Breaking Bread S2 E5 | Why is continuous innovation so important? | Deepinder Goyal ft. Varun Tuli
Zomato2024-03-29
9K views|5 months ago
💫 Short Summary
The speaker discusses the journey of opening and running a successful restaurant, emphasizing the importance of creativity, leadership, and adaptation in the competitive industry. They share insights on menu innovation, team building, training, and operational changes, highlighting the impact of COVID-19 on business operations. The speaker reflects on the shift towards delivery services, customer preferences, and healthier food choices. Despite challenges, the restaurant thrived during the pandemic, demonstrating resilience, flexibility, and community support. The future outlook for the restaurant industry is optimistic, with a focus on providing unique dining experiences and embracing evolving trends.
✨ Highlights
📊 Transcript
✦
Opening of Yum Yum Tree restaurant in 2008 with a focus on unique Pan Asian cuisine.
02:38Challenges of introducing a Chinese-only restaurant in a market accustomed to traditional Chinese, Japanese, and Thai options.
Emphasis on providing diverse menu options to attract customers and early interest in cooking.
Deliberate decision to keep the restaurant's name flexible to accommodate potential cuisine changes in the future.
✦
Evolution of restaurant concept and operations at Yamcha.
06:50Transition from large format to smaller format without alcohol or discounts.
Decision to ban top-selling dishes to encourage creativity and innovation among chefs.
Successful introduction of stone pots as a substitute for popular Haka noodles.
Stone pots innovation became a hit and gained popularity among customers.
✦
Success in the Restaurant Industry
08:57Restricting menu items to induce creativity and preferring small restaurants with no reservations.
Emphasizing the importance of sticking to their concept and being leaders in creating unique experiences.
Prioritizing a larger middle-level team despite criticism for high employee salaries.
Successfully maintaining a large, successful business in a competitive industry with a low mortality rate compared to the industry average.
✦
Key Highlights of Starting a Restaurant Business
11:26Education, talent, and hard work are essential for success in the restaurant industry.
Many entrepreneurs fail to assess their skills before starting a restaurant business.
In India, businesses often operate on borrowed money due to financial support from parents until age 25.
Starting small, learning from failures, and gradually increasing investment based on market insights are recommended strategies for success.
✦
Importance of focusing on one location and ensuring product success before expanding.
15:51Sticking to one cuisine for 10 years and outsourcing other cuisines as a strategy.
Building a team that aligns with core competencies and interests to delegate tasks like HR, legal, and finance.
Use of nepotism and hiring from the same community to create a cohesive team.
Rule of minimizing incoming calls to indicate efficient team performance.
✦
Importance of Hands-On Training and Leading by Example in the Restaurant Industry.
18:19Managers in the restaurant industry need practical skills and a comprehensive understanding of their job responsibilities.
On-the-job training is preferred over formal programs due to high turnover rates.
Starting from the basics and gradually building up skills is crucial for success.
Learning from mistakes and taking personal responsibility for tasks are emphasized in the culinary field.
✦
Embracing change and adapting to new delivery services is crucial for growth in the restaurant industry.
21:53Failures should be accepted as part of the learning process to facilitate growth.
Delegating decision-making responsibilities can lead to innovation and expansion.
COVID-19 has acted as a catalyst for transformation in the restaurant industry.
A more collaborative and open approach to business operations is necessary for success in today's market.
✦
Importance of operational change in increasing talent and ability within an organization.
24:55Operational change led to more freedom and decision-making for employees, resulting in growth.
Emphasis on building brands and implementing a semi-DIY concept for product delivery.
Example of 'tablespoon' brand development showing a shift towards creative freedom for employees.
Planning delivery products before dining products to ensure successful outcomes in delivery services.
✦
Customer Behavior in Restaurants
29:32Repeat orders make up 60-70% of total orders at restaurants, as customers prefer familiar dishes over trying new items.
Popular dishes are often ordered up to 10 times a year and may continue to be ordered once or twice a year for several years.
The focus when creating new dishes is to surpass the popularity of existing top-selling items to boost overall category sales.
✦
Business growth during COVID-19 pandemic.
32:15Increase in delivery orders led to tripled revenue.
Increased customer trust resulted in more frequent and larger orders.
Crisis presented an opportunity for growth and personal reflection.
Speaker shared experience of salary cuts and employee involvement in decision-making during lockdown.
✦
Restaurant implemented voluntary salary cuts during lockdown but turned a profit.
36:15Cut salaries were repaid in following months, reflecting positive outlook.
Team efforts and community support were key to success during challenging time.
Growth seen in both dining and delivery, with delivery encouraging more people to dine out.
Consumption expected to rise exponentially in India, transforming aspirational brands into everyday ones.
✦
Emphasis on the Future of Dining and Delivery Services.
39:51The speaker believes that dining out will always offer a superior food experience compared to delivery.
However, they recognize that delivery is becoming more of a necessity in today's world.
People are now looking for ambiance, experience, and celebration when dining out.
There is a growing trend of ordering food that people actually enjoy eating, rather than just aspirational dishes.
✦
Shift in Indian culture towards ordering food from restaurants over cooking at home.
45:41Convenience and genetic inclination for calorie preservation drive this change.
Young couples moving to new cities lack household help, increasing reliance on food delivery services.
Emphasis on community and social dining experiences in Indian culture.
Trend signifies a move towards a more relaxed and convenience-driven lifestyle.
✦
The impact of portion sizes on delivery culture, influenced by apps like Blinket.
47:03Household's preference for healthier options like vegetables and grilled meats in frequent orders.
Connection between wheat, sugar, and health issues like diabetes, prompting a shift towards healthier eating habits.
Changing perceptions of dishes like sandwiches and burgers from accompaniments to main courses.
Emphasis on educating and training people on healthier food choices, promoting brown bread over white bread.
✦
Customer choices in food options are crucial, emphasizing the importance of variety and alternatives.
51:40There is a trend towards low-carb or wheat-based dishes among customers.
Catering to different dietary preferences, including vegetarian, non-vegetarian, and egg-based meals, is essential.
Challenges include collecting data on dish preferences and educating users.
Despite potential revenue implications, the focus is on providing healthier choices and accommodating diverse needs.
✦
Emphasis on Quality Work Over Specific Metrics.
54:10The team aims to do the best work possible without setting specific goals or targets for the next quarter.
They prioritize pushing themselves to their limits rather than focusing on revenue or profit metrics.
The main focus is on delivering high-quality work and exceeding expectations without being bound by specific numerical targets.
