MasterChow targets Rs 200 crore by 2026 with digital-first pan-Asian foods

A lockdown-born brand currently claims to have over 60% of the pan-Asian at-home cooking market across select categories – chilli oil and Asian cooking sauces.

MasterChow started as a restaurant experiment in Delhi and later turned into a fast-scaling pan-Asian home-cooking brand. Founded in 2020 by Vidur Kataria and Sidhanth Madan, it was created out of a decade-long insight into how Indians consume Asian food and a pandemic-led pivot that changed the company’s trajectory.

How did it begin?

Kataria traces the idea back to 2015, when the duo noticed a clear gap in India’s Asian food landscape. “You either had five-star restaurants offering very authentic Asian flavours in small portions or street-style Indo-Chinese where quality, hygiene and ingredients were questionable. There was nothing in the middle,” he says.

Having travelled extensively, the founders observed how Chinese and Asian cuisines evolved across regions, adapting to local palates while retaining their core identities.

That insight led to the launch of Wok Me, an “Asian Subway-style” restaurant in Delhi’s Arjun Marg market, where customers could customise noodles, vegetables and sauces, cooked live in under five minutes. The concept scaled to six outlets over four-and-a-half years and was poised for rapid expansion when the pandemic struck.

“With lockdowns, all our restaurants shut overnight, but our consumers kept asking for our sauces to cook at home,” Kataria says. “This changed everything.”

Within seven days, the founders moved from a home-based micro-factory to launching Master Chow as a consumer brand focused on sauces and condiments. The logic was simple: in Asian cuisine, flavour lies in the sauce. “If you control the sauce, you control the dish,” Kataria explains.

From producing just 12 bottles a day at launch, the brand now manufactures around 20,000 bottles daily and has served over 15 lakh households across India.

The bestseller product: Chilli Oil

Targeting consumers between 20 and 35 years old, the brand taps into a generation that is increasingly experimental with food but still values convenience. 

MasterChow’s standout product is its chilli oil, which contributes 20–30% of overall revenue. During lockdown, when everyone was trying homemade recipes, a reel on making chilli oil had garnered 5 billion views, and that caught the brand’s attention. So, they came up with a new product which Kataria terms a modern-day Gen Z pickle: slow-infused, time-intensive, but designed for convenience. 

“People would rather not make achar at home anymore, but they still want that depth of flavour. Similarly, chilli oil manufacturing is a 48-hour-long process, so we handle the tough part, and consumers can pair it with literally anything.”

Kataria also shares how consumers now use chilli oil as a replacement for traditional pickles— even with everyday Indian meals. At brand-led events and tastings, consumers have experimented with unconventional pairings – including chilli oil dosa, where the condiment replaces the traditional masala filling.

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“It’s a game changer,” he says, adding that such use cases reinforce the product’s positioning as a modern alternative to pickle, rather than just an Asian add-on.

Speaking about competition, Kataria is confident that their chilli oil is produced with the best ingredients, brought to a certain heat and infused with flavours that consumers like, and hence the 60% market share in overall India. MasterChow competes with Ching’s Secret, Veeba’s Wok Tok, Tops, Keya Foods, and emerging brands like Yu Foods, Naagin Pantry and Pataakha.

Digital-first distribution with quick comm driving 65% of sales

MasterChow’s growth has been driven largely by digital-first distribution. Around 85% of its sales come from online channels, with quick commerce accounting for nearly 65% of that. Kataria notes that quick commerce consumers are less brand-loyal and more product-driven. “They want something new, and they want it now. Availability matters more than brand recall in many categories.”

The brand recently introduced its Not Mangaya, Ghar Pe Banaya campaign featuring chef Ranveer Brar.

Marketing-wise, the brand remains heavily digital-first, with online channels emerging as its strongest growth driver. MasterChow invests largely in performance-led digital marketing and BTL online spending, while recently launching an awareness-focused campaign aimed at driving new customer acquisition. 

Offline, the focus is on tastings and education-led activations across modern trade and general trade stores. “Food has to be tasted. Once consumers try it, they know whether they want to buy it,” Kataria said, adding that online channels primarily drive awareness, while offline activations focus on conversion.

MasterChow’s portfolio includes condiments (chiefly chilli oils and chutneys), cooking sauces, noodles, and ready-meal kits, often sold in single SKUs or bundled combos that make it easier to prepare full Asian meals at home.

Expansion plans and revenue targets

The company is targeting a revenue milestone of Rs 200 crore by 2026 and sees convenience-led cooking solutions as its long-term growth lever. MasterChow nearly quadrupled its revenue, jumping 296% from Rs 10.1 crore in FY23 to over Rs 40 crore in FY24.

Currently, Master Chow is present in around 3,000 offline stores across India. The company has mapped a universe of approximately 8,000 potential stores for expansion over the next six months and plans to scale significantly over the next year.

“By December 2026, our goal is to reach around 20,000 stores,” Kataria says. While Tier-1 cities continue to contribute the bulk of sales, with Delhi marginally ahead, the brand is already reaching Tier-2 markets through quick commerce platforms such as Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto. Deeper offline penetration in these markets, however, will be gradual due to distribution complexities.

Kataria notes that all major metro markets perform similarly, though Delhi remains a key market owing to its strong food culture – a factor that also intensifies competition. “Tier ones perform equally, but Delhi has a higher percentage,” he said, adding that Lucknow, Mumbai and Bengaluru also show strong traction given their evolving food preferences.

Future plans

Looking ahead, MasterChow aims to position itself as the default brand for Asian food at home. “If people think of Asian cooking, they should think of MasterChow,” Kataria said.

On broader consumption trends, Kataria believes Asian cooking at home is moving from niche to mainstream. Vietnamese cuisine, rice paper-based dishes, and Thai flavours are gaining traction, while Japanese and Korean foods—particularly ramen—have transitioned from trends to everyday staples.

“Korean food has grown nearly 17x in the last two to three years,” he says, attributing this surge to pop culture, K-dramas and social media-led discovery. Rather than entire cuisines, Kataria believes future growth will come from specific products that enable easy, convenient cooking.

While details around upcoming launches remain under wraps, Kataria hints at adjacent categories, including snacking. “The core idea remains the same: you don’t need to order food from outside; you can make it at home,” he says.