Hardware Podcasts

#268 The Rise of Gymkhana Fine Foods with Gulrez Arora

The Startup CPG Podcast · 29 Sept 2026 · 40m · Episode 377

What this episode covers

Gulrez Arora, founder of Gymkhana Fine Foods, explains how he leveraged his decade at Mars and a serendipitous connection with JKS Restaurant Group to launch a premium Indian food brand. Arora details the decision to build a hybrid manufacturing model, producing 40-50% of products in-house to maintain restaurant-quality standards that co-packers could not replicate. He discusses the brand's strategy of driving 900% category growth in the UK and achieving rapid success in the US through Whole Foods and Sprouts, relying on heavy in-store activation near meat sections to drive incremental sales.

Most relevant to

companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Gymkhana Fine Foods, JKS Restaurant Group, Mars, Whole Foods, Sprouts, CAVU Ventures, FreshDirect, Amazon
Products
Poppy, Butter Masala, Goan Curry, Vindaloo, Tikka Masala

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