00:00what was the biggest learning that you
00:02had from Yum Yum
00:04tree when we did yum yum cha the idea
00:07was to take best of your M tree and to
00:10discard the worst as many people walk
00:12through the door you need to kind of
00:13fill up AR rest right we figured that on
00:15certain days when we were empty we were
00:17very very empty and on the days that we
00:19were full we were so full that there was
00:21a line
00:23outside uh we realized that when you
00:25were giving alcohol to people you would
00:27have to couple it with offers uh we had
00:30a lot of discounts we had a lot of deals
00:31so when we open yam Yamcha we did the
00:33opposite so it became small versus big
00:35it became no offers or no discounts
00:37versus lot of discounts no alcohol
00:39versus alcohol dependence um and then
00:42what we did was a very unique thing
00:43where we took the top 10 dishes that yum
00:46sold and we banned
00:51[Music]
00:56it I took the stairs I never took the I
00:59took the stair in
01:022015 I still I still remember that day
01:05when I took the stairs see for someone
01:07like me it's uh
01:13know I need proof that the food is good
01:16food must be all around you all the time
01:20yeah yeah completely food is uh
01:23everywhere it's by my
01:24bedside it's on my uh computer table but
01:28yeah but uh in general I've grown up you
01:30know with food as a centerpiece of my
01:34existence whether we travel whether we
01:37you know eating at home it's never just
01:39eat it has to be what we eating how
01:42we're eating it and uh it's always been
01:45my personal passion which is why I'm in
01:48this business nowadays my own uh
01:51struggle is to avoid food as much as I
01:55can but whenever I have food in front of
01:57the table like in front of me on on the
02:00table I have to eat it as you saw as I
02:02saw and in fact I must say that when we
02:05I came over once uh you know uh to your
02:08place and uh you ordered some food from
02:10outside and I I saw you eating the
02:13maximum I I don't I don't think anybody
02:14else you were going at that Dal and
02:17probably seven eight roties I must have
02:19seen you pick up yeah uh so I've seen
02:21you do that but you were a fat kid
02:23chubby kid yeah you fat jeans at least
02:25never fat but yeah Jolly jeans nowadays
02:28I do one or two music day max right
02:31otherwise there's no stopping me yeah so
02:34when did you start the business when did
02:36you get into this business so I got into
02:38this business in 2008 officially uh we
02:41started building our first restaurant
02:432007 it's a restaurant called Yum Yum
02:45Tree in uh Friends Colony it was a
02:46fairly large restaurant I was a typical
02:49spoiled kid coming back from America uh
02:51so I had to open something Larger than
02:53Life uh but I have been cooking since I
02:56was 8 years old that is something that
02:58you know has always intrigued me and
03:00excited me watching food shows uh but
03:03our first restaurant was a was a very
03:06unique uh Prospect in which you know I
03:10mean India was very used to only doing
03:12Chinese restaurants for example right
03:14there was enough Japanese restaurant
03:15there was enough Tha restaurant but this
03:17concept of Pan Asian didn't exist in
03:19India and in fact to be honest didn't
03:20really exist in the world either and the
03:23idea was to kind of create a product
03:25which in our mind we were confused
03:28whether such a large Chinese only
03:29restaurant would work so we thought that
03:31we need to have options and the ability
03:34the restaurant was called yumyam tree
03:36and it was also the name was also kept
03:38very fluid uh because we may have wanted
03:41to change our Cuisine later on so for
03:43example Sushi was never uh the product
03:45that we started with it took us about 6
03:48months to discover that we want to get
03:49into sushi so uh that's when we kind of
03:53started our journey right and we we we
03:55took that for uh forward for 8 years
03:58total closed down in 20 2016 two years
04:01after we started yum Yamcha and we
04:02realized that a smaller format is is
04:04essentially our Zone you know everybody
04:06has a zone of what they like to do and
04:10uh we started catering in December
04:122010 uh which which had become a fairly
04:15significant business by the time we shut
04:17yamm tree at that time but yamm tree I
04:20felt gave us our identity it gave us uh
04:24uh some kind of uh recognition in terms
04:28of uh trust and loyal in the city uh so
04:32many people in the organ in zato for
04:34example may I met at y Tre uh while we
04:39were doing mm Tre I met un pankaj once
04:41many years ago which you may not even
04:43recall actually wasn't even zato then
04:46was foodie Bay at that time we were just
04:48trying to get your menu back then and
04:50you didn't we weren't giving you our
04:52menu yeah finally finally we gave it to
04:55you meetings or some long Chase so the
04:57so the meeting happened because we
04:59refused to give you our menus and yet
05:01the menu somehow appeared online because
05:04somebody had taken photographs and kind
05:05of put them there and I think that
05:07meeting was to to kind of officially
05:09take them and to to to kind of do that
05:12yeah I remember that yeah that was back
05:15in 2009 or 10 I guess yeah yeah yeah
05:17yeah for nine and how has the journey
05:20been like what was the biggest learning
05:22that you had from the from let's say Yum
05:24Yum tree so when we did yum yum cha the
05:28idea was to take the best of yamam tree
05:31and to discard the worst so it was a
05:34very large restaurant it was 8,000 ft
05:36yamam cha our first location was 800 so
05:39uh yamm tree was a very large restaurant
05:41it had a lot of uh dependence on alcohol
05:44we used to do Sunday branches and we
05:46used to do uh cocktails how many seats
05:48how many tables uh 200 seats okay uh
05:518,000 ft three distinct areas there was
05:53a bar there was a fine dine and there
05:56was a casual area um so we discovered
06:00many things we discovered that you don't
06:01need to be large because a restaurant is
06:03one door and as many people walk through
06:05the door uh you need to kind of fill up
06:08a restaurant right we we figured that on
06:11certain days when we were empty we were
06:15very very empty and on the days that we
06:17were full we were so full that there was
06:19a line outside so we realized that we
06:21need to have a line outside uh we
06:23realized that when you were giving
06:24alcohol to people you would have to uh
06:26couple it with offers uh we had a lot of
06:29discounts we had a lot of deals so when
06:31we opened yam Yamcha we did the opposite
06:33so it became small versus big it became
06:36no offers or no discounts versus lot of
06:38discounts no alcohol versus alcohol
06:41dependence um and then what we did was a
06:43very unique thing where we took the top
06:4510 dishes that yry sold and we banned it
06:50okay so we I have this uh kind of uh
06:56thing that I have to cut off on or
07:00suppress uh a natural tendency of
07:03something to sell for creativity to
07:06Blossom right so the highest selling
07:09dishes used to be Haka noodles um used
07:12to be you know honey chili potatoes
07:15there was a FY hunan chicken we used to
07:18sell and Haka noodles actually was the
07:22casualty right and everybody told me how
07:25do you start a restaurant without Haka
07:27noodles I mean you can't I mean it was
07:28like the number one sell and how do you
07:30do Noak Noles so it kind of created this
07:33idea of stone pots which we did and
07:35which became extremely popular at at at
07:37Yamcha which no Haka noodles were
07:40allowed no chicken and egg so we don't
07:42have egg in any of our noodles but we
07:44were able to create a concept that kind
07:46of just blew up completely so I feel
07:49that those decisions of curtailing
07:52ourselves and to kind of uh put uh a
07:55restriction to kind of induce creativity
07:58so to speak uh became very
08:01uh nice and we kind of followed that
08:04rule for a very long time all our
