Recipe for freshness
Musthafa PC reveals the story of his flourising food business catering to a growing appetite for fresh fare
By : namita gupta
Update: 2015-07-02 00:25 GMT
When Musthafa PC graduated from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, he created quite a stir by supplying fresh idli-dosa batter. The tall and dapper iFresh Food CEO’s rags-to-riches story could inspire anyone engaging any thoughts of joining the entrepreneurial bandwagon. The modest man has had humble beginnings starting from a small corner of Bengaluru’s Tippasandra locality to becoming a successful entrepreneur with a 700 crore turnover with offices across Bengaluru, Mysore, Mangaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai and even Dubai. He shares his story.
“I’m from Wayanad in Kerala and after my engineering in computer science from NIT, Calicut, I came to IIMB for my post-graduation. iD Fresh started in a small corner of Bengaluru’s Tippasandra locality. Four of my cousins used to run a kirana store and a local supplier would sell idli dosa batter knotted up in a plastic bag with a rubber band. We noticed there was a great demand for the product, but it was unbranded and of inferior quality. This thought trickled us and we decided to setup a small 50 sq ft kitchen. While my cousins managed the operations I looked into funding and branding. They managed for a while and I joined them full time post completion of my MBA,” effuses the techie-turned-entrepreneur who now has over 800 employees working for him.
But it wasn’t all hunky dory for Musthafa, who admits, “We faced a lot of challenges – the concept of fresh, natural, preservative free was hard for everyone to believe.
It took some time for us to convince people and educate them that the batter was fresh, natural, no chemicals, traditionally made like how one would make at home and authentic. And since we cater to the fresh food segment, the wastage was high. Another challenge was that none of us had food technology background. Cash flow too was a challenge as I had invested whatever savings I had to kickstart the business and alongside I was working towards building the right team for my startup. I started by supplying idli-dosa batter and sold 100 packets a day, which gave me the confidence to take the fresh food concept to the next level.”
Passionate about food and confessing to being a foodie himself, he adds, “I’m passionate about food and very picky about eating the right food. I love Lebanese cuisine and have been to every Lebanese joint in Bengaluru and also in other countries. I also love travelling. Ireland is one of my favourite destinations. I love watching and playing cricket and I’m also an avid soccer fan like any hardcore Malayali. My wife is my guinea pig as well as my biggest critic.”
Coming to what he does best with fresh supply of yum, quick and versatile, ready-to-cook food, the well-mannered man, adds, “Besides the idli dosa batter, Parotas (Malabar, whole wheat, mini and junior, chapattis) and Chettinad chutneys in tomato and coriander, we are now bringing healthy snacks, fresh iddiappams, vada batter, rava dosa and rava idli. These are like your professional assistants in the kitchen and one can actually take credit of cooking with them.”