UNION, NJ. โ The management team of Deep Indian Kitchen wants to make Indian cuisine mainstream. Its frozen chicken entrees, naan and samosas allow consumers to experience authentic, homestyle Indian meals from the comfort of their homes.
โAs we think about product development, itโs about how do you replicate that Indian food experience for consumers at home,โ said Kiernan Laughlin, general manager at Deep Indian Kitchen. โAs we look to launch innovations and flavors, itโs about whatโs popular in Indian culture or restaurants that will appeal to the rest of America.โ
The companyโs go-to-market strategy focuses on performance marketing, trials and distribution.
โWeโre a premium experience brand that is typically going to sit in the natural or better-for-you brands over with the premium meal brands, thatโs reflective of our millennial shoppers,โ Mr. Laughlin said. โIn terms of our distribution, marketing, and sales promotion, itโs all about getting trials because we know the food rates are high and combined with a good amount of trial is going to drive a lot.โ
With a large social media presence, the company gets the word out to consumers about new products.
โWe do a lot on social media โ we have over 178,000 followers,โ Mr. Laughlin said. โSo, when we launch a new product or (move) into a new retailer, we have an official way to get the word out.โ
The four-year-old company has experienced growth since its initial launch in 2019.
โWeโre currently sold in about 20,000 stores nationwide and our growth in retail sales over the last 52 weeks is at 71% year-over-year that was a year ago,โ Mr. Laughlin said. โVersus two years ago it was at 192% growth. Based on our Spins data our growth is 72%.โ
The company sits beyond the frozen aisle with three restaurants, which are based in the New York and New Jersey areas.
โOur restaurants function as an innovation test kitchen where we can try out new flavors and formats,โ Mr. Laughlin said. โEverything in the restaurants is also in the frozen aisle, itโs all the same recipes.โ
Deep Indian Kitchenโs parent company, Deep Foods Inc., built a manufacturing plant to provide a place to manufacture its food.
โIndian food is a very complex food and to make well for product quality,โ Mr. Laughlin said. โWeโre uniquely positioned to have this plant to manufacture our food.โ
The frozen aisle is where the company plans to stay for now.
โWeโre pretty hooked in the frozen aisle, thereโs a lot of growth there for us to go after long term,โ Mr. Laughlin said. โItโs a great place for us to explore for consumers who didnโt grow up in the Indian culture. A lot of them (consumers) are less familiar with Indian cooking. Itโs really complex and often intimidating. We try to re-create that occasion in their home, so if we can give them a high quality authentic Indian food experience that takes us 10 plus hours in our plant and multiple batches but five minutes in their home, thatโs a great way for us to get consumers to appreciate the Indian cuisine.โ