08:06restaurants have been small uh even when
08:08we open tablespoon and pot pot we
08:10decided to stick to small restaurants we
08:12like the fact that there is waiting
08:14outside our restaurants we like the fact
08:16that there are no reservations we don't
08:17know reservations in any of our
08:18restaurants and we've kind of stuck to
08:20that zone and that rule um many people
08:22kind of say you know anybody will come
08:24to your restaurant and they'll
08:25completely screw up your concept they'll
08:27come to your restaurant and say we have
08:28to have Haka noodles we have to have um
08:31you know Pizza you know I'm should a
08:35Chinese Restaurant why do you or an
08:36Asian restaurant why do you want pizza
08:40right and people kind of modify their
08:43concept so even when we were very large
08:44and we had empty seats on weekday nights
08:47uh we we decided not to go into the the
08:50you know Buckle so to speak you know
08:53stick to the concept stick to what we
08:54were doing um and and and it kind of
08:57worked so this is pretty much uh
08:59opposite to what most other people do do
09:02you agree yes and we are known as and I
09:07I think zumu team would also agree that
09:10we are difficult people in general and
09:13uh you know when something get set in my
09:16head to say that I have to do things in
09:18a certain way it I pretty much follow
09:21that you know so much so that I'm am
09:23surprisingly not a person who will go to
09:25many restaurants in my own City uh
09:28because I don't
09:30care so much about what the competition
09:31is doing I like to create uh what I'm
09:35doing and if I have to compare and if I
09:37have to get inspiration then I'd rather
09:40get Global inspiration rather than local
09:42inspiration right so a lot of people
09:44would kind of follow um you know um we
09:47like to be leaders you know we like to
09:49be people who have created something
09:52completely unique and whether it is our
09:54restaurants and whether it is our uh you
09:58know products that we do within
09:59restaurants our Cuisine our way we train
10:01people the what salaries we give our our
10:03team members you know we we actually do
10:06give extremely high salaries for the
10:08level of people that that exist because
10:11at the end of the day you can you can do
10:13what you want but we live in an
10:15expensive city and people need to
10:16survive and a happy you know person is
10:19someone who is paid well um so so we got
10:23a lot of flack from a lot of people for
10:24doing certain things why you spoiling
10:26the market why you paying a certain
10:28amount of money more so we said we'd
10:30rather have more number of uh middle
10:34level employees rather than pay one or
10:36two people extremely high salaries and
10:40uh uh so many rules that we followed we
10:42kind of did it in our own way so yes so
10:44we did operate Against the Grain and to
10:46a certain extent we still operate
10:47Against the Grain so you have been able
10:49to survive against many odds yes while
10:54doing your thing and still running a
10:56very large successful business in so
10:58many ways right yes now the mortality
11:01rate the 5year mortality rate of the
11:04restaurant industry comes down to 90ish
11:08per. right right and you lie on the
11:10other end of the 10 which is which is
11:12still left what do you think people can
11:14do should do to reduce the mortality
11:16rate from 90 to let's say 80 even that
11:18would be a huge win so I think what a
11:21lot of people forget is that the
11:23restaurant industry like any other
11:26business is is hard work right it's it's
11:29not just glamorous a lot of people think
11:30that it's it's glamorous I think a lot
11:32of people forget that you need to have a
11:34certain amount of education and talent
11:36to be able to do any any work you want
11:39to become a DJ you need to have a talent
11:42for it you want to um you know uh be in
11:46a factory and manufacturer you need
11:47talent for it right A lot of people will
11:50not check their talents um you know they
11:53won't check the skill set that they have
11:55before they actually go ahead is this
11:57business for me or not the second second
11:59thing in fortunately or unfortunately in
12:01India um we are still not like the
12:04Western world where kids once they 18
12:06are on their own a lot of parents kind
12:09of support their kids till they're 25 so
12:11we see a lot of people who are operating
12:14not with their own money uh you know uh
12:17but maybe with their parents money and
12:19money that is free to them so the value
12:21for that money doesn't exist right and
12:24me included right so we when we opened
12:27our first restaurant I wanted to open
12:28one of the largest restaurants in the
12:29city why because I came back I wanted to
12:33be well known I wanted to have all this
12:37um and a lot of people want to do the
12:39same thing they want to open a large
12:40Restaurant They're not experimenting
12:43with a cloud kitchen for example they're
12:45not experimenting with a smaller sized
12:48Restaurant They're not experimenting
12:49with using less Capital so I tell people
12:52very often who want to get into the
12:53restaurant business your first Venture
12:55will fail period okay it'll be a very
12:58rare occasion in which you'll succeed so
13:01cap it at let's say 10 lakhs okay why
13:03you trying to do two or three CR
13:05rup as an investment do it at 10 lakhs
13:08let it fail do the next one at 25 lakhs
13:10let that fail you know and then by the
13:12time you are ready to spend a CR or two
13:14crores on opening a new restaurant you
13:16would have learned some things from the
13:17market and I think that that if they
13:19reduce their capex and if they just
13:22check their talents or partner with
13:24people who have talents that's the it's
13:27as simple as that right you can't just
13:28say I want to to become like the painter
13:31that will sell you know paintings for
13:33one CR rupees overnight you you have to
13:35have the talent to paint you have to get
13:37the market used to your product uh and I
13:40think uh that is the best way just like
13:43any industry fair enough and until date
13:46like till date you have a lot of friends
13:48in the industry as well yeah what do you
13:50think are the biggest mistakes people
13:52are still making while not I mean the
13:54the market could be going somewhere but
13:56people are pushing towards something
13:58else
13:59where do you see uh effort versus
14:03reality Gap so I think one of the
14:05biggest things that I feel and I by the
14:07way I have a lot of enemies also not
14:09just friends in the business as you know
14:12so uh I think one of the biggest things
14:15that people do and I think the biggest
14:17mistake in my opinion in India and then
14:19and we'll talk about a little bit of a
14:21scale right we I don't want to talk
14:23about the mistakes made by people who
14:26may be starting out because makes kind
14:29of that scale is I think a lot of people
14:32say that if I have a successful
14:34restaurant in Bombay or Bangalore or
14:35Delhi they want to go National and they
14:38want to go National very very quickly
14:40they also want to open three or four or
14:42five restaurants before they see the
14:44first one being successful because they
14:45have the plan in front what is the point
14:47of having
14:48that and I think nobody realizes that if
14:53you open in another city your own
14:55personal life gets affected your team
14:58members gets get divided and diluted
15:01your talent needs to get retrained in a
15:04different culture completely the pallet
15:06of the other City might be completely
15:07different now if you look at mediumsized
15:10restaurant chains anywhere in the world
15:12I'm talking about 3 to 10 restaurant
15:14type of sizes a New York restaurant tour
15:17would pretty much be in New York a
15:18London guy would be in London a
15:19Philadelphia person would be there a
15:21Singapore person would be in I don't see
15:23a Singapore person saying that I want to
