HYDERABAD: “Whenever people think of ‘healthy’, the common perception is that it will be bad in taste. But here, we don’t compromise on that,” says Sandeep Jangala, the young IT- professional-turned-entrepreneur, who owns Hyderabad’s unique eatery called “Yummy Bee Desserts”. Their expertise is in making and selling low-calorie desserts — a serendipitous discovery for health enthusiasts.
Yummy Bee offers a wide range of delectable sweets that not only boast an elegant appearance but also guarantee an uncompromising experience when it comes to taste. The basic ingredient that the items here include is millets, something which has been part of the diet of the people in the region since centuries. “We had initially thought that we’ll start with sugar-free, but then why not just make it gluten-free as well? So the option that you have if you are not using maida, is whole wheat, which is again gluten.
That is how millets came into the picture. We went to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). They sell a lot of millet-based products as well. We went there and talked to people there to see what kind of raw materials they use: jowar, ragi, bajra, shorghum, etc,” said Jangala.
Jangala, as a teenager, was part of the Indian under-19 cricket team. His sports discipline helped him shape his businesses. He sold his last one to Apollo group. “A few years back we started a food and nutrition company called Transform Fitness. The idea behind it was to bring fitness, nutrition, food and a lot of other things under one platform. However, one year back, we got acquired by Apollo Group. It got integrated into a platform called URLife, run by Upasana Kamineni Konidela. So we started Yummy Bee as an independent company, which took more than three years to come into fruition,” said Jangala.
He emphasised on the fact that a lot of research goes into finalising a single product and requires a team of highly skilled and dedicated experts. “A lot of research and development happens behind the scenes. Each product takes a lot of time to develop, even 20-30 trials. For example, we have been trying to launch three new products, and it’s been two months since the third product has not been finalised.
That is because when you’re making a vegan product, without eggs or anything, it becomes a challenge. But we have got a very good team. We have a chef who is the ex-head of Magnolia Bakeries in India. He has also been an ex-head at Park Hyatt. We also have in-house nutritionists with us who give us an understanding in terms of calorific value of a product. You cannot make good products without having a good team,” he said. “What differentiates us from others is that we are very customer-centric and the whole brand is focused on building customer trust. Even the whole product design revolves around customer experience of the product rather than just taste and visual appeal,” said Sonia Lamba, Creative Director and Marketing Head of the team.
Talking about his personal journey as an entrepreneur, Jangala said that his engagement in multiple skill sets as a child has helped shape his present career path. His experience of playing sports, preparing for UPSC examinations and being in top 1000 ranks, education in IT– has given him an opportunity to learn and grow as a business individual. “Being a first-generation entrepreneur, I had to learn everything, including how to register a company, on my own,” he said.
Yummy Bee desserts, with its first outlet in Kukatpally, is already planning to expand to Jubilee Hills, the construction for which is likely to be completed by month-end. “We have got a great customer response. We are delivering more than 4,000 orders this month. By the end of this year we plan to launch 10 more outlets. There are people who come to us and ask for franchises, but we are taking it slow, ensuring everything is done with absolute perfection. There are calls for US, UK and Dubai as well. Our outlet at Jubilee Hills will include a more enriching healthy eating experience, with coffee, millet-based pizzas and sandwiches on the menu,” concludes Jangala.