Mumbai: Did you ever wonder that a person can left Google Job to sell samosa in Mumbai. Yes it happens actually we are talking about, Munaf Kapadia an MBA Graduate quits Google job for selling samosa here’s a quick introduction to the Munaf’s smartest food startup in Mumbai.
In 2015, Munaf Kapadia, who was working with Google, decided to keep his mother Nafisa away from daily soaps on TV by starting a food project. The Kapadias belong to the Bohri community, who are popular for their lip-smacking thaal (a platter that consists of everything from mutton samosas, nargis kebabs, dabba gosht, kaari chawal and much more). And, Nafisa is known to bring the best of these flavours on the plate, every day at her home.
Munaf thought of introducing his ‘maa ke haath ka khana’ that was particularly enjoyed within their own community, to the world. And, like he says, the rest is history. Now the twist in this story is that Munaf and his mother, decided to try this as an experiment and thought of calling a few people over for dinner at their residence.
Via e-mail and a few calls, Munaf brought home a group of girls (who reached out to him through his word of mouth campaign), for their first tasting. He charged them Rs. 700. By then he also named their project The Bohri Kitchen and created a Facebook page. Munaf got busier than his mother, and quit his fancy job at Google, to build a food revolution sorts.
Today, if you want to attend the tasting, you need to have a mutual friend with Munaf or be prime minister or president, because they are sticklers about who they invite home. From celebrities, culinary experts to even international media, everyone is curious to know Munaf’s story and his next business step.
The Bohri Kitchen, now has a delivery kitchen in Worli, and in already working on its restaurant plans. While talking about his journey at media, Munaf, shared his secret marketing formula, which he thinks made The Bohri Kitchen a disruptive brand.
According to Munaf, The Bohri Kitchen, started off as an anti-product (a term that popped into this mind while preparing his presentation for the conference). He never started the project to turn into a business.
With success came the challenge of keeping it authentic. That’s why most of his communication makes a simple and honest commitment.
It all started for her, and in a way even by her. Munaf believes his brand got its recognition because of the mother factor.
And, in a short span of time, she became the brand face. People, who come for the tasting at their residence, go back with a tummy full of happiness and a bright smile on their face. Nafisa stands for their brand promise, which Munaf believe is his biggest success.
Munaf spends Rs. 700 on Facebook every week. Yes, you read it right. Initially, when he started The Bohri Kitchen page, he did try buying a few likes, but that didn’t really help him. Munaf has now cracked the code of targeted advertising on Facebook.
He isn’t aiming for big numbers; all he is looking is for quality results. Content-wise too, he is trying to keep it engaging and isn’t focusing on the volume game.
