If your sweet-tooth cravings lead you to step inside a super-market today, you’ll
be greeted by a plethora of chocolates, ice-creams, packaged cakes and
pastries. But what do you if you have a craving for something different –
something rich and creamy? The answer is being provided by home-grown brand
‘Toffee Doodle’ – India’s only pudding-exclusive brand!
The brainchild of Goan chef-cum-marketer Viraj Hede, Toffee
Doodle, the first of its kind in the Indian F&B industry, was established
just over a year ago on April 10, 2017, and has already taken the market by
storm. Their very first product is Serradura-in-a-cup, one of Goa’s
all-time-favourite desserts, and they are already looking to bring out a new
pudding product in the very near future.
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Toffee Doodle is not a run-of-the-mill pudding brand – a pure
vegetarian, fresh pudding concept with no added preservatives or gelatin,
Toffee Doodle creates a unique combination of traditional pudding tastes (made
possible through the use of authentic, traditional ingredients) along with
their signature twist of caramel toffee, resulting in flavours that pack a
punch!
The budding company is seeking to be quite global in its outlook
– with pudding being an integral part of cuisines across the world, Toffee
Doodle is seeking out and curating those unique, traditional recipes, making
them up and packing them into a cup, resulting in a fresh, authentic taste with
a twist. Fittingly beginning with a traditional dish from its birthplace, Toffee
Doodle’s first pudding-in-a-cup Serradura is a pudding of Portuguese Goan
cuisine. Similarly, the company is aiming to produce traditional puddings from
the cuisines of Brazil, Italy, Peru, and England – each a country that loves
its pudding as much as we in Goa do.
Speaking about the journey that led to the creation of this
innovative food product, Viraj says, “This concept has been in the making over
the last ten years, ever since my graduation days at IHM HYD, where the recipes
were created and the primary food concept was built. My business model,
including the necessary market research, became better structured during my MBA
days at Goa Institute of Management. And with the funds I saved up from working
as Marketing Consultant for the e-commerce company Nearbuy, Toffee Doodle came
to be!”
Since its beginnings, the brand has grown a lot in its reach –
starting out with just eight retail stores here in Goa, the unique pudding
products manufactured by the company are now available at more than 80 stores
and restaurants across the state.
Yet the team behind it remains a small, tight-knit family. “We
are a small team of 9, and everyone shares responsibilities. We are more like a
family, rather than just a team!” mentions Viraj. The team also adheres to the
principle of quality over quantity – “We manufacture a small number of units,
so that each cup is carefully well-packed and delivered to every retail store
on time. Every cup is packed with love and is supplied to retailers only after
it has undergone multiple checks,” he adds. “Furthermore, we believe in keeping
the ingredients label clean and simple. We use only those ingredients that are
used by our consumers too, and are therefore easily understood by them.”
Speaking of the motto that drives production at Toffee Doodle,
Viraj says, “We believe in 2 core values – Empathy and Persistence. With
empathy we are able to better understand our consumers’ needs and feelings. And
with persistence we are driven to keep moving, keep hustling, and growing every
single day.”
What’s the story behind the unique name, with the word “doodle”
that one would normally associate with drawings we create absent-mindedly on
any available surface? It is in fact a similar artistry that inspired Toffee
Doodle’s christening – signifying the culinary artistry that goes into the
brand’s caramel toffee blended with traditional pudding.
Toffee
Doodle’s Serradura-in-a-cup has been garnering a lot of attention, with
everyone young and old smitten with the dessert, leading to rave reviews across
social media platforms. But the brand has no intention of resting on its
laurels – new recipes are in progress! “Our next Doodle will launch very soon
and it will be from Brazil. We are almost done with the R&D and are only
completing a few trials and regulatory processes,” Viraj concludes. And if that
wasn’t enough, there is a certain revamping of the brand set to take place
soon, he adds, hinting at all that’s to come.
