Gama spoke to Mithun Appaiah, Chief Executive Officer at Wow! Momo Foods.
How did you adapt the Wow! Momo restaurant experience for retail shelves and home kitchens?
The biggest challenge was taking a product consumers were used to enjoying fresh at a restaurant and making that experience work at home.
We therefore looked beyond the product to the entire eating experience. One key innovation was our microwaveable tray, which gives consumers multiple ways to prepare the momos — they can steam them traditionally in a cooker or steamer, or simply microwave them for convenience.
The idea was simple: convenience should not come at the cost of the eating experience. We took the core of the Wow! Momo restaurant proposition and redesigned the product and packaging around how consumers actually want to eat it at home.
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What operational foundations were most critical when building an FMCG arm within an established restaurant group?
Redesigning the product was only one part of the transition. Building an FMCG business required us to rethink the operating model behind it.
For frozen products, one of the biggest challenges is the cold chain. The product has to move from manufacturing to warehouse, distributor and retailer while maintaining the right temperature at every stage. That means dedicated freezer vehicles, disciplined handling and strong inventory control.
Shelf life adds another layer of complexity. Modern trade and other organised channels can be very stringent about the remaining shelf life they will accept — often requiring stock to have more than 70% of its shelf life remaining. So forecasting, production planning and inventory rotation become critical; producing the product is only half the job.
Alongside this, we need the commercial engine — distributor relationships, retail execution, trade marketing and digital commerce — to ensure the product reaches the consumer efficiently.
So the transition wasn’t simply from restaurant to retail. We had to build a system that could deliver the right product, at the right temperature, with enough shelf life, through the right channel — consistently and at scale.
How has the rapid growth of 10-minute quick-commerce changed your product innovation and packaging strategy?
Quick commerce has changed more than our route to market; it has become an important source of consumer insight and product innovation.
The speed and granularity of the channel helps us understand emerging occasions, pack sizes, price points and flavour preferences — and then use those insights to develop products around them.
For example, we developed our Any Time Momo pack for quick commerce to cater to the single-serve consumption occasion. We also introduced Peri Peri Smileys exclusively on Swiggy Instamart, using the platform to create a differentiated, impulse-led product.
So we increasingly see quick commerce not just as a distribution channel, but as a consumer laboratory — a place to identify new occasions, test propositions and learn quickly before scaling successful innovations.
For emerging founders and corporate leaders building challenger brands today, what is your core advice on scaling sustainably through market volatility?
Having navigated complex market turnarounds and scaled high-growth ventures across diverse consumer landscapes, one fundamental reality holds true whether expanding in Bangalore, London, Dubai or Singapore: velocity gets you noticed, but discipline keeps you alive. In an era defined by overarching shifts, supply chain shocks and unpredictable capital cycles, volatility is the baseline operating environment.
Sustainable scale requires bridging bold global vision with relentless execution. Sustainable growth relies on organic repeat velocity rather than subsidised trials, as true brand equity comes from uncompromised product integrity. Furthermore, scalability demands a glocal mindset that combines global standards with deep respect for local market dynamics. Because growth without gross margin is a trap, operational efficiency and disciplined cash flow management serve as the ultimate moat. Ultimately, strategy provides direction, but an accountable culture enables survival. Don’t just build to catch the current wave: build an agile, resilient enterprise designed to outlast it.
