December 2024
Case
HBS Case Collection

WayCool: Addressing Food Loss

By: Rajiv Lal and Kairavi Dey

Format:Print
| Language:English
| Pages:23

Abstract

Headquartered in Chennai, India, WayCool started by focusing on solving the growing challenge of food losses and low farmer incomes. Dasari and Jayaraman, surprised at the amount of fruits and vegetables lost in the agricultural supply chain, set up the company with the goal of reducing food losses and improving farmer incomes. WayCool started with B2C retail, selling fruits and vegetables from food trucks, later expanding to grocery stores under the Sunnybee brand. It then pivoted to a B2B model where it supplied fresh produce to restaurants, hotels, and canteens, allowing it to scale the amount of fresh produce it purchased from the local markets. Soon, WayCool began supplying millions of informal ‘kirana’ shops or mom-and-pop stores, which allowed for greater business expansion. Jayaraman and Dasari were proud of the supply chain the team had created to minimize food losses. Even as the collection center worked efficiently and smoothly, swiftly meeting 98% of demand, the question loomed large: Was WayCool doing enough to solve the food loss problem in perishables? What would it take to minimize losses at a larger scale?