing and quality aspects. Later on, they were joined by a friend and another St. Xavier’s alumnus, Shah Miftaur Rahman, who was in charge of the company’s finance and pricing.
First Successful Milestone
In June 2017, Wow! Momo was able to collect 44 crores from the funding of Lighthouse and contributions from the Indian Angel Network. Next year, in 2018, the company got an investment of 3 crores (US $440,000) from William Bissell, the managing director of Fabindia, helping Wow! Momo to achieve a valuation of 300 crores (US $45 million).
A year later, in September of 2019, the market assets reached 860 crores (US $120 million), after a 130 crore (US $23 million) acquisition by Tiger Global Management, resulting in the establishment of more franchises in urban locations such as malls and parks. After the coronavirus pandemic, Wow! Momo formed a strategic alliance with Café Coffee Day, and they agreed to share outlet areas along with expenses and sales.
Wow! Momo aspires to be Kolkata and India’s largest momo chain, creating a plethora of jobs and achieving their vision of becoming a profitable employee-sensitive company in which every member of the team is uplifted and loves his job to the fullest. As of 2020, it has 2,700 employees.
The Company’s Business Model and Other Factors
Wow! Momo’s success credit definitely goes to the strategic and result-oriented Business model. Such a terrific business plan altered a Kiosk into a top-notch QSR (Quick service restaurant) chain with revenue income in crores.
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Brand value
A variety of delicious momos created with ingenuity, available at a fair price.
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Clientele to be targeted
Budget-friendly, new urban millennial menu, food experimentation
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Examining the competition
Other fast-food restaurants like McDonald’s, Domino’s with a strong QSR feature offering a grab-and-go menu.
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Marketing approach
Built-in approach of offering a varied menu with unique taste.
Wow! Momo markets roadside food in a sanitary manner, which becomes their USP, and with the new generation’s appetite for grab-and-go foods, the franchises sell well.
Requirements and Benefits of Opening a Wow! Momo Franchise
- A Wow! Momo franchise needs 200-250 square feet of area, with a handful of space available for a kitchen and counter.
- The franchise workers are required to go through a training prerequisite in which their interaction and cooking abilities are tested.
- The minimum number of workers required to operate an outlet is two to three.
- An original investment of between Rs. 8lakhs and Rs. 20lakhs is needed to open a Wow! Momo franchise in India.
- A Wow! Momo franchise owner can receive up to Rs. 85,000 every month, helping one to recoup their initial investment in 9-10 months.
- Applying for a Wow! Momo franchise:
- One can visit the online portal of Wow! Momo and place their contact details and questions for them to respond to.
- One may either list their intention to purchase the franchise, along with their details and email address.
- Alternatively, one should call them at their zonal number to ask for more details.
Items Offered
Wow! Momo’s unique product of varied momos reflects a combination of quality, taste, and variety. Currently, 12 different momos flavours are available in three forms, such as Fried, pan-fried, and steamed momos. The most common flour varieties used are brown white. They fry these momos and serve them with assorted spicy and sweet sauces to lend them an Indian flavour. Momos are offered in both vegetarian and non-vegetarian varieties. The filling options range from chicken, prawn, corn, cheese, mushroom, and more.
Wow! Momo Menu
- Steamed momos
- Pan-fried momos
- Butter masala momos
- Grilled momos
- Tandoori momos
- Baked momo augratin
- Thukpa
- Beverages and cake
Wow! Momo menu costs are also reasonable, ranging from $40 to $400. You will go there with your family and friends and enjoy a fantastic meal without paying a fortune.
Specialities
- Maggi Momo Combo
- Fried Schezwan Momo
- Momo-Burger (MoBurgs)
- Chocolate Momo
- Mango Momo.
A momo lover can find outlets of Wow! Momo near them in the cities of Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Noida, Goa, Gurugram, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi, Ghaziabad, Lucknow, Kanpur, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, and Puri.
Accolades
- Indian Restaurant Congress Award for Best Dim-sum Product Chain received in 2016
- Images Retail Award for Best Unique Retail Concept in the year 2017.
- The Coca-Cola Golden Spoon Award for Best Quick Service Restaurant of Indian Origin and Best Innovation in Store Design was presented in 2018.
Initiate by Wow! Momo During COVID
Wow! Momo has begun Momo Essential Services in partnership forces with Swiggy and other FMCG companies to offer necessities during the Coronavirus Pandemic. As India’s strict lockdown persists, the project seeks to assist people in providing important commodities. To drive the effort on a global scale, the company has collaborated with Emami, Nestle, ITC, and P&G. The Swiggy Grocery system is used for all deliveries. Its alliance with Haldiram seeks to manage deliveries in the eastern zone of the country.
Items that customers could order from Wow! Momo Essential Services available on Swiggy’s grocery segment included bread, eggs, milk, tea, coffee, Maggi, biscuits, edible oils, flour, beverages, chocolates, soaps, sanitary napkins, diapers sanitizers, ready to eat food items.
Other Details
Contact details of Wow! Momo
Headquarter Address
2E, 1, Raja Subodh Chandra Mallick Rd, Bidhanpally, Jadavpur, Kolkata, West Bengal 700032
Headquarter Phone Number
(033) 24292473
Social Media Handles
Twitter Handle: twitter.com/wowmomos/
Facebook Page: facebook.com/wowmomos/
Linkedin Account: linkedin.com/wowmomos/
Instagram Account: instagram.com/wowmomos/
The primary aim of Wow! Momo is customer satisfaction and reviews help businesses grow and connect with consumers. It aids in resolving any problems that consumers may have with pricing, operation, and so on.
