I’M Wholesome is a gourmet kitchen that is co-founded by trained chef Manpreet Dhody and a farming aficionado Anupreet Dhody. It serves to be a one-stop-shop for delicious food hampers that is perfect for all the gifting requirements.
The founders have a decade worth of experience in the food & beverage as well as the organic farming industry. The sisters wanted to start their brand as they strongly believed that there was a major gap in the food gifting sector.
They have various delicious menus such as cheese menu, sushi menu, Asian platters, Italian menu, middle eastern menu, etc. which are available for last-minute gourmet gifting requirements. In the cheese menu, they have around 10-15 exotic variants.
We recently had an exclusive chat with the co-founders and got to know more about their business.
1. I’M Wholesome was born out of the intention to carve out a niche in the Indian gifting space. What inspired you to start with this business? What was the idea behind offering specially curated gourmet food hampers?
Manpreet Dhody told us that, "The idea was to bring food and gifting together as we saw a major gap in the city when it comes to curated gifting food hampers. We wanted to encourage people to gift curated food instead of buying things off the shelves and putting them together in a hamper. We really want to champion food gifting in the city and be there for anybody who wants to send anything related to food to anybody. Every kind of food is decorated and celebrated in wholesome. We have ensured that we have offerings for everyone right from platters, gifting, cooking classes, etc."
2. What were the ramifications of the pandemic on your business? Had the pandemic not happened, how different do you think the scenario of your business would be?
"Pandemic was a boom to us because that was the time people actually wanted to eat something outside. The restaurants were shut, and the only thing that they could do is order. If it hadn't been for the pandemic, as we mentioned earlier, we would have hosted a lot of events, taken part in pops, been a part of co-ops, exhibitions, etc," said Anupreet Dhody.
3. You mentioned that your cheese menu offers over 10-15 exotic variants. Can you tell us about few variants and which are the best-sellers?
Trained chef Manpreet Dhody said, "Our cheeses are not an item where we purchase a store-bought cheese and coat it with some garnish. We spend time in making blends, in making spices, oils flavors for instance the truffle shiitake cheese has a good two-day process where the truffle, the shiitake, the black pepper sauce, etc is blended. The best-selling flavors are truffle shiitake, burnt garlic, fresh jalapeno, and cheddar."
4. Out of all the dishes you sell, which dish has been the most popular amongst consumers? What do you think the reason for this is?
Anupreet Dhody told us, "The Sushi cakes hands down! People want to grow out of gifting the regular sweet and dessert cakes now and opt for a much healthier version and much wholesome version of celebrating a birthday or an event."
5. Additionally, people are now more cautious about the food they consume and are following a 'healthy diet.' What resulted in this change in attitude according to you?
"Of course, covid played a very important role in changing this behavior because people were at home there was not much activity. It literally was the time where they followed trends and cooked. But over time people realized that they are going to be working from home they want to eat healthier. More than healthier they want to eat right," said Manpreet Dhody.
6. Could you elaborate on the purchasing patterns of the locals in Mumbai? What hampers are they attracted towards? What demographic of people do you tend to cater to?
Anupreet Dhody said, "When we started Wholesome, we didn't want to be unapproachable and wanted to have something for everybody as a brand. People don't shy away to spend for occasions, they don't shy away from gifting the right things even though it's expensive. So we feel like people are looking at more artisanal, more handmade, more custom-made food rather than just buying packets off the shelves and putting them in a hamper. We also do small customizations from our end, like we make initial monograms with sushi and cheese. That gives a very personal touch." She further added that, "almost all our gift hampers go with a handwritten note which we could have easily printed but instead opted to go for little such gestures. This is what people like and after receiving their parcels we send them a personal thank you from one of us which makes people keep coming back to us."
7. Do you have any words of wisdom for those looking to initiate their own business?
Manpreet Dhody stated, "Start small, start with 2 things, and don't jump into 50 together. Always start with 2-3 things and make them your hero. People should always know you care for them and want to keep coming back for more. From a finance perspective, don't take a loan or go for venture capital. You shouldn’t get into these until you are 1000 days old. Start with your own money. There there will always be a lot more respect and you will appreciate the money that comes in."
Share
Tweet
