He worked with established brands like The Oberois and ITC before taking the decision to start his own venture. Today, chef and food gastronome Anshu Raj,through his cloud kitchen ventures, Caterspoint and Saladspoint, is fulfilling the dream of dishing out innovative products to consumers which are healthy and come with a twist from four outlets in Delhi NCR – DLF Phase III in Gurugram, Sohna Road, Dwarka and Malviya Nagar. The fifth one is coming up in Noida.
We had a chat with the young entrepreneur who started these ventures with his savings and some financial help from family and friends. Excerpts:
How did Caterspoint and Saladspoint come about?
My dream, Caterspoint, took off three years back. We picked up dishes from the kitchens of our mothers and grandmothers and improvised them with new flavours and twists. Later, we added the health aspect on consumer demand. Priced between `149 and `499, we prepare food hygienically with high quality ingredients. Thereafter, we started Saladspoint which is about fresh and healthy food and beverages.Though salads is already a category at Caterspoint, we saw there was a demand for salads as a wholesome meal.Therefore, Saladspoint was thought of. It has salads, oatmeal and yoghurts and many more dishes to help people lead a healthy lifestyle.
What made you switch over from working with big brands to starting your own venture?
I had a great learning experience with ITC, Oberois and start-up like Frsh. It made me understand the food market closely. I did market research on clients’ requirements to find out the demand in the market for innovative and unique products. With my basics clear, I decided to start something of my own to fulfill the market needs and dish out my best for the consumers.
What challenges did you face in the process?
It is easy to roll out a project but difficult to maintain consistency. With cloud kitchens, you do not get to use much skill as there is only delivery available. The employees’ are paid less too when compared with fine dining and sit-down outlets. But then the demand and use of resources are high. Hence, consistency in employees is not easily maintained. Manpower is a tough challenge here. Another challenge is that our market is based on discounts and offers. As our products are premium and consist of high quality ingredients, we do not extend discounts and offers. Therefore, it is a challenge to convince clients to accept the products and satisfy them in the same price bracket.
When you say “you are trying to create a different perspective about by experimenting with ingredients”, what do you mean?
I love experimenting with ingredients that are from the times of our culture which has now been forgotten by the people to create a different product every time. It helps me learn new things. Our products– Sabudana Khichdi, Tapioca Kheer, Poha and Upma – have been introduced with new flavours and twists which our customers have appreciated. Desserts like Fruit Falooda Custard are also popular as is Macaroni in Indian style. Recently, we launched Roasted Pumpkin Sabudana Khichdi and Murgh Masala Sabudana Khichdi.
Future plans… Any plan to have a franchisee?
Recently, we launched The Desserts Point (TDP) for delicious desserts. Though we plan to expand more, we have not given any franchise as it can create a drop in quality and hygiene levels. People tend to become careless with the protocols of a brand. As a chef, I do not want to compromise with the quality. Sometime back, we had our kitchen models with Zomato Access Kitchen in Dwarka and Sohna Road. But the operation cost of that kitchen is high so we plan to start our own kitchen model.