Some people seek to take inspiration from. Some people continue to inspire you everyday. Which side of the story you choose to be on is your call to make. One such inspiration comes from siblings Samkit and Vidhi Golchha at the age of 13 and 10 respectively. When most of us barely know the meaning of the term ‘future’, the two preadolescence siblings took a step in the direction which created the foundation of their lives. With little or no knowledge about the uncertainties of the market and business principles but with a strong vision to make baking a mess free task Crustulum was founded in April 2019.  

They make fresh and healthy high quality ingredients pre-mixed, packed in a glass bottle. A very cute and handy packaging containing various ingredients. Their pre-mixed recipe is a special delight to kids not only to eat but also to bake.

Blow their hair ‘bake’

Crustulum came to life when the messy kitchen did not seem worth cleaning for a batch of cookies just to eat them cold. This pushed them to seek for a solution in order to make baking a fun and mess free task for everyone while they enjoy warm cookies at home. Samkit then along with his sister Vidhi, induced it into a healthy, tasty and less tedious task which comes in a bottled jar, who says healthy things can’t be tasty? Who says only medicines come in a jar? This healthy mix of cookies comes in 6 assorted flavors – Nuts n Raisins, Rainbow, Almond Coconut, Chocolate, Ragi Coconut and Coconut all packed quirky. The siblings take pride in complementing each other’s skillets while having the same vision and sharing their talents. Combined together the beautiful symphony of their energies plays out perfectly to become Crustulum. They have always kept kids their age at the forefront of their mind, knowing how much they savored these cookies all by themselves. What inspired them to venture out instantly was their win in Young Entrepreneur’s Academy (YEA). The prize money that they won from this competition was used to fund Crustulum. Without seeking any help from their parents the envisioned a journey this long.

Crustulum – Not your mainstream bakers

Although there are multiple variations of different foods inside the market, within India they remain the only company to have fresh and healthy high quality ingredients pre-mixed which is packed in a glass bottle. During their start up year in 2019 they heavily relied on large gathering such as birthday parties and stalls at local exhibitions, however after the pandemic their company sales dropped. Since gatherings are no more a thing they had to shift their focus to something more functional and reliable. Hence they started building online. Initially they started with small orders and soon their products became common amongst kids for birthday parties.

Adults on the other hand added this on their menu in Diwali, Christmas, etc. It also became a must have in hampers. They also sold at restaurants and cafes. During their initial year they had an exponential growth but stalled during pandemic. Their revenue saw a turnover fall this year since they spent most of the year adjusting to the challenges this year brought and their plans went for a toss. Although they forecast the year later to be better than before. They hope to add to their flavours and to be on the shelves of grocery stores countrywide.

Apart from being kid friendly they are also eco-friendly as they use glass bottles for their packaging to save the environment from plastic pollution. Recycling and reusing their bottles as much possible. The value imparted in school about the environment always stays intact and there could not be an example better than this.

To know more, visit –
Website –  www.crustulum.in
Instagram – http://www.instagram.com/crustulum.bakes

To read more Startup Stories on The Business Press, visit – https://www.thebusinesspress.in/category/startup-stories/

“Khaana banana duniya ki sabse badi kala hai!” | “Cooking food is the world’s greatest form of art!” – Chef Buddhadev Gupta played by Amitabh Bachchan in 2007 Indian film Cheeni Kum.

An idea that Nazia Jawwad came up with at a regular family dinner, is now a platform where passionate home chefs can benefit from by widening their reach to food enthusiasts who appreciate the essence of home cooked delicacies. Despite not having the bandwidth or resources like restaurants or cloud kitchens, these home chefs have diverse skills and vast talent.

With HoKitch, Nazia aims to empower the home chef community as well as enhance customer experience by providing them with the convenience of enjoying global delicacies from hygienic home kitchens. HoKitch is working on building a community and to be the go-to platform for home chefs that are blessed with the spectacular skill of cooking great food.

Some food for thought…

The traditional ordering process today takes up a lot of time and effort of the Home Chefs. Providing details of their menu, sharing prices with customers, coordinating payments and deliveries is a time-consuming process. In addition to this, they have the uphill task of marketing themselves. Their current marketing model has its limitations as it is restricted to word-of-mouth or social media groups. These challenges faced by Home Chefs takes away their time from what they are truly passionate about – Cooking!

Similarly, for consumers who are looking for simple and delicious homemade food, their options are currently limited to chefs they know personally within their circle or referred by someone, and also through social media groups. Besides knowing limited chefs, not knowing the prices or the menu items means constant back-and-forth communication with the chefs that is required even after placing the order. Along with the payment process, the follow-up on deliveries for a consumer is also quite toilsome.

So, what’s the recipe?

Currently operational only in Bangalore, HoKitchintends to build a community for Home Chefs and also enhance the experience for their customers, by replicating the traditional food ordering process into a 360-degree solution.

For Home Chefs:

• A platform that improvises the traditional food ordering process.
• Setting up days and time when orders can be accepted as per their convenience.
• Provision to mention pre-order notice period.
• Option to purchase supplies.
• Integrated delivery and payment.

For Customers:

• All Home Chefs are FSSAI registered.
• Access to more than 2000 homemade delicacies across Bangalore.
• Orders can be placed in small or large quantities.
• Payment can be done online and delivery is always taken care of.
• Easy order tracking.

Living in a diverse society, we often end up with an acquired taste for different cuisines. Despite the abundance of choices available today, nothing compares to the delicacies prepared in a Home Kitchen, by an impassioned chef. So be it a healthy meal, a sinfully indulgent meal or a simple gluten-free loaf of bread – HoKitch has a huge variety of delicacies for every taste.

Two peas in a pod…

With over 8 years’ experience as a HR Professional, Nazia quit her corporate career to take on the journey of exploring food at the age of 30. She is extremely passionate and enthusiastic about food and photography. Her belief that “Food is the only thing that invokes all five senses!”, has inspired her fulfilling food journey.

When you combine the two passions, you get a fervently created social media platform that showcases the best of chefs and restaurants thus giving them the credit they deserve. You can drool over her great work by following her on Instagram – @naziajawwad. Her passion for food and understanding of the significance of food creators getting well-deserved exposure and a platform to market their talent is what kick-started the idea of HoKitch last year and the platform went live on 9^th April, 2021.

To know more visit – https://hokitch.com/

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/hokitch.in/?hl=en

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/hokitch/

To read more Startup Stories on The Business Press, visit – https://www.thebusinesspress.in/category/startup-stories/