HERALD: What is your field of specialty? How is it different from your competitors?
MITTANSHU SATLA: Twisted Tiffin is a concept where we do not cook our own food but source the same from under-utilised kitchens or kitchens cooking good hygienic food. The area where Twisted Tiffin specialises lies in the fact that the delicious food is made available to customers in individual portions. When you order a meal for yourself you need not order a full meal like a rice/roti, dal and gravy as usually one cannot consume all three full portions and the food ends up getting wasted. Moreover, you would end up spending at least Rs 500 – 600 on your meal. Twisted Tiffin offers you your exact same favorite dishes portioned just for an individual with one main dish and two side dishes at Rs 140, irrespective of the meals being veg or non-veg and from any cuisine. The idea of a flat pricing for a customised portioned meal does not yet exist in India and we believe this is how we differentiate ourselves from restaurants and food delivery companies. The combo meals can be ordered over the phone or online at www.twistedtiffin.com.
HERALD: How does your company help Goans?
MS: Firstly, majority of our customers are Goans and from the total number of customers around 85 per cent of them are women. I come from a female dominant upbringing and when it comes to food, I know women need variety in their food every day. And when it comes to ordering they usually curb their desires and order food what their children or husbands like. That is what I learnt from my experience. Through the concept of Twisted Tiffin we are empowering women of Goa to order a variety of dishes for themselves without worrying about wastage, as the food is selfishly portioned only for them. Moreover, one has to spend a nominal amount of Rs 120 or 140 for a three-course meal where every component of that meal can be chosen and over 300 combinations can be created. We are currently operational for a year and half in Verna Industrial Estate and for six months in Panjim – Patto Plaza. We want the people of Goa to eat well and eat good food without spending too much and this was the sole reason of launching Twisted Tiffin. We believe that in the past one and half year we have been successful in executing this and making single portioned meals accessible to people.
HERALD: Who are your major customers?
MS: Around 85% of our total customers are working women and in general our customers are admin, HR and sales executives along with nurses and doctors. As our packaging is so handy and spill proof a lot of event management companies from Mumbai and Delhi coming to Goa opt for our meals for their crew to have a quick lunch and get back to work.
HERALD: What issues did you have to face when you thought of launching this company?
MS: I still remember when I approached Amit Naik (Moms Recipes at Verna Industrial Estate) to get my first kitchen on board. I just had a visiting card and a concept in my head. I believe he was the first one to visualise and believe in the concept of Twisted Tiffin and provide the kind of opportunity he has to a recent college grad. Moreover, everyone that I have approached in Goa either for guidance or support has been extremely kind and resourceful be it D S Prashant from CIBA, Pradeep Dhuri from TATOS or professors at Goa Institute of Management. We faced major challenges within the first week of starting our operations as the order volume grew so much in such a short span of time that we weren’t prepared to handle operations in the beginning. Even today, we face problems when it comes to delivering on time as lunch hours at office are fixed and delivering around 50 meals within a window of 45 minutes is a challenging affair for us. Nonetheless, we have now streamlined our operations and the wait time for customers has reduced significantly.
HERALD: What made you work as an entrepreneur in Goa?
MS: There was another instance at the time we had just begun, we did not have the money to print our marketing materials we had approached Sagar from Shubhalaxmi Graphics who without any hesitation gave us what we wanted all on credit. I think this is another form of support we received from a Goan despite meeting him for the first time. I have interned at The Walt Disney World, Florida and ever since, I believe that dreams come true. If you have the courage to believe in them. Having said that I also strongly believe that no matter how good or bad your idea is or how big you dream, success lies in the execution. Goa and its people gave me the platform, the support and the courage to execute an idea I had in mind.
HERALD: How do you see the Goan market? Are you planning to spread out?
MS: Given the fact that we are a very small company as of now and our concept is absolutely new we have no company that we can refer to or learn from. The Goan market is massive but inconsistent and scattered. However, for us it is the best market to start off with. We would definitely expand further on and reach out to as many offices and educational intuitions as possible.
HERALD: Where do you see yourself and your company in next five years?
MS: So far we have not seen Goan origin start-ups make it to the top start-ups in the country. We envision Twisted Tiffin to be amongst the top 10 start-ups in the country. We want to make our presence felt in at least three metros and five tier 2 and tier 3 cities along with catering to the Indian Railways. Also, in the coming five years, we are looking at entering the frozen food market along with experimenting with a variety of different cuisines from the west combining them with traditional Indian recipes. We want to make standardised food affordable and if things go well, Twisted Tiffin will ensure that food will never be expensive in India.
