← All case studiesCase Study

The Backstreet Kitchen

Seven Brands. Multiple Cuisines. 220+ Products. One Operating System.

Building and standardising a multi-brand food operation at speed.

7brandsLaunched simultaneously
220+Products standardised
15daysTo standardise the recipes
Yellow Backstreet Kitchens delivery box packed inside a paper carry bag
The Backstreet Kitchen
PortfolioSeven brands across multiple cuisines
Launch window90 days, idea to launch
HMBL mandateEnd-to-end development and execution partner
Scale220+ products, recipes standardised in 15 days
The brief

The Challenge

Most restaurant projects involve building one brand, one menu and one operating model.

The Backstreet Kitchen was fundamentally different.

The brief involved building seven brands simultaneously, across multiple cuisine categories, within a 90-day launch window.

That meant HMBL had to solve several problems at once:

  • How do you create distinct brands?
  • How do you build menus across completely different cuisines?
  • How do you develop hundreds of products?
  • And how do you ensure every product can be executed consistently?
Our role

The HMBL Mandate

HMBL took on the project as an end-to-end development and execution partner.

The mandate covered the complete food-business build — from positioning and brand development through product, kitchen, vendors, people, systems, packaging, marketing and launch.

The portfolio

Seven Brands. Multiple Cuisines.

The portfolio spanned:

Street Food

Pav Bhaji

North Indian

ParathasBiryani

Asian

Pan AsianDesi Chinese

Continental / Healthy

Clear

Italian

Pizzas

This wasn’t simply seven menus.

It was seven distinct food propositions that had to work together operationally.

The work

What HMBL Built

01

Concept & Positioning

Each concept required a clear proposition and positioning to establish its place within the portfolio.

02

Brand Development

HMBL worked across the brand identities and customer-facing elements required to take multiple concepts into the market.

03

Menu Engineering

We developed and structured menus across the different cuisine categories, balancing customer proposition with operational practicality.

04

Product Development

Food trials and recipe development were conducted across the portfolio.

05

Recipe Standardisation

The biggest operational challenge was consistency. HMBL standardized recipes for 220+ products in just 15 days, creating a common foundation for execution across the brands.

06

Kitchen & Operations

Kitchen planning and design were developed around a multi-brand operating environment, rather than treating every concept as an isolated kitchen.

07

Vendors & Procurement

Vendor liaisoning and supply-side coordination were handled as part of the overall project.

08

People

HMBL supported hiring and training to create the operational team required to execute the portfolio.

09

Packaging & CCG

The customer-facing components, including packaging and CCG, were developed as part of the overall brand experience.

10

Launch

All seven brands were brought to market simultaneously within 90 days.

In pictures

Kitchen, food and packaging

Table laid out with many dishes and bowls for tasting during menu development
Menu tasting
Commercial kitchen under construction with ducting overhead and a worker on site
Kitchen build
Plated steamed dumplings garnished with sauce and fresh herbs
Dumplings
Completed stainless-steel commercial kitchen with ventilation hoods
Completed kitchen
Plated seasoned rice with a golden cutlet, tomato slices and cucumber
Rice dish
Chef cooking at a stove in the Backstreet Kitchens commercial kitchen
Chef at station
Kitchen team portioning dishes into rows of small bowls on a steel counter
Portioning
Grilled sandwiches layered with green chutney and fillings on a white plate
Sandwiches
Open yellow Backstreet Kitchens meal box with two sauce containers
Packaging
Outcomes

The Numbers

7brandsLaunched simultaneously
90daysIdea → Launch
220+productsRecipes standardised
15daysTo standardise the recipes
MultiplecuisinesOne operating environment
Outcome

The Impact

The Backstreet Kitchen project demonstrates HMBL’s ability to manage complexity at scale.

Seven brands were developed and launched simultaneously across multiple cuisine categories, while the recipes for 220+ products were standardised in just 15 days.

Takeaway

What This Project Demonstrates

HMBL isn’t limited to building a single restaurant concept.

We can build multi-brand, multi-cuisine food businesses where strategy, branding, product development and operations have to work together.

The real value is not simply that we can develop 220 products.

It’s that we can take 220+ products and turn them into a standardised, executable operating system.

Work with HMBL

Have a food business in mind?

Tell us where you are — from an early idea to a concept that needs an operating partner — and we’ll take it from there.