Sometimes, an apparently innocuous event can give birth to the proverbial Big Idea, as was the case with ‘Indian in a Box’. The plate-less restaurant chain, a composition of former hospitality employee Ashish Sondhi, assumes the customer to be ‘Queen’ and offers an experience that is quite literally, packaged rather well.
A short trip to Delhi, a lunch at a friend’s place and a small exchange of thoughts with a middle-aged man were the humble beginnings of Indian in a Box – a three-unit foodservice
format with a unique twist.
The plate-less quick service restaurant aims at offering a value-formoney dining experience, along with timely service, exciting food preparations and effective customer service. The genesis of Indian in a Box harks back to 2001, when Ashish Sondhi, owner and chief executive officer of the restaurant, visited a friend’s place and offered to order a pizza. But the offer was rejected by the friend’s father, who said, “It’s (pizza is) just stale bread.”
The reply was still lingering at the back of Sondhi’s mind, when it struck him that Indians were by and large still ‘in the box’, not willing to take challenges or create opportunities for themselves. And thus Sondhi, tongue firmly in cheek, embarked upon a new restaurant concept called, what else, Indian in a Box.
The first restaurant eventually came up in Pune in mid-2008, on an initial investment of Rs 95 lakh. “All the money so far invested is from my personal funds, not from venture capital, family or friends,” Sondhi admits candidly.
Among the USPs of Indian in a Box, the owner-cum-CEO says, is that meals are served in eco-friendly,biodegradable, microwaveable boxes approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the U.S.
Creating Happiness
The restaurant’s witty tagline – ‘Aap Khush, Hum Happy’ – is not only meant to attract customers to the restaurant, but also to serve them well.
Indian in a Box claims to be a low-price model and prepares food without using artificial colours and clarified butter, thus, lending dishes a natural flavour and taste. The restaurant’s ‘Khushi’ value meal starts at just Rs 29.
“Over time, we have realised that percentage discounts become baffling for customers. Hence,we provide ‘jargon-free’ offers to customers, mentioning the exact amount of discount being offered. Sondhi, a college dropout by choice but with over 18 years of experience in the food and beverage industry, believes that his firm has a unique proposition. “We have advisors who help us in branding, best practices management and IT, based out of Pune, Mumbai, Delhi and London,” he proudly states.
Beyond the Mediocre
Proudly sharing that his ‘aai’ (mother in Marathi) has been the primary source of inspiration for the venture, Sondhi quips, “We fry love, steam love, saute love, bake love, roast love, marinate love, stir love, barbecue love, steam love, boil love, and grill love.”
Taking hygiene seriously, the restaurant takes great pains to inform on and demonstrate the benefits of hygiene to staff as well as customers. The serving boxes and cutlery used
are therefore, ‘use and throw’.
“We accept that it is not possible to be sparkling clean at all times, especially when you are involved in cooking Indian and Chinese preparations, but we regularly clean our units,” admits Sondhi. “We also have a weekly deep cleaning schedule at all our outlets.”
Food is cooked fresh on a daily basis, and once prepared, goes straight into boxes. Even the rotis and spring rolls are served in food grade, microwaveable paper.
“To further fine-tune our services, we invite recommendations from our customers in terms of service levels and taste. We use symbols in our menu card to indicate the level of spices in a food item. For instance, meals are categorised as ‘mild’, ‘slightly spicy’, ‘spicy’ or ‘very spicy’, so that customers can choose the items according to their taste,” Sondhi informs.
Each outlet serves around 125 customers on a typical weekday; the statistic nearly doubles on weekends. “Nearly 60 percent of the restaurant’s sales come from deliveries (home and office) and, by the way, we deliver for any bill amount,” Sondhi points out. The outlets operate seven days a week – from 11.30 am to 11 pm. Between 4-6 pm, though, visitors might not be able to experience the ‘tandoori’ food items.
Hurdles on the Way
Commenting on the hurdles for start-up restaurauters in India, Sondhi appends, “Obtaining a food licence is a long and tedious process in India. However, I strongly feel that the food industry is the next sunrise industry in this country; it will overtake the pharma and IT industries over the next few years.”
Agreeing that the F&B industry is competitive, the owner says, “The competition is from street vendors and people supplying low-cost tiffins. Also, the manpower crunch – young people are reluctant to join small companies and want a nonstop ride into a three- or five-star hotel instead. Even when they do sign up with a small foodservice chain, it is only treated as a stepping stone to an eventual larger brand name on the resumé.”
About business prospects, he says QSR restaurants will grow at a much higher pace if the focus is kept on complete customer satisfaction and affordable cost models. “Moreover, support from banks and other financial institutions, specifically for startups, is vital for the growth of the industry,” he adds. Sondhi should know a thing or two about the highcapital nature of the hospitality business; he worked with Grand Hyatt prior to a stint with Intercontinental London. He has also worked with an Indian restaurant in London – Simply Spice – and with Royal Horseguards, a Thistle hotel opposite the Buckingham Palace.
Staying Hot
Indian in a Box, which was nominated the ‘Hottest Startup’ by TATA NEN Hottest Startups in 2008, has big growth plans. The restaurant has just three outlets, all located in Pune, but plans to open more outlets in other cities. Sondhi forecasts an annual turnover of Rs 2.5 crore this fiscal, implying a YoY growth of around 12 percent over last fiscal.
