Kishi Arora, Founder, Foodaholics

Most of these rustic-style treats, which are made using fusion techniques and ingredients that are all imported from abroad, bear a traditional French decoration. “We import most of our core ingredients and believe that the freshness, quality, exotic range and timely delivery to customers are the key differentiators of our business,” asserted Arora.

While most of her peers opted for safer careers by doing their masters in finance and marketing, the pastry chef followed her heart and chose to satiate foodies having a sweet tooth.

“I initially started as a food consultant and found it very interesting and enlightening to learn about traditional ways of preparing doughnuts, a product relatively new to the Indian market. I gradually mastered the innovative ways of creating variants to appease the Indian taste buds and realised that my product had a universal appeal and a comfort food factor,” said Arora.

March ’09 was the milestone month for the pastry cook, a time when she realised that it was time for doing what she is best at — “desserts”. Her decision to foray into the profession was buttressed by the fact that food is one subject that helps even the most withdrawn of the lot to open up; it’s a great conversation starter for most people.

“For the epicureans, it’s all about how scrumptious, exotic and striking the desserts tastes, but my perspective to is entirely different. For me, it’s as technical as engineering. I see my confection as symbolic of happiness, celebration, indulgence, temptations and reward and eliciting excitement,” she said with a glint of pride in her eyes. 

With a trained chef on board and perfectly executed desserts from across the world, you are sure to have a tough time pointing out ‘the one’ meant for your tummy. Foodaholics offers a wide range of cakes and desserts in exotic flavours like Blueberry, Orange Chocolate, and Bavarian-Vanilla — all made to order, fresh and ready to be delivered at your doorstep.

The modus operandi involves potential clients calling or emailing, followed by a one-on-one consultation with the chef. And it does not come as surprise when Arora says that nearly 90% of these consultations turn into orders. Surprising instead is the fact that Foodaholics has no set menu. “We customise orders for each of our clients. The idea is to get involved with each and every customer to understand their taste and cater to their specific requirements. They order, we deliver.

The business is commercially viable, especially since the food culture in India has evolved to a considerable extent. People have now become experimental with their tastes and appreciative of the cuisines. Most importantly, they are even willing to shell out more for relishing exotic dishes. Arora also differentiates by her consultancy services where she also does exclusive menu development or projects for new ventures for new style of food/desserts.

Arora plans to make Foodaholic an addiction for her customers by offering them the pleasurable experience that they would love to come back to, time and again. Impressing, however, is her obduracy in constantly preparing something innovative that can redefine the meaning of creativity in food, especially desserts.