15:24now open one in London maybe they do it
15:27after 20 years or 25 years or after they
15:29have a certain size and a certain scale
15:32but your own city has so much potential
15:34wherever you are you could be in a
15:36smaller town as well but be the biggest
15:37in your town um I think that for me
15:40personally would be to own the city
15:43rather than to try and go left and right
15:45and try and you know kind of figure it
15:47out and the second thing is know the
15:49product is successful before you open
15:51five locations uh you know open one
15:54location then it be successful do two
15:56years or 3 years of of sticking to that
15:59we stuck to one Cuisine and for I think
16:03uh from 2008 to
16:052018 we were in one Cuisine we were not
16:08doing multiple Cuisines we did have a
16:10catering brand but we would Outsource
16:12much of our our unknown Cuisines that
16:15you know Indian or european Etc we would
16:17take help from other people but Asian
16:20was our Cuisine for 10 years and that's
16:22what we knew that's what we stuck to and
16:25how did you build a team around you to
16:27execute this from the start to let's say
16:29now because there's no India does does
16:32have a dth of talent right in this
16:34sector work very differently in my
16:36company I like to do things that I like
16:38to do and I don't do anything that I
16:40don't like to do so I like to cook I
16:44like to be involved with the food I like
16:47uh the procurement as a result of the
16:50food and I like the creative angle I
16:53like
16:53making
16:55artwork that's a hidden hobby a lot of
16:58people don't know that actually most of
16:59our Brands I've created myself and I
17:01don't do anything else right so I leave
17:05the other parts the HR the legal the
17:07admin the finance to other people and
17:09let them kind of handle that I think if
17:13you hire somebody and trust them to kind
17:15of build the team and look at the
17:18overall result like I want to see that
17:20the food is good if I have a chef I
17:22trust I let them uh hire other people
17:26and of course relatives there is
17:27nepotism relatives get hired people from
17:29the same Community kind of get hired uh
17:32there are people who are favored more
17:34than others but by the end of it you get
17:37a team that is more comfortable with
17:39each other you yourself are completely
17:40free to do your core competency or your
17:44thing that you enjoy in the company I
17:46have another very simple rule which says
17:47that if I'm receiving a phone call
17:50somebody is not doing their job so I try
17:53and reduce the amount of incoming calls
17:55I get overall uh and let people make the
18:00mistakes and make the decisions rather
18:03than you know I I always say a bad
18:05decision is better than no decision you
18:07know so I let let the team handle it and
18:10uh I think they've done an amazing job I
18:13I I you know I think it's all our team
18:15that has that has helped us and did you
18:17have to train and Coach a lot of people
18:19Hands-On or I did a lot of Hands-On
18:21screaming I think that was that was
18:24there for sure uh I think I myself was
18:27Hands-On right so I I
18:29you know my wife to a large extent when
18:31we opened yum yam chai I still remember
18:33for the first few months uh we were
18:35taken a back because we were more
18:37crowded than we had expected and we had
18:39to stand there ourselves and whether it
18:41was clearing a plate whether it was
18:44taking an order where was standing at
18:46the kitchen for 3 hours at a stretch
18:47just making sure that the orders would
18:48come out on time uh that is something
18:52that and that was the training and I I
18:54feel that if you are trying to lead
18:56somebody you should know the skill that
18:58they possess or you want expect them to
19:00possess right so if
19:02I am taking care of the kitchen I should
19:05know how to cook all the dishes and I I
19:07do know how to cook every single dish we
19:09have a repertoire of let's say 25 200
19:11dishes across our organizations and I
19:13can make each one of them and I just
19:16like to know I like to learn um and I
19:19think just telling people that they
19:22should know what they are trying to
19:25teach is half the battle one so learning
19:29is training and think I don't know if
19:31that makes sense but in our organization
19:33at least so so you are saying that your
19:36mode of coaching people is more that you
19:39will do the thing that is required to be
19:42done and people can watch and learn yes
19:44or tell a
19:46manager become a waiter only then only
19:49then can you teach the waiter what to do
19:52you know I want to see you hold a tray I
19:54don't think you can even hold a tray
19:56maybe you'll drop everything so how can
19:58you scream at somebody for dropping
20:00something if you don't know how to hold
20:01the tray yourself you know at a certain
20:03level once an organization is in motion
20:06uh the only way to kind of do something
20:08uh to train is on the job right we don't
20:11have training programs where we have
20:12three months of training uh because
20:15there's a lot of attrition by the time
20:16you train someone you'll figure out the
20:17person has already quit you know so how
20:20do you how do you kind of surpass that
20:21so you throw someone in the middle of
20:24work and you let them learn but the
20:26person teaching is is basically the
20:28person who should know how to do it and
20:31uh slowly leave the rins so you start
20:33doing it and then you kind of build
20:35forward and forward and forward so even
20:37if you've had 10 years of experience at
20:39another organization as a chef you've
20:41been doing everything uh you may have to
20:43make the door or you may have to make
20:45the rice and you'll question why am I
20:48you know what have I done for 10 years
20:49that I have to stand here and make rice
20:51well you're making rice in our
20:52organization you're figuring out how
20:54many wash Cycles we have in our rice
20:55you're figuring out what our recipes are
20:57so of course you've got it to it
20:59and and take a look at it so I think
21:00that's the best way in my opinion uh to
21:03train somebody tell me a couple of times
21:06where you have been wrong and wrong in a
21:08big way and when you look back oh I
21:11should have done better or Y I was wrong
21:14that a big restaurant is what is
21:17required a lot of people feel that the
21:19bigger the restaurant is the more number
21:21of people kind of come in uh that was a
21:25very very big and very expensive
21:26learning to have we realize that you can
21:29turn tables fast and have the same
21:32restaurant uh yield more people even if
21:35it's a small restaurant just to give you
21:36a perspective if yamam tree was 200
21:39seats and we would do 200 people a day
21:41there a yamam cha at 800 F feet one 10th
21:44the size with 40 seats would do 400
21:47people a day right so it is possible so
21:50that was a very very very very uh kind
21:53of strong learning um another learning
21:57was uh I think we stayed away from
21:59delivery for a very long time I think
22:01that definitely was a was was was a was
22:04a mistake uh to figure out that our food
22:07can't travel right and uh we learned
22:10that in covid that when we did start and
22:12then when we did uh the world was very
22:15very uh happy to accept the product and
22:20people do realize that the food at home
22:22can never be the same as freshly cooked
22:24in front of you but they are expecting
22:26it you know you need to be a 9ine on 10
22:28I think consistently be a 9 on 10 rather
22:30than try and strive to be a 10 on 10 all
22:32the time uh so I think uh you know
22:35ignoring delivery for so many years is
22:38is is something that is incorrect and
22:40the third mistake is yet to come I think
22:41that mistake has been uh maybe I learned
22:44that that mistake was to stick to Delhi
22:46and not be you know the the thing that I
22:48just mentioned that not to go all over
22:50the country I'm uh you know fairly
