Tasty treats from two BBA graduates

Restaurants are sprouting up in Kathmandu valley at a pace never seen before. Following global trends, the fast food scene in particular has exploded. Focused on profits, food businesses look at foods objectively, as products to be sold. Not Meals on Wheels.

 

The brainchild of home-based chefs Prayash Pradhan and Goldie Shrestha, the venture is based on Instagram app through which you can order your food. You provide your details (contact number, loca­tion) and your meal will arrive on wheels. The entire operation, from ordering food to getting it to your doorstep, is perfected with love.

When I reached out to the two founders on Instagram, I was beck­oned to a little corner of Gwarko, where they have recently moved their operations. We started our conversation with how the business came about. Pradhan started with his story, “There was a time I was suffering from bipolar disorder. At that time, I realized I had to keep giv­ing myself small personal rewards to cope with it. So I took up cooking. My food would make someone else happy and my brain registered that as a reward”. As such, it was not passion that got the business going. Pradhan was just “obsessed with rewarding myself ”.

 'My food would make someone else happy and my bipolar mind at the time registered that as a reward'

Prayash Pradhan, Chef, Meals on Wheels

Little did he know that food, his then-dopamine injection, would change the course of his life. “I, we [referring to his girlfriend-busi­ness-partner] had just completed our BBA. And like typical Nepalis we were thinking of going abroad for our MBA and settling there for good,” Pradhan adds. But when advised by a teacher who he felt close to—and who was also an admirer of his food—that he should put his cooking skills to good use in Nepal before thinking of going abroad, the recent BBA graduate changed his mind.

He started working as a commis­sion-based home chef for another company and quickly saw his num­bers grow. “I had up to 200 orders a day. As overwhelming as it was, it also gave me an insight into the business”. After working for a year like that, three months ago, Pradhan decided he wanted to start his own food business, by perfecting each step from procurement to delivery.

It’s not an easy job. “I start at 5:00 am every day. To kick things off, I train my delivery riders on how to handle customers. Food and customer satisfaction should come first, then the money. For maximum customer satisfaction, we deliver in hygienic lunch boxes and free of cost,” Pradhan adds.

How is the business like then? Pradhan quickly turns to his part­ner, Goldie Shrestha, who handles the finances. Shrestha informed that they make anywhere between Rs 3,000-Rs 5,000 a day. “We also get special orders where we cater to events. There are also around 40 regular subscribers for our daily corporate meals,” she explains.

“Even though we have a slim profit margin, due to our emphasis on cus­tomer satisfaction we have garnered an impressive following on social media in a relatively short time. We have over 80 percent customer retention rate,” Shrestha adds.

There are also added perks. Prad­han recounts an incident when a customer with throat infection called, saying, “I want to order food but I don’t trust anyone else. I can’t have anything oily or spicy”.

Pradhan prepared for the cus­tomer grilled chicken by using the meat with lowest fat and she really appreciated the gesture. “These are the experiences that keep us going,” Pradhan says.

The business has seen an order up to 400 meals for a big festival. They have a minimum order of Rs 350, with prices ranging from Rs 120-300 for a meal. With the passion for food and constant push for customer sat­isfaction, success has followed. But it has also not been a trouble-free ride. “For us it was the society’s out­look that was the most problematic at the start. People would question why we were working like laborers and literally getting our hands dirty even after we had gotten our busi­ness degrees,” Pradhan says.

Early noon the next day, I decided to try Meals on Wheels as a cus­tomer. After placing an order on Ins­tagram, I got a call after 45 minutes, “Sir, I’m from meals on Wheels. I am at your location”. Excited, I rushed down the stairs. My meal was inside an orange paper cloth enclosed by a firm plastic lunch box. I took my fork and dug in.

With every bite, I found myself going back to the conversation the other day. Just as authentic and just as flavorful. Spices still tin­gling my tongue, I got a text a few hours later, “Prayas Ji, did you enjoy your meal?”.