By Brinda Upadhyaya
It’s hot, very hot outside. Rising temperatures and rumbling tummies are the order of the day. The cool, warm yellows of Aparna Somani’s Home Made cafeteria in Mumbai’s happening Juhu suburb, are inviting.
And the bite-sized ‘pav bhaji’ and pizza, the star-shaped ‘idlis’, the fluffy cakes, the delicious melt-in-the-mouth ‘dal ki puri’ and ‘sangri ka saag’... the menu looks extremely tempting. It takes a mammoth effort for anyone to resist the goodies in her endless menu.
ROUTINELY CREATIVE But it has taken hard work, convincing and a bit of moolah for these delicacies to make their presence felt on the shelves of Home Made .
Gifted with a flair for cooking, 20-something Aparna was content churning out new recipes for her conservative Marwari family, till the constant persuasion of her friends and mother-in-law led her to start the enterprise.
I would often try to get creative with routine snacks, the results of which were stupendous, if I might say so myself, says Aparna, All my friends noticed this and with my mother-in-law’s support, I drew up an elaborate menu of snacks, cakes and desserts.
Aparna left the menu at a local beauty parlour, and the response she got was tremendous. With an initial investment of Rs 5,000, Aparna began by catering for small and simple orders, from people who lived nearby.
Working from home, and with her family as the main critics, Aparna perfected her culinary skills. But it was only during Diwali that business picked up rapidly, she gushes.
All of us worked round the clock, and by the end of the fortnight, my cash box was overflowing. It was amazing. That’s when I decided to turn professional and earnestly began to look around for a catering outlet.
TURNING PROFESSIONAL However, it took some time for Aparna to venture out in the competitive world of marketing and sales. Although her training at the N M Institute of Management, Mumbai and a brief stint at a bakery course stood her in good stead, she still had a long way to go as an entrepreneur.
Eventually, she bought a workshop in Andheri and rented a shop in the posh Juhu suburb and thus began Home Made .
I equipped the work kitchen with huge industrial ovens, a superb exhaust system, an elaborate gas connection and two large refrigerators, explains Aparna. There is also a separate air conditioned icing room for cakes, which is far removed from where the fresh food is cooked.
While trained chefs clad in smart uniforms, aprons and caps cater to the orders placed in advance rolling out the dough, a few employees look after the sorting and classification of supplies.
HONING HER SKILLS Over the years, Aparna has acquired a sharp business sense fine tuning herself to the vagaries of the market. Learning on the job, by trial and error, she is quick to innovate, create and experiment with different dishes. Quality and hygiene are the watch words at Home Made and Aparna makes sure that unsold items are never carried over the next day.
Sourced mainly from regular and known retailers in the suburbs, Aparna picks and chooses each product personally. Special items like fancy sauces, chocolates, exotic wines and dry fruits are bought only from specialists.
She also enlisted the help of a professional restaurateur to hone her skills in the nuances of varied cooking, preserving shelf life, packaging, maintaining attractive and hygienic exteriors and keeping an elaborate and accurate record of goods.
All this has definitely helped Aparna in acquiring new clients, while retaining the old ones. A lot of my customers come to me through acquaintances and by word of mouth, she explains. This also requires me to be constantly innovative. The idea is to provide people, especially kids, new and exciting food; the day I stop innovating, I am finished.
MAKING THE BUCKS Talking about prices, Aparna is very clear about costs and profits. The menu is prepared with an approximate budget in mind. The prices are based on the cost of the raw material, labour and other charges like transport, gas and electricity. Our pricing is also influenced by customer reaction, but we can’t bend over backwards to accommodate their wishes, Aparna is quick to add.
She has ambitious plans for the future of the still-in-its-infancy food shop. With newly renovated and increased seating space, Home Made is trying hard to entice youngsters with coffee, mocktails, masala buns, sandwiches, burgers, and an elaborate Italian menu. The ‘mithais’ and desserts are always in demand.
Aparna is presently in the midst of making a wide variety of breads in fantastic shapes and sizes checkered, peppered, oblong. These along with oven fresh buns with some coffee... nothing like it, eh? Stackers are another of Aparna’s amazing brainchild nutritious food including veggies, patties and sauces.
Staunch in her vegetarianism, 30-year-old Aparna Somani has managed to set a trend of healthy but yummy food. With such delightful, delicious stuff under her banner, it’s time for her competitors to mind their step, oops soup!