22:53scared of failure because our first
22:55failure was an expensive failure so you
22:58know you you kind of are fearful so I
23:01think we need to bring back the fear of
23:03failure uh or remove the fear of failure
23:05and let let let some failures happen now
23:08going forward um to be able to create
23:11and do more things we've not actually
23:14had a failure in a very very very long
23:15time and in fact when covid hit I was I
23:20almost had anxiety for a few years where
23:22I thought that we've been doing so well
23:26and they teach you when you're getting
23:28into business if you're from a business
23:29family that there are up cycles and down
23:31Cycles so I was always like where is the
23:33down cycle you know it's always been the
23:35up cycle and we were very fortunate and
23:37lucky to have a lot of up Cycles post
23:39the first five years of a lot of down
23:41Cycles we started having a lot of up
23:43cycles and it was consistently Up Cycle
23:46so when covid hit and work stopped it
23:48was almost like induced failure that you
23:50had to stop uh you seeing your business
23:52go down for the first time and that was
23:54a catalyst we almost tripled in covid
23:57that was a catalyst so what all did you
23:59change in terms of your own mindset and
24:02in terms of the operations in a business
24:04from being a fine dining place to a
24:06delivery friendly yeah restaurant so I
24:10think biggest learning from covid was
24:12that you can't be alone I think I was
24:15very much a micromanager preo right I
24:18was whether it was restaurants whether
24:20it was delivery whether it was catering
24:23I would basically take decisions myself
24:25I would like to be there everywhere I
24:27was one of those people people who
24:29refuse to travel in covid my first
24:31flight was in October 21 uh so a year
24:33and a half after covid is when I
24:35actually took my first flight and uh I
24:38realized if I'm not willing to do that
24:40then I need to give away some of my
24:44decision making I can't physically be
24:46somewhere I need to we need to start a
24:49delivery kitchen for example at a
24:51location which I've not seen right so
24:53somebody has to find it somebody has to
24:55build it and somebody has to kind of
24:56start it right um so I think that was a
25:00very very big operational change where
25:02we gave freedom to operate in decision-
25:04making to a lot of people and realize
25:07that when we do have so many people you
25:09know at that point we had 450 people in
25:11the organization we we have you know 450
25:15minds and brains to leverage and to uh
25:20look at now we have 1,200 people in the
25:23organization and we've uh have that much
25:25more talent and ability to to be able to
25:28kind of do that the second thing that
25:30happened was that uh uh yamim cha for
25:35example which became our most successful
25:37brand and still till date is uh we we
25:40refused to deliver from that uh without
25:42realizing that every brand has a pull
25:45and uh we created a brand called nohi
25:47just to do delivery brand trust and
25:50realizing that brands have trust and to
25:53focus on building Brands is something
25:56that we that we learned as well so when
25:57we built a new brands as well I think we
25:59went very heavily on focusing on
26:02creating the brand so for the first time
26:04in many years where I used to design my
26:06own Brands we we hired an agency for
26:08example to create a brand called
26:10tablespoon um and that was a very big
26:13thing for me to give away creative uh
26:17freedom to someone else or to listen to
26:20someone rather than dictate of how the
26:23restaurant would look what the brand
26:24would look like so both the architect
26:26and the completely it was not in my
26:28control the food was still in my control
26:30but to give away certain aspects that I
26:32would micromanage and I would want to
26:34give away so I think that was the
26:36biggest change in the overall way of
26:37operating in us and and how much time
26:40did it take for you to change the menu
26:44or the recipes to make the food travel I
26:47don't think we Chang the recipes as much
26:49as we
26:50changed what or we looked at what items
26:53could be delivered and could not be
26:55delivered and eventually once we got the
26:57Hang off what can be done and cannot be
26:59done we started changing it and um it
27:03was
27:04also like for example we had them some
27:06with sources we started giving the
27:08sources on the side and putting a little
27:10label on top saying pour me because they
27:12had to be poured on top we realized it
27:15would get very soggy by the time it
27:16would get delivered um so we started
27:19figuring out a semi DIY approach to
27:23certain products rather than change the
27:25product completely you know so mix me
27:27pour me
27:29uh you know instructions on how to eat
27:31how to mix in potpot we created you know
27:33we wanted to do chart now chart is
27:35something you eat on the street what a
27:36lot of people don't realize is that you
27:38have to eat it
27:39immediately crispiness goes away uh and
27:42the whole word pot pot was about
27:45celebrating the
27:46pots um in India whether it was Pottery
27:50whether it was portley whether it was
27:52potholes we took the idea of
27:55Port we kept three components we
27:57measured sauces to the exact Dimension
28:00and we all we said was gave instructions
28:02that just mix it together so you take
28:05your palak PA which remains crispy you
28:07add your D which remains cold and then
28:10you add your toppings and chutneys on
28:12top of it and it becomes a fresh palak
28:14chart at home and very quickly we
28:18started planning the delivery product
28:21before we planned the dining
28:23product so we would first see will this
28:25product survive in delivery and if it
28:27survives delivery it would then go into
28:29dining because we realize a lot of
28:31people would go to restaurants even if
28:32they go twice a week the third time they
28:34might feel lazy and they might have
28:37exams or they might not want to go out
28:39and they might want to eat the same
28:40product at home or actually the other
28:43way around as well they might have
28:44ordered this dish twice
28:46yes they show up at the restaurant
28:48absolutely delivery to dining is easily
28:51transferable but other way is not true
28:53eventually 100% of your subset needs to
28:55be on delivery I've realized that in a
28:57brand so if you're doing it from a
28:59restaurant eventually if you plan to do
29:01delivery eventually you need to plan
29:03both parallel and I think because what a
29:05lot of people don't realize is that um
29:09what they're not going to relook at the
29:11menu they're just going to remember that
29:13I went to this restaurant I like this
29:14dish I want the same dish a lot of
29:16people don't realize this uh and I've
29:21said this in you know some people get
29:22confused by this is that people don't go
29:25to a restaurant to eat something new
29:27every day time they go to eat what they
29:29ate last time that's the that's the one
29:32of the biggest learnings that has been
29:33there with me for the last 14 years how
29:35much do you think this
29:37is I according to
29:39me repeat orders would be about
29:4470% at least it's 60% on zamato yeah so
29:49there you go user ordering the same dish
29:50same dish so when you go to a restaurant
29:53and you eat something maybe the next
29:55time you go you might discover a new
29:57dish
29:58because you might have gone in a larger
30:00group and you were you know maybe in a
30:01smaller group the first time uh you
30:03might take a bite from somebody else's
30:05plate Etc and you'll discover a new dish
30:06so Discovery is
30:09irrelevant to what you went there for so
30:12if I went for a th Curry I want to eat
30:14that same Tha Curry again and again and
30:16again and a lot of people talk about
30:17brands that have been around for 30
30:19years and they talk about things that
30:21they must have eaten 30 years ago yeah
30:24and I think generally what I've seen is
