Serving up success without a slice of VC money; An immersive chocolate experience

Hello,

During the sweltering summer days, beaches and hill stations seem like the ideal holiday destinations! 

You’ve probably been to Nainital, but tucked just a little beyond the noise and the tourists lies a quiet little lake town in Uttarakhand’s Kumaon region that most people still don’t talk about much: Naukuchiatal. 

The name Naukuchiatal means ‘Lake of Nine Corners’, around which the town is set. Legend has it that if you can see all nine corners at once, you will attain enlightenment. Spoiler: it’s not that easy—the lake curves and twists like it’s hiding its edges on purpose!

If international travel is more your thing, this is your sign to visit Fiji! As our writer says, “To land in Fiji is to be drawn instantly into its warmth.”

Beyond its palm-fringed beaches and luxury resorts lies a deeper story, one told through traditional village visits, kava ceremonies, and the warm Bula Spirit. 

And here’s an update from the startup world—Meesho is inching closer to its IPO, with shareholders having approved its Rs 4,250 crore public issue.

ICYMI: The final season of Netflix’s Squid Game is here, and it asks some really deep questions about humanity. Have you watched it yet?

Elsewhere, after much furore, luxury fashion house Prada has acknowledged the ancient Indian roots of its new sandal design. Unveiled at a fashion show in Milan last weekend, the open-toe footwear bears a striking resemblance to the traditional handmade Kolhapuri chappals.    

The sandal scandal, indeed!

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Winning the food game without VC money
• An immersive chocolate experience
• The hidden struggles of queer youth

Here’s your trivia for today: What duo first published the "Michelin Guide" in 1900?

Wine and Food

Winning the food game without VC money

Popo Ventures, which runs Bengaluru-based food brands Paris Panini, Pizza Bakery, and Smash Guys, has chosen to grow deep roots in one market rather than branching across many. With no external funds, the company is on its way to touch a topline of Rs 160 crore in the current fiscal year.

“You cannot throw money at F&B and make it work… Good brands have raised money and ruined their own product by getting investors to pressurise them. Investors expect RoI, and I can’t blame them,” says Abhijit Gupta, Co-founder of Popo Ventures. 

Gourmet touch:

• Pizza Bakery took off due to delivery demand. The brand’s visibility and loyalty grew significantly through online food delivery platforms, eventually leading Abhijit and his brother, Nikhil, to set up multiple cloud kitchens to meet the sudden surge in demand. 
• Its other prominent brand, Paris Panini, was launched by chance as well. French chef Nicolas Grossemy operated a food truck to sell French-style sandwiches. The Gupta brothers partnered with Grossemy to launch Paris Panini as a sit-down restaurant that led to Pizza Bakery’s first outlet in Indiranagar. 
• Abhijit attributes the success of all three brands of Popo Ventures to its hands-on and customer-centric approach. The company owns all outlets, and there are no external investors or franchise partners.

Wine and Food

An immersive chocolate experience

After reshaping Hyderabad’s chocolate scene with the Manam Chocolate Karkhana in Banjara Hills, the premium Indian craft chocolate brand has now arrived in the capital, Delhi.

A warm, almost intoxicating aroma of chocolate serenades your senses the moment you step into its 3,200 sq. ft. space at Eldeco Centre, Saket. A thoughtfully curated ingredient library and a minimalist yet striking display tracing cacao’s journey to chocolate invite you to slow down and explore. 

Cacao talks:

• Unlike several craft chocolate brands like Paul and Mike, Soklet and Mason & Co, following a bean-to-bar model, Manam's journey in chocolate making begins much before the bean, with the fruit, and continues way beyond the bar into the world of confection. 
• At Manam Chocolate, innovation isn’t an add-on—it’s baked into the brand’s DNA. Head Chef Ruby Islam leads this charge, constantly experimenting with new creations while staying closely tuned to shifting tastes and evolving consumer habits.
• In just a year and a half since its inception, Manam Chocolate has launched over 350 unique products across 50 categories.

Social Story

The hidden struggles of queer youth

Queer youth from India’s small towns and villages are navigating identity, survival, and selfhood in silence. Even as access to gender-affirming care grows in the cities, the emotional and social cost of coming out remains painfully high for those left without support, resources, and a home.

News & updates

• Camera roll: Facebook is now prompting users to grant access to their phone’s camera roll to automatically suggest AI-edited versions of their photos, including ones that haven’t been uploaded to Facebook yet. The feature is suggested to Facebook users when they’re creating a new Story on the social networking app. 
• Donate: Warren Buffett donated another $6 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway stock to the Gates Foundation and four family charities, his biggest annual donation since he began giving away his fortune nearly two decades ago. The donation of about 12.36 million Berkshire Class B shares boosted Buffett's overall giving to the charities to well over $60 billion.
• Ancient: An obscure rock formation on the eastern shore of Canada's Hudson Bay may contain the oldest known rocks on Earth, a new study claims. The analysis dated the site's streaky grey rocks, part of an outcrop called the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt, to 4.16 billion years ago—meaning they're remnants from our 4.57 billion-year-old planet's earliest crust.

What duo first published the "Michelin Guide" in 1900?

Answer: André and Édouard Michelin.

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