BRAND SPOTLIGHT
HOLY COW!
In this brand spotlight we take a deep dive into Holy Cow!
Category: Cooking Sauces
📖 BRAND OVERVIEW
Holy Cow! is a UK based producer of Indian meal kits and curry sauces for the retail and food service sector. They set up with the ambition to mainstream ‘home cooking’ style Indian food. They set themselves apart by offering:
- Authenticity – They offer a diverse range of curry flavours representing the regional tastes across the country.
- Convenience – Curry sauces ‘made in minutes, not hours’.
- Feel Good Ingredients – Plant-based, free from artificial flavours and preservatives.
- Free School Meals – For every 6 packs purchased, they donate a school meal in India.
🔍 LET’S GIVE SOME CONTEXT
- Created by Indian cooking teacher, Kiran Bhandari – when her students raved about her sauces as the best they had tasted. Her daughter, Anu Sharma (now company director), left her job to help drive the business and it didn’t take long for it to take off.
- Growth has been – steady over the years. The demand was and continues to be strong. People are prepared to spend more for something that tastes homemade, but without the time investment. In 2020 sales rocketed – they saw 70% growth, which was attributed to people seeking restaurant-quality food at home during lockdowns.
- Their recent success – could also be attributed to the 2020 relaunch of the range. They moved to plant-based recipes, making their products suitable for vegans and redesigned the packs with regional Indian patterns.
- Despite their retail success – Holy Cow! has 4 revenue streams:
- Food Service: Catering size packs.
- Food Service: Catering size packs.
- Holy Cow! Curry Bar: For caterers who pay for the sauces & branding – this was projected to become the largest revenue stream ~60% (although this was a pre-pandemic forecast).
- Holy Cow! Curry Bar: For caterers who pay for the sauces & branding – this was projected to become the largest revenue stream ~60% (although this was a pre-pandemic forecast).
- Branded Retail Products: Sold at supermarkets and online, delivering steady growth.
- Branded Retail Products: Sold at supermarkets and online, delivering steady growth.
- Retail Own label for supermarkets: High volume business – historically it accounted for as much 64% of revenue.
🏢 BEHIND THE SCENES
- Headquarters: London, UK
- Formerly known as: Aunty G
- Year founded: 1999
- Employee count: 21
- Investors: 1
- Purchasing Options: Online, retail, food service
👉 PRODUCT AND AUDIENCE SNAPSHOT
- Category: Cooking Sauces
- Products: Ambient Curry Sauces and Meal Kits
- Product range: Sauces – Mangalore Malabar, Madras Chettinad, Delhi Tikka Masala, Goan Curry, Kashmir Rogan Josh, Mughlai Korma. Meal Kits – Jaipur Panchratna Daal, Punjabi Tarka Daal, Amritsar Chole, Kashmir Rajma Masala, Chennai Sambar.
- Innovation: Meal kits launched in 2022
- Target Audience: Health-conscious, food-adventurous, time poor
- Brand positioning: Premium, homemade quality, but faster
🧡 THIS GETS US EXCITED
- Branding – their mainstream, ‘Innocent-esque’ style stands out amongst the competition that mostly uses ethnic visual cues. This modern approach is likely to have a wide appeal and drive consideration amongst those who may otherwise not consider curry sauces.
- Clean Ingredients – They only use plant-based ingredients and are free from artificials, overcoming a barrier many will have with using pre-packed sauces.
- Free School Meals – They give back. For every case sold, they sponsor a school meal for a child in need in India.
- Packaging – Transparent, pouch format allows customers to see the product, giving a natural, ‘nothing to hide’ impression. Although ambient, this is a format typically seen in the fridge and stands out vs the competition cueing freshness.
- Authenticity / flavours – The range references regions of India, which adds to the impression of authenticity. Shoppers are familiar with ‘Tikka Masala’, but ‘Delhi Tikka Masala’ adds interest and credibility to the brand.
🤔 POTENTIAL BRAND CHALLENGES
- Rising Clean Label Competition: The natural, clean-label sauce market intensifies. Holy Cow! stands out with premium quality and faster cooking, but maintaining distinction amid growing competition may be challenging.
- Limited Awareness / Visibility: Holy Cow! has relatively low online visibility and brand presence (outside of retail websites) after 2015. As the marketplace becomes increasingly competitive they will need to improve their brand awareness beyond in-store.
🏁 SOME OF THEIR COMPETITION
- UK – Zest, Sauce Shop
- US/Canada – Cucuina Antica (us), This Little Goat (us), Fila-Manila (us)
- Europe – Bi-Sentrale (ger), Wajo (ger), Exotic Food Thailand (fr), Maison de Coree (fr)
🛒 WHERE TO FIND THEM
- D2C – Website
- Retail – Waitrose, Ocado, Morisons, Wholefoods, Amazon, Booths, Harvey Nichols
⏭ WHAT’S NEXT?
- Rebel foods – The Holy Cow! MD is also the CEO of Rebel Foods – the world’s largest internet restaurant company. They operate a multi-brand, cloud kitchen model, meaning brands can scale without the costs associated with bricks and mortar. There is evidence that Holy Cow! has leveraged this connection, with listings on Deliveroo and UberEats. Although some listings have recently rebranded under a different name, so it is unclear how successful this has been to date or if there is more to come…
- Brand Awareness– There is very little ‘noise’ about the brand online after 2015. Expect to see more awareness-driving initiatives as competition increases and distribution points get even tougher to secure. Rate of sale will be crucial to expand further within retail.
🧢 MEET THEIR TEAM
All data is correct at time of writing.
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