A snap here and a crunch there, and voila, you have a great salad. Never mind the dressing, it is the leaf that actually makes or breaks the toss up. And who better understands that than Simarjit Singh of Rawleaf, the latest salad delivery service in Delhi. With summer just days away, salads and a tall glass of something cold is the way forward. And stepping in to fill that need, Rawleaf is taking orders online or on phone to deliver fresh, crunchy salads at the doorstep. It may sound cool, but Singh says it has taken two years of research and hard work to get the venture going.
Singh, 47, is already a star in the field of food. He is credited with revolutionising the way one eats at malls and cinemas by introducing a healthy option, the Hot and Juicy brand of corn. The Hog Dog stations around the city are his brainchild as well. Hospitality his calling, Singh has never stopped thinking of innovative ways to make his mark.
Speaking about Rawleaf, Singh says he started with researching ways to grow pesticide-free salad greens at his farm in Palam Vihar. Though not organic-certified yet, Singh is in the process of applying for the tag.
Once confident of the produce, he introduced it to the market. “We use high quality seeds at our farm to grow Oak Leaf — both red and green — Batavia, Arugula, Romaine and Iceberg lettuce and so on. At present, we are providing 10 varieties of salad mixes and plan to add more to the kitty soon. We focus more on quality than variety as that is what sells. The salads are ozonized and dried gently to avoid damage, and finally placed in tamper proof packs. Besides home delivery, we have tied up with gourmet stores like Le Marche and Modern Bazaar where we retail from. We also plan to tie up with other big stores so that people can pick up the salads from the nearest outlet,” Singh says.
Explaining how the concept of online delivery of salads came about, Singh says it was after he realised the huge untapped potential of online orders.
“People want fresh, chemical-free produce and we give them that, plus very good quantities of the same, right at home. The fact that we have had 100 per cent repeat orders bears testimony. People are willing to pay and we are ready to provide what they want. Our salads are priced between `150 and `225. All orders of `500 or above are delivered free of cost. Others carry `100 delivery charge. Though we are currently delivering in select areas of Delhi only, we plan to expand in a phased manner. We are in no rush as maintaining quality is all important,” he says.
Perhaps the biggest challenge in selling leafy salads is their quick wilting time. Delhi summers are cruel and relentless, and the delivery model has been charted taking the killer heat into account. “We have already begun transporting our salads in air cooled vans in insulated boxes with frozen gel pads. As soon as they are harvested and washed, we store the leaves in a fridge in of 4 to 6° temperatures,” he says.
The salads are delivered in two avatars—‘In the pack’ with the dressing, salt, pepper and a fork or ‘In the bag’ where one can pick their favourite dressing. The newest addition is the Broccoli and Peach Salad which is made of broccoli florets, peaches and a dressing of choice.
The Caesar Salad comes packed with Romaine lettuce, parmesan cheese, crunch croutons and caesar dressing while the non-vegetarian version has all these plus smoked chicken thrown in.
The Asia Mix comes with Iceberg lettuce, Romaine lettuce, red cabbage shreds, carrot shreds and a dressing of choice. Non-vegetarians get all this with diced chicken. The Mix Veg option is a heady mix of lettuce leaves, red and green bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, cottage cheese tossed with a mayo dressing while the traditional coleslaw has cabbage and carrot shreds.
There is another option—make-your-own salad—wherein one can ask for leaf and dressing of choice. So one can choose whether one wants half and half of reds and greens, or go all green. Time to fete the salad days.
To order visit rawleaf.in