Bhookle Wins Prestigious ‘Best Food Delivery App of the Year’ at Food Connoisseurs India Awards 2024
Bhookle, a pioneering platform connecting home chefs with food lovers, has been honored with the Best Food Delivery App of the Year award at the Food Connoisseurs India Awards 2024. This prestigious accolade, judged by 16 veterans of the food and beverage industry, recognizes Bhookle’s unique approach to delivering authentic, homemade meals with a personal touch.
This award holds special significance for Bhookle, a young startup based in Chennai. Competing against eight national players in the food delivery industry, Bhookle stood out for its innovation, social impact, and focus on promoting home-cooked meals. With a mission to empower home chefs and connect them to a wider audience, Bhookle has redefined the food delivery landscape, creating a community-centric platform where food is more than just a menu item—it’s a story.
“This award reaffirms that what we’re doing at Bhookle is truly unique,” said Arvind Ravichandran , Co-Founder of Bhookle. “Despite being limited to Chennai while our competitors operate nationwide, this recognition shows that there is a pan-India welcome for our concept. We are thrilled that industry veterans and customers alike believe in our vision to revolutionize the food industry.”
What sets Bhookle apart from other food delivery platforms is its human-first approach. Unlike traditional apps that focus on standard menu items, Bhookle offers customers the chance to discover homemade meals with a personal story. For instance, instead of ordering “sambar,” Bhookle users can order “Vidhya aunty’s Special Arachivitta Sambar.” This approach adds a layer of love, memory, and authenticity to every meal, creating a dining experience that goes beyond convenience
Bhookle caters to a largely unstructured segment of the food industry: home-cooked meals. Through its intuitive platform, it bridges the gap between home chefs and customers craving something unique, healthy, and nostalgic. The app emphasizes quality and safety, with each home chef vetted for FSSAI compliance and kitchen hygiene.
The award is not just a win for Bhookle but also for the home chefs who power the platform. Upon receiving the award, Bhookle dedicated the recognition to its chefs, crediting them for the platform’s success.
“Our chefs are the real stars,” Arvind added. “Their talent and passion drive Bhookle, and this award belongs to them.”
This recognition has fuelled discussions around Bhookle’s potential to become a unicorn—a startup valued at over a billion dollars. With increasing interest from top chefs, a 2X surge in app downloads,
and significant investor inquiries post-award, Bhookle is poised for rapid expansion. The platform is actively exploring partnerships and gearing up to scale beyond Chennai, with plans to launch in Bangalore by 2024 and expand to three more Tier 1 cities by 2025.
Bhookle features inspiring stories like that of Chef Sujatha Sriram, who uses her earnings to feed stray dogs, and Chef Sangeetha, a single mother who supports her children’s education through her income on Bhookle. These success stories highlight the platform’s commitment to making a positive impact on local economies and fostering financial independence for home chefs.
Winning the Food Connoisseurs India Award has opened new doors for Bhookle, with increased inquiries from other cities and interest from investors. Bhookle is already planning to expand into Bangalore in 2024 and aims to be present in at least three additional Tier-1 cities by 2025.
“This award is not just a recognition of our past achievements but a validation of our future potential,” said Arvind. “We are committed to scaling Bhookle across India while maintaining the quality and soul of our platform.”
Bhookle’s team believes that this award is a proud moment for the city of Chennai.
“This is a Namma Chennai app,” Arvind said. “It’s a platform born here, and it’s a platform that we hope the people of Chennai will continue to support and love as we grow.”
To celebrate the award, Bhookle is planning an event later this quarter to recognize its chefs and share the award with them. The team is also working on enhancing its services and onboarding more home chefs from different cities across India.
How to get Bhookle:
App: You can find Bhookle on iOS and Android phones.
Website: www.bhookle.com
Social Media: Follow Bhookle on Instagram and Facebook at @BhookleEats.
Post Event Press Release
The Chennai Photo Biennale is back with the fourth edition, featuring a host of exhibitions and programs from 20 Dec 2024 till 16 March 2025.
Theme:
The fourth edition of the Chennai Photo Biennale poses the question, ‘Why Photograph?’ and unfolds a set of inquiries into our relationship with photography. In this era of visual saturation, CPB4 brings together slower approaches to image making. Read the full curatorial note here.
