Gymkhana Fine Foods, the retail entity of elite Indian restaurant, Gymkhana London, formed between its parent company JKS Restaurants and former Mars executive Gulrez Arora, has raised $3 million in seed funding led by venture capital firm CAVU Consumer Partners.
CAVU’s co-founder and partner, Rohan Oza and Jared Jacobs, joined the company’s board as a result of the investment.
Oza said in a statement: “CAVU is thrilled to lead Gymkhana Fine Food’s seed investment, and bring that same Michelin-level experience to consumers in the comfort of their own home. We believe Gymkhana’s modern, quality take on at-home Indian cuisine will not only redefine the category in the UK, but globally as well.”
Jacobs, a Forbes 30 Under 30 alum, also added: “Gymkhana Fine Foods brings the culinary excellence of the iconic London restaurant with the convenience and quality consumers seek in their own kitchens. We believe the brand is uniquely positioned to elevate Indian pantry staples and fulfill the increasing demand for diverse and bold flavors in home cooking.”
From Fine Dining To Retail
JKS Restaurants was founded by three siblings Jyotin, Karam and Sunaina Sethi in 2008 to weave together culinary innovations, genuine hospitality and entrepreneurship in high-end Indian cuisine, fine casual dining, chef-led artisanal menus, and various retail concepts. The group currently operates over 30 brands across the UK, the Middle East and other global markets.
Gymkhana London, inspired by the elite clubs of India and the exquisite style of Kolkata and Pondicherry residential mansions while serving contemporary Indian recipes, has put itself on the map in the local upscale dining scene, luring a slew of celebrities to visit over the years, including David Beckham, Dua Lipa, and most recently, the Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger.
“When the restaurant opened 10 years ago, it hugely disrupted the space,” Karam Sethi wrote me via email, “forcing everyone in London to take Indian cuisine seriously as a high-end option.”
So naturally, when Arora, who shares the same cultural heritage, encountered and later became acquainted with the two-Michelin star restaurant, he vowed to leverage his CPG expertise to make its award-winning menus more accessible.
“We launched in the UK with a range of premium pantry staples using recipes of some of the most famous dishes on the Gymkhana menu,” Arora said. These products include four cooking sauces: butter masala, Goan curry, Rogan Josh, and vindaloo; two marinades: classic tandoori and roasted garlic and chili; in addition to two chutneys: peanut and sesame, and tandoori onion — all developed over several months using only natural ingredients.
Gymkhana Fine Foods has experienced a sweet taste of its early success: after launching at local Whole Foods, its velocity outpaced the overall cooking sauce category by 700%, according to Arora, driven by cross-merchandising beyond the ethnic sector. Its products are also available on British online grocer Ocado and at department store Selfridges.
“The ethnic aisle was created for the consumer of the past, and as ethnic flavors become a significant part of the mainstream food culture, the share of retail shelves will hopefully follow suit for the modern consumer,” Arora explained. “Positioning our products as a complete meal solution, as opposed to a one-off ethnic purchase, has been a key contributor to the category growth at Whole Foods. For example, our cooking sauces and marinades for example are now in meat fridge, making it super easy for the consumer to cook up chicken butter masala.”
Foraying Into The U.S.
The goal is to spark the same consumer enthusiasm when Gymkhana Fine Foods forays into the U.S. grocery towards the end of 2024 as the multibillion-dollar sector continues to experience an upward trajectory: Mintel showed packaged cooking sauces, pasta sauces and marinades have a nearly 90% usage rate in U.S. households, and the category led by Kraft Heinz is expected to reach $9.5 billion in sales by 2028.
“We’ve seen the rapid rise of the premiumization of cooking sauces in the U.S. driven by brands such as Rao’s and Carbone; it proves that the right pantry staple with convenience and quality is a kitchen essential for consumers,” said Arora.
“The U.S. is an important market, given the rise of the broader Indian diaspora and the growth of the cuisine both in restaurant and retail. The American consumer is more open to global flavors, and the result is evident in the success of brands like Bachans, Fly By Jing, Mila, etc., which are leading the charge in shaping what modern American consumers eat and how they cook at home,” he added. “We believe that Gymkhana will help drive this movement further.”
Commenting on the company’s recent fundraise, Arora stresses how the partnership with CAVU will ultimately help Gymkhana Fine Foods position as a true global brand.
“CAVU is one of the leading food and beverage venture funds backing iconic brands. Beyond capital, they’re able to bring a phenomenal brand building playbook while ensuring brands to resonate with the modern consumer from an early stage to a household name,” said Arora. “I have big ambitions for Gymkhana Fine Foods to become the category leader across the UK and the U.S. over the next five years. There is also enormous potential to extend beyond the pantry, and enter other parts of the store.”
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