30:26that if people really like a dish they
30:28would eat they would have the dish about
30:3010 times over the next 12 months right
30:33and then they would continue having it
30:34once a year twice a year for the rest of
30:36the five years and then it would be out
30:38of side out of mind right and when we
30:41look at and of course zato helps in
30:45understanding item level stats when we
30:48realize that a dish has been ordered a
30:50lot when we develop a new dish our
30:53Target is to beat the highest selling
30:54dish our Target is not to beat a dish
30:58that is lower selling we had a dish
31:00which sold for about 10 years which was
31:03a chicken and basil dimsum it was the
31:04most popular dimsum that we had and we
31:07worked on a new dish which was a chicken
31:09and chili oil dumpling for many many
31:12many months almost a couple of years I
31:14guess all with the Target that that dish
31:17needs to go away and my metric was not
31:20all this I didn't know all this stat and
31:23you know that people only order 10 times
31:24or whatever it was that I didn't
31:26personally like the dish right so I said
31:28that I'm not liking it why is it the
31:30highest selling I need to find something
31:31that I like that will beat that dish and
31:34by doing that we realized that when you
31:38you know you you can take something and
31:40you can kind of beat the the the the
31:42older dish and then the volume literally
31:44doubles of the category because the
31:46people ordering that dish are not really
31:48going away maybe only 20% of those go
31:50away and shift to the new dish but then
31:52there's a whole new category and when it
31:53becomes the most popular dish that your
31:55entire base doubles of of the kind of
31:58stuff that you're that you're doing so
32:00you know I think consistency for example
32:03and making sure that the dishes taste
32:05the same every time you go and taste the
32:07same in delivery as they do in dining or
32:09relatively the same is very very
32:12important and and you said that your
32:15business sort of tripled during covid
32:16yes that was delivery only I'm guessing
32:20no uh uh business as a group tripled as
32:23a group delivery would have gone at
32:25least in 10x 10x and King also grew
32:29during that time so during Co when
32:30kering came back it it came back bigger
32:34than than than earlier desirable uh
32:36people had the propensity to spend more
32:39you know to do larger events um even
32:43during covid when they would do smaller
32:44events they would have a larger budget
32:46because they say that rather than doing
32:48three events for someone we would do
32:51only one event and we also realized that
32:54we had a lot of trust in Delhi as a city
32:57and Co
32:58as you know a lot of it was
33:00trust if you trust somebody you would
33:03order their food otherwise you may not
33:05and slowly that changed and people
33:06started ordering everything but at least
33:08in the early days it uh it was it was
33:11completely trust related and even if
33:14somebody was doing a party for only 10
33:16people versus doing a party for 100
33:18people they would call up uh the person
33:21they would trust more so if we were
33:24doing catering events we started getting
33:27the line share of the orders because
33:29people would trust us more and the
33:32frequency of those 10 people parties
33:34started going up so now I want to call
33:36all 100 people I can't ignore so now I
33:38have to have 10 parties to do the same
33:40thing but 100% party costs less 10%
33:44party per head will cost more so
33:47suddenly you still get 100 people but
33:50over 10 parties and your Revenue goes up
33:53so that's that's kind of what happened
33:55and I think every business
33:58uh went up I think we some I had read
34:01somewhere that never waste a crisis you
34:03know the crisis represents an
34:05opportunity and that is something that
34:07we we did I did also go through times of
34:11immense uh doubt of whether something
34:15would do well or not so for example we
34:16created a brand called VT people were
34:18making souro online on YouTube I still
34:21remember my wife picking up the phone
34:22and calling our GP at the time our
34:25doctor and saying that please could
34:48so you know you would you would look at
34:50those kind of things but I think it just
34:53allowed you to look get more personal
34:56time to understand what what you liked
35:00more than others to remove all the all
35:04the clouds or all the fuzz around you
35:06all the opinions have no more opinions
35:08to be given and you would just operate
35:10in an isolated state to decide and I
35:13think a posit positive outlook that it
35:15will work right something will happen
35:18and uh I don't know if I should share
35:20this here or not but uh April May June
35:232020 I'm talking about the lockdown
35:25quarter we finished April May June
35:28during that quarter we had uh like
35:30everybody uh there were salary cuts that
35:32took place so we had opened up the Forum
35:34to our company and said that you take um
35:38whatever percentage hits that you want
35:40but you decide so they chose 40 30 20
35:43and 10 for the lowest category I waved
35:45off the lowest category immediately I
35:47said at least don't touch the lowest
35:48category but we'll accept the the
35:50voluntary salary Cuts April May June
35:542020 we figured at the end of it we had
35:57we were green we had turned a profit in
35:59that lockdown quarter and we paid back
36:02that salary in July August and September
36:05whatever salary was cut we took three
36:07months and we kind of paid it back and
36:11at that point I realized that a positive
36:13outlook I mean because it was very rare
36:15to see a food SL restaurant slum Le
36:20business uh kind of be profitable during
36:23a time that uh business had pretty much
36:26stopped for
36:28most and uh we attribute obviously our
36:31team had done a fantastic job we were
36:34able to help the community by doing a
36:37lot of meals so our kitchen never shut
36:38down that was a byproduct our kitchen
36:41was always on our fires never stopped um
36:44and uh you know I I I think those
36:48opportunities that exists people who
36:50complain for example and say that this
36:52is not there or that is not there or the
36:54commissions are high or there is a way
36:56around it there is a there is a way to
36:59rectify and Win Regardless and right now
37:03how much of your business comes from Dy
37:05in versus so in our total business we
37:08have 20% disc skat ring we have about 25
37:12to 26% delivery and what 54 55% dining
37:17and where do you see this going let's
37:19say 10 years from now so I definitely
37:22see the restaurant and delivery business
37:24grow because there are only so many days
37:27in a year that you can do catering
37:30within restaurant delivery and dining I
37:32pretty much see them grow together I do
37:36feel that delivery has actually induced
37:38more people to want to go out and dining
37:40again because now people are eating
37:42seven times eight times a week at least
37:45I don't know what the national average
37:46is or what the statistical Bureau has
37:49given like they talk about Singapore
37:51having 14 or 15 or 16 meals a week out I
37:54think India's already gone to seven or
37:56eight meals outside more or less like
37:58four National that's what I'm saying so
38:00that that's the statistic correct but
38:02you maybe have to take a uh a median
38:05rather than a rather than a statistical
38:08average to see that in my market segment
38:11of people who do eat what is the average
38:14your is definitely higher right and
38:16maybe there is a segment of people who
38:18don't eat out at all so you need to
38:20remove those from the statistical you
38:23know and take someone who's at least
38:24ordering once a week and someone who
38:26might be ordering 14 times a week and to
38:29look at the median of that rather than
38:32than or take a look at the most China is
38:35like 60 times a month maybe more
38:37Singapore is about 30ish no no Singapore