Biennale Highlights:
The CPB4 is set to open in two phases:
Phase 1: 20 Dec 2024
Phase 2: 17 Jan 2025
Biennale closes on 16 March 2025.
Both phases will include a set of primary shows of the CPB Foundation as well as the CPB Invitation shows that are pre-existing works and projects invited to be part of the CPB4.
Phase 1: Exhibitions opening on December 20, 2024
CPB Primary Shows – Dec 2024
- “Roots that Reach for the Sky” curated by Jaisingh Nageswaran, featuring a diverse group of artists including Alina Tiphagne, Aishwarya Arumbakkam, Arun Karthik, Brinda Anantharaman, Krithika Sriram, Osheen Siva, Priyadarshini Ravichandran, Sathish Kumar, Shankar Raja Narayana, Sridhar Balasubramaniam, Steevez Rodriguez and Vivek Mariappan. The show is supported by the Goethe-Institut.
- Contemporary practices by women in photography and lens based art
showcasing works by artists from India and around the world including Fast
Forward Collective (UK), Hannah Cooke (Germany), Nony Singh (India), Indu Antony (India), Offset Projects (India), Ann Griffin (Switzerland), Farheen Fatima (India) among others at the Lalit Kala Akademi, supported by the Goethe-Institut Chennai, British Council, Pro Helvetia and other cultural partners.
CPB Invitation shows – Dec 2024
- “Madras, Margazhi & Music” featuring portraits by Amar Ramesh at Narada Gana Sabha.
Phase 2: Exhibitions opening on January 17, 2025
CPB Primary Shows- Jan 2025
- “Love and Light: A Site of Infinite Possibilities”, a retrospective of Sunil Gupta curated by Gupta-Singh Archives at the Egmore Museum, supported by Tarun & Tarana Sawhney, Vadehra Art Gallery and Jaiveer Johal.
- “What Makes Me Click!” – Celebrating & spotlighting 20 photography projects by children globally showcased at the Government Museum, Egmore curated by CPB Prism and the Children’s Photography Archive, UK, with support from Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies featuring photography by children from India, Cambodia, Singapore, Gaza, Turkey, New York, Guatemala, Greece, UK and South Africa. Participating institutions include the Bronx Documentary Centre(New York), Girl Museum (London), Museum of Photography Thessaloniki, Art Reach India (New Delhi), Objectifs (SIngapore) and more. The exhibition will be curated as an interactive installation along the campus of the museum campus with photographs as well as engaging playful activities for all ages including a pinhole camera and slide projections.
- Open Call Exhibition featuring 40 photographers at a public venue in Chennai. Entries were received from across 30 countries. The exhibition will showcase single images and photo essays selected by an established international jury including Alessia Glaviano, Brendan McCleary, Gwen Lee, Joseph Radhik, Julie Héraut, Michael Weir, Smita Sharma,, Umah Jacob, and Varun Gupta
- Darkroom Residency Showcase, showcasing works by artists from India and UK – Ārun(Chennai), Holly Birtles(UK) and Soham Joshi(UK). The show is supported by the British Council in partnership with PhotoWorks UK.
- CPB Graduate Students’ Showcase
CPB Invitation Shows – Jan 2025
- ‘Photography Strictly Prohibited’ – a retrospective of Navroze Contractor at Folly, Amethyst Chennai
- ‘Postcards from Home’ by Manisha Gera Baswani at Raw Mango Store, Chennai
- LM Sen Archive by Emami Art at Alliance Française Madras Gallery, Chennai
- ‘Poetics of Space’ by Sebastian Cortez at Folly, Amethyst CPB Invitation Shows – Feb 2025
- ‘Indianisms’ by Prashant Panjiar
- ‘Limits of Change’ by Parvathi Nayar and Nayantara Nayar at Lalit Kala Akademi, Chennai
CPB Invitation Shows – Mar 2025
- So far and Hereafter by Nandini Valli Muthiah at Lalit Kala Akademi, Chennai
Key Program Weekends:
Public openings, talks, exhibition tours, workshops and more.
December 20-22, 2024
January 17-19, 2025 Feb & Mar : TBA
All updates will be shared on chennaiphotobiennale.foundation website.
ARTIST AND EXHIBITION IMAGE PACKET HERE CPB4 PREVIEW IMAGE PACKET HERE