From Dough to Success: Aditi Handa's Inspiring Journey

[00:00:00] Hi everyone, welcome back to Unstoppable Women. Today we have Aditi Handa with us.

[00:00:05] Thank you, thanks so much for having me here.

[00:00:07] Thank you.

[00:00:08] Aditi is a well acclaimed chef turned entrepreneur, hugely successful, hugely visible out there.

[00:00:19] But today, Aditi, we want to dig in a little deeper.

[00:00:22] Let's do it.

[00:00:23] Let's do it. Let's dive in.

[00:00:24] Yes.

[00:00:25] Yeah. Okay, so let's start with your childhood.

[00:00:29] What about my childhood? Because Bahaad Lumbay.

[00:00:31] Apu, whatever you remember, whatever you want to share with us.

[00:00:35] Okay, so my childhood, I grew up in a city called Ahmedabad. I grew up in a family full of entrepreneurs.

[00:00:41] I didn't know what I was going to do when I grew up. But there was a time, I think this was in class 8,

[00:00:48] in the afternoon when everybody's sleeping, I just walk around in the living room of my house,

[00:00:53] preparing these speeches which I was going to give when I would win the Nobel Peace Prize.

[00:00:58] Okay.

[00:00:58] Not that I'm doing anything in that direction. But I think I just enjoy thinking,

[00:01:05] something that contributes to society.

[00:01:12] I always felt that part was...

[00:01:14] This was, I think, class 8 is what, you're 13?

[00:01:17] Something 12, 13, 14, something of that age group.

[00:01:20] Okay.

[00:01:21] A lot of people ask me, did I like cooking or baking when I was a kid?

[00:01:25] I used to, but I don't think there was a very clear passion.

[00:01:29] I used to, but I don't think there was a very clear passion.

[00:01:31] I used to enjoy playing with dough.

[00:01:38] My mom always tells me that every time I would get really angry, I would go to the store room

[00:01:42] where we had a little ganti, which I used fresh flour.

[00:01:45] And I used to enjoy the water and water.

[00:01:53] I used to enjoy the water and water.

[00:01:58] I realized that I was a mover child, not a listener child, which basically means I don't

[00:02:02] think I like sitting on the study table with books and reading as much.

[00:02:06] I liked doing physical things, which is why I also feel today when I bake a loaf of bread,

[00:02:11] it's far more interesting than making Excel sheets.

[00:02:14] So, more creativity.

[00:02:16] So, I think that was always there.

[00:02:19] I also grew up in a family with all boys around.

[00:02:23] So, I don't really have any sisters.

[00:02:24] I have lots of brothers.

[00:02:26] And we grew up in a joint family.

[00:02:27] So, I also...

[00:02:28] You're the younger sister?

[00:02:30] I'm the...

[00:02:31] Okay.

[00:02:32] So, amongst brothers, sisters, I'm in the middle.

[00:02:34] Okay.

[00:02:34] But I have a younger brother.

[00:02:37] Okay.

[00:02:37] So, because joint family, but I grew up in a house of brothers and where I felt that when

[00:02:44] I was being raised, nobody differentiated the girl.

[00:02:48] So, I never got that extra large the girl gets.

[00:02:51] I never got the limitation a girl gets.

[00:02:54] Got it.

[00:02:54] So, when...

[00:02:55] If there was a party we were all going to, I was allowed to stay back as long as the boys were.

[00:03:01] If there was a challenge which we had to do, whether it was studies or work,

[00:03:04] I had to work as much as the boys.

[00:03:06] So, we were raised in the sense that...

[00:03:07] No distinction.

[00:03:08] I mean...

[00:03:08] You're the same.

[00:03:09] You're the same.

[00:03:10] And I do understand that there's a huge gender bias that exists today.

[00:03:13] But in our heads, we were not raised like that.

[00:03:17] We were just told that...

[00:03:18] And that was work your advantage then, right?

[00:03:20] I think so.

[00:03:21] And I feel that thought process, again, I realized this much later in life.

[00:03:26] I feel as an individual, if you have the thought process,

[00:03:31] you are better prepared to tackle it.

[00:03:34] But that's up to your family as well, right?

[00:03:36] Because still...

[00:03:37] I think that there was one agenda.

[00:03:39] We always joke that the Honda's are like this.

[00:03:42] So, everybody's like work, work, work, excel, excel, excel, excel.

[00:03:47] So, how does it...

[00:03:48] Girl, you must also excel.

[00:03:49] Boy, you must also excel.

[00:03:50] Everybody must excel.

[00:03:51] Okay.

[00:03:52] Okay.

[00:03:52] That is integral.

[00:03:53] That was, I think, the core thing.

[00:03:55] Got it.

[00:03:56] All women in the house were also working?

[00:03:58] No, not really.

[00:03:59] My mother was not.

[00:04:00] Okay.

[00:04:01] Now, I realize that's the best thing she's ever done for me by not working.

[00:04:05] Because I think we had a very secure childhood growing up.

[00:04:09] I don't think I realized this honestly until the day I delivered my voice.

[00:04:13] But the fact that I had my mom home to look after me...

[00:04:18] And again, like I said, we were in a joint family.

[00:04:20] So, we were four kids.

[00:04:21] So, my chachi was working.

[00:04:23] My mother was a stay-at-home mom, but she raised four of us.

[00:04:26] And I think as a family that worked really well.

[00:04:29] I saw a working woman in my chachi, whom I look up to a lot.

[00:04:33] Yeah.

[00:04:33] And then I saw my mom who said, okay, I'm not going to work,

[00:04:36] but I'm going to look after all of you.

[00:04:37] And I don't think there's a single day that goes when...

[00:04:42] Like, we're all very grateful to her.

[00:04:43] Yeah.

[00:04:44] And much more secure individuals.

[00:04:45] Yes.

[00:04:46] Because she looked after us.

[00:04:48] She really loved us so unconditionally.

[00:04:51] And she's always like...

[00:04:52] She's never been like, oh, if you're successful, I love you more.

[00:04:55] And if you're not, I love you less.

[00:04:56] So, we've really gotten a lot of...

[00:04:58] Unconditional love