38:40is more than China I believe Singapore
38:42would be uh see a lot of times your
38:45street vendors don't get counted as well
38:48so I would say that consumption is going
38:51to go up exponentially in India
38:54right uh the brands that are doing doing
38:57well from a everyday standpoint at a
39:00lower Market segment become an
39:02aspirational brand for someone and the
39:04brands that have are aspirational for
39:06someone else may become everyday brands
39:08for others right you've seen this that
39:11restaurants where you couldn't even
39:13imagine uh expensive restaurants where
39:15people would actually order delivery
39:17from people did start ordering you know
39:19delivery from actual restaurants
39:21expecting an actual restaurant
39:23experience at home 20,000 rupee 50,000
39:26rupe orders we've seen those kind of
39:28orders as
39:29well and uh I definitely see consumption
39:32overall growing right I do think that uh
39:35there will be a mix of both dining and
39:37delivery I am very bullish on to be
39:40honest with you I'm very bullish on
39:41dining as well I do feel that the food
39:44no matter what comes out better in
39:46dining uh
39:48but delivery is something that is going
39:51to become a necessity rather than a
39:54luxury so dining will grow in the luxury
39:57segment I feel that people who want an
39:59Ambiance an experience a celebration are
40:02going to sometimes people just need to
40:04get out of their homes yes correct and
40:07delivery will become a need I have to
40:09eat so I order I don't see what is in
40:12the kitchen I don't see you know we will
40:14see Apartments being launched in India
40:16without kitchens I think these two
40:18businesses complement each other really
40:20well this Mak this grow and just make
40:21this grow so it's a fly whe sort of
40:23thing yes so we've seen products like
40:25Raj MAA do so well in delivery you know
40:28you have Raj you have Raj pot pot one of
40:31the highest selling dishes you know how
40:32to cook Raj of course and I know how to
40:34sell it for 700
40:37rupees so so of course sometimes a
40:41person wants to eat rajma chavel 100
40:44rupees yeah it comes in really nice
40:47packaging and it comes uh you get the
40:50experience you get the ability you
40:54get absolutely I'm talking about
40:57including tax and delivery charges but
41:00you don't have to defend it yes yes but
41:04why should I complain if somebody wants
41:06to pay 700 rupes for abely I think
41:09there's a lot of cost to adding love to
41:13the meals that you prepare and I mean
41:16that's better than factory made food but
41:19my point is that a person who is used to
41:23eating rajma Chael on a Saturday
41:24afternoon or a Sunday afternoon wants to
41:26eat my travel on a Saturday or Sunday
41:29now there's nobody at home to eat
41:32because the kids have grown up uh
41:34everybody's doing their own thing people
41:35have started eating in the D the concept
41:38of the dining table has gone away uh
41:40We've literally had situations in which
41:41we've seen three orders from the same
41:43house from the same restaurant because
41:46the three people sitting in three
41:48different rooms probably
41:51ordering ordering they don't know that
41:53the other person is kind of ordering so
41:55now if I'm used to eating rajma chaval
41:56on a Sunday afternoon I'm the only one
41:58eating what am I going to do I'm not
42:00going to get the rajas you know lot of
42:02people forget the rajas have to be
42:04soaked at night you know all that kind
42:06of you just press a button and the
42:07rajavel comes home so I think people
42:10have started ordering what they like to
42:12eat not just food used to be very
42:14aspirational even Indian food for
42:15example used to be restricted to butter
42:17chicken Dal Nan that used to be the
42:19environment of Indian food right Chinese
42:21used to be Haka noodles now people are
42:24ordering PE H Haka I Haven even heard of
42:28that like for a while now right so yes
42:31you have not heard Indian Chinese for
42:33example has started fading uh in terms
42:36of the the popularity in favor of things
42:40like sushi right and I'm sure you
42:42yourself are surprised with the
42:44popularity of sushi as a category uh it
42:46is just everywhere it's just everywhere
42:47it is everywhere I still remember a very
42:49very prominent I don't want to take his
42:50name very prominent restaurator had come
42:53in in 2009 to yumyam tree he was he had
42:56gone for a mov we wanted to go for a
42:58movie at at at 12:30 and he came in at
43:01about 11:45 he had opened at 12:00 and
43:03he sat with me and he
43:10said and another guest walked in and
43:14they ordered sushi right and they
43:15started eating sushi and he told me
43:23that so I
43:26told
43:30and I think in India we like to make our
43:33own rules right I mean we like to eat
43:34what we want to eat we like to eat it
43:36how we want to eat it and we may butcher
43:38the hell out of an international uh
43:40product but that's us and that's how
43:43that's how like we would like that food
43:45like and nobody can nobody can and
43:47nobody can nobody can stop it right
43:48nobody can stop the condiment culture in
43:50India for example they love conds they
43:52love adding stuff you know they love
43:55adding things to you know my dad adds
43:58salt to things without even tasting you
44:00know you you say Okay taste it take a
44:02bite but you're like I know you know
44:05don't teach me don't tell me so I have
44:07to add the Chutney I have to add the
44:09toppings or whatever it is and we have
44:11to eat it that way and we kind of know
44:13how to can do it so uh people are now
44:16ordering what they want to order and uh
44:18you may want to you know they're not
44:20looking at uh what may looked at be
44:24looked at as restaurant food versus
44:26house food I I think that has had a
44:28merger where food is food good food is
44:31good food it could be the simplest dish
44:34in the world but people are ordering it
44:36right people may be ordering a chili
44:37cheese toast I had a friend staying with
44:40me uh from London um and he was staying
44:43for a couple of uh weeks with me one day
44:47I saw him ordering omelette and
44:49toast I said boss we have people at home
44:54we can help you all you had to do is
44:56tell
44:58are cook at home to make an omelet and
45:01toast
45:04said
45:07laptop om or to or
45:11to people are ordering those kind of
45:13things it's very widely ordered during
45:15breakfast yes yes so people are not
45:17cooking at home and they so it becomes
45:18need right I mean I want to eat I'm
45:20having breakfast I want to eat and I and
45:22there are restaurants which only serve
45:26omelette and CL from 700 a.m. to 11:00
45:29a.m. in the morning and that's it 4
45:32hours 4 hours like just one thing
45:34specialized good omelette brand coming
45:37up so yeah I think the culture of India
45:39is definitely changing and we are moving
45:41away from just doing major meals outside
45:45of home to doing our regular meals
45:47outside from outside of home and we are
45:50I mean I I hate to say this on a public
45:51forum but we are a lazy country we like
45:53to we humans are lazy it's not just
45:57we like convenience right we like
45:59convenience we like to we like to be
46:01sitting on our sofa watching TV we're
46:03actually genetically wired to preserve
46:05the calories that we have in our bodies
46:07right so it's not like anything related
46:10to India this is humans so but we're
46:14also used to we are also used to having
46:17help at home right and now imagine a
46:19young couple moving to a new city they
46:21moved from Delhi to Bangalore and now
46:23they don't have the luxury of 24-hour
46:25help right they're used to someone
46:27bringing something to them so a zato
46:31might be bringing it rather than uh a
46:3424-hour house help but the point is
46:36they're sitting at home tired from work
46:39and they are able to kind of have the
46:41product brought to them rather than go
46:44there you know so I think the nature uh
