Ghar se Ghar Tak! Baba Fattoosh aspires to bring ‘Ma ka khana’ to you

If you are someone staying away from home, you may relate to this. What do you miss the most about home? For foodies, the answer to that would be the quintessential ‘Maa ke hath ka khana’. Often, we are challenged with the question- ‘Aaj Khaane mein kya hai?’ It is a crisis, no less, for many who are in a situation where there is no time to cook and eat healthy, home-cooked food.

On a mission to solve this problem is Devesh Varshney, through his startup, Baba Fattoosh. In 2010, when Devesh came to Bangalore (from Delhi), getting three basic meals a day became a big problem. During his three years in Bangalore, he survived on a staple diet of fast food. The result? A big waist, in uncomfortably tight clothes.

This situation continued for Devesh, who moved to New York to pursue investment banking. He got busy and could not spend time finding healthy eating options. It was after this experience that he chose to be the answer himself rather than finding it. Thus, Baba Fattoosh came to be.

Conceived for the purpose of propagating sustainable food choices, the startup aims to bring about a change in eating habits for those who want it. Bootstrapped, the company is an on-demand, food delivery startup with a special focus on healthy Delhi-style, home-cooked food which could be eaten on a daily basis. The food is cooked in-house without the use of preservatives or MSG, going through quality checks, as opposed to food aggregators who liaison with other joints to deliver food.

Currently operating only in Bangalore, the startup is delivering in areas surrounding Whitefield, Doddanekundi, Marathalli, Kadubesaanhalli, Brookfield Bellandur, and at all major tech parks at Bangalore. Having six delivery boys, the venture has collaborated with Roadrunnr to increase its momentum with deliveries.

The company changes the menu daily, making it easier for the consumer to order every day, without getting bored with the options and the hassle of making choices.

Still wondering who ‘Baba’ is?

The founder explains that ‘Baba’ is a typical food wanderer (commonly found in North India) who roams around the neighborhood and picks a door to knock on based on the food aromas wafting out onto the street. Devesh says

We chose ‘Baba’ as the mascot because we feel that he is somebody who knows the taste of food of each household in his neighborhood. He understands masalas and other ingredients of the Delhi-style home food like no one else.

Baba Fattoosh is a 21-member team, including nine kitchen staff, receiving close to 100 orders every day. The company has an active base of 1,400 unique customers, out of which 243 are repetitive. Its customer base has certainly grown from 500, registered in its first month of operations.

The two-month old startup aims to challenge the growing B2C food aggregator market. According to research done by YourStory, as much as USD 3.5 billion has been invested across 380 disclosed deals in the first half of 2015. At present, this market is worth USD 50 billion that is growing at 16 to 20 per cent YOY.

Still finding its ground, the startup looks forward to launch monthly food subscriptions and expand its offerings to multi-cuisine varieties.

Talking of the challenges, Devesh says his biggest challenge was building the right team from scratch. He believes that people who one collaborates with play an important role in a startup’s overall execution strategy.

Learnings  

Devesh says it took him a couple of months to get into the groove of things. While concluding, he shares some of his wisdom and learnings.

It is a good idea to understand what one really wants to pursue, while finding a co-founder who can act as a support system. But get ready to live a life in silos, with no time for family. This is very challenging and can get depressing at times.

He urges entrepreneur hopefuls to talk to as many people from varied backgrounds as possible and take their point of view on how the market is shaping up.

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