46:48of India is to have people around you
46:52people around you doing things we aren't
46:55an isolated culture we are not a culture
46:57in which you know we like to sit with
46:59people and eat we like to you know share
47:03uh your order sizes might be portion
47:06sizes order sizes might be more sharable
47:09uh you know in in general and uh I think
47:12that has a big role to play in the
47:14delivery culture I mean blinket is a
47:16great example right I mean I would
47:18reckon our house has an average of three
47:20orders a day not not a week or not one
47:24order a day because literally the one
47:28order definitely comes as soon as the
47:29order comes into the house the order
47:32comes immediately because you remember I
47:34forgot to order X Y or Z only when you
47:37see that blinket bag you realize
47:40that and then one time you order maybe
47:44you know at snack time or you know
47:46midnight near midnight I'm sure there
47:48are a lot of orders that kind of come in
47:50late night chocolate what do what do you
47:51order what do I order and drink it
47:55mainly vegetables fruits you have spoken
47:58about eating vegetables many times but
48:00I've never seen you eat veget I'm
48:01usually vegetarian now no I know but not
48:03vegetables no vegetables veget yeah but
48:05I've seen you eating a vegetarian muffin
48:07I've seen you eating no no no but but my
48:10lunch is usually grilled uh grilled
48:13veggies and some like chicken some prawn
48:15something on the side so you're trying
48:17to tell me that you yourself go on your
48:18app and order the vegetables for the
48:21house yes and whenever I want to cook
48:24myself or have the house help cook right
48:28but even my zato ERS are the same but no
48:32snacks nothing
48:34unhealthy I mean good days and bad days
48:36bad days I would do it whenever I'm
48:38stressed or having a bad day I would eat
48:40a samosa I would have a muffin like
48:43something like that but on Happy Days
48:44generally no and what do you order on
48:46zato for example same like a grilled
48:49chicken breast like grilled salmon salad
48:52right same thing I think um uh wheat is
48:56the root cause of
49:00diabetes gaining weight and so on and so
49:03on wheat and sugar wheat and sugar are
49:05the same thing according to me at least
49:07for me everybody is different but it is
49:08it it's processed in the same way and we
49:11are a carb country we love cops in in in
49:14India I think as a as a culture we love
49:16cops and in fact it's one of the unique
49:18cultures and we discovered it and coming
49:20back to the Haka noodle point when we
49:22opened yamyam cha uh the
49:25biggest advantage of not doing Haka
49:28noodles is we were forced to look at the
49:31starch as a main course which for a lot
49:34of people starch is the main course
49:36pasta is the main course noodles and
49:38rice are a main course so we did these
49:40sizzling Stone bowls now when you ping
49:42five 6 700 rupees for a noodle dish it
49:45becomes your main course it's it's no
49:47longer an accompaniment so it went from
49:49being a accompanyment to a main course
49:51and we realized very early that even a
49:55sandwich for that matter a grilled
49:56sandwich uh you know Burger these are
49:59main courses they're not appetizers in
50:01in in in India they enjoy birani is the
50:05highest
50:06ordered about the rice it's about the
50:08starch yeah we have this feature coming
50:10up on H zato whenever you order a nan
50:14when you add a nan to your order we have
50:17something slide open under it and we ask
50:19you to do you want to switch to a
50:22instead of a n so at least start
50:24shifting preferences to from White bread
50:26to brown bread and gradually then like
50:29start educating and training people
50:32to what if you don't sell roties like we
50:35and pop don't sell Ro only those
50:37restaurants where those alternates are
50:39available will will be able to do this
50:41but it could be Health induced also
50:43right it could be stats induced that
50:45that this has more fiber or this has
50:47more then I mean customers make their
50:49own choice but this is generally not
50:51true that's but it doesn't say DP says
50:52wheat is bad that pure pure mea versus
50:55brown so but you could even just
50:57supplement it with an image of you
50:59holding a
51:00billon and saying if you order carbs or
51:03a roti I think it's the like customer
51:05choice and we have to we have to do our
51:08job to remind the customers that there
51:11is a choice conscious choice right uh I
51:13mean a lot of times we just pair
51:15something with a n right and even if we
51:17remind a customer that hey there is a ro
51:20as well do you want to switch it they
51:22might still switch and it is like you
51:24can actually do the none if you want to
51:26there your choice we're not forcing your
51:27choice but have you seen starch uh
51:30orders accompanyment based orders reduce
51:34I mean the component of accompaniment
51:35reded not really not yet not really I
51:38mean there is a small section of
51:40customers maybe like 2.5 is% of our
51:43customers which have gone low cab not
51:46zero cab I think there's no such thing
51:48as zero cab right so uh they have gone
51:51low C but that's a very small segment of
51:53the customers but you don't have
51:55allergies on your platform right we
51:56don't have allergies on our so if
51:58somebody has wants to go loc up or if
52:02somebody wants to avoid a certain type
52:04of dairy or some other type of product
52:08you have veg and non-v veg nonv egg I
52:10believe are the are three categories so
52:12you don't think there's a there's a need
52:14for that I mean if somebody wants to eat
52:15loc up for example they can just maybe
52:18only see the dishes that that are loc we
52:20are doing this with restaurants so we
52:22have seen a complete opposite uh shift
52:25we have actually seen people eat more
52:27white than whole wheat it's actually
52:31being polarized in a certain way so the
52:33people who are eating wheat are going
52:35more and more towards wheat and the
52:36people are addiction Cycles right so
52:39either people who break out of it or you
52:40just like keep going down the downward
52:43uh spiral but what about what about food
52:46that is high in oil or spice spicy spicy
52:52we have a filter now medium spicy low
52:54spicy High fine spice right so we
52:57gradually I mean everything needs us to
52:59collect data for about 25 million dishes
53:02right so each feature is a three four
53:04month effort right so and then we have
53:06to educate the users on it and then we
53:08start with the next one and next one and
53:10the next one so none of your decisions
53:12are are they ever led to I mean are they
53:16are the decisions that you made which
53:18might reduce your overall business like
53:20for example you're saying that I'm
53:21taking this decision for offering Health
53:24right you put a warning sign in there
53:25don't order Ro can there be a situation
53:28where people stop ordering the
53:29compliment completely based on that or
53:31reduce the total number of orders we are
53:33okay with this I mean because uh let's
53:36say ideally if you switch a nan to a ro
53:40you should cost is also the cost also
53:42goes down so this might hurt right but
53:45uh on the other hand you might order two
53:48roties instead of one n so the cost
53:51might be the same so these things we
53:52never know which way they will go right
53:54but since it's the right thing to do we
53:56are like okay let's just do it but how
53:58many of your decisions on your platform
53:59are Revenue LED or my my my business
54:02will increase almost none and our team
54:05doesn't have goals that's the good thing
54:08about how we work so we don't have
54:10targets for the team to achieve for the
54:11next quarter either it's Revenue profit
54:13nothing so it's we're generally asking
54:16people to do the most amount of good
54:18work that they can do and push as hard
54:22as they
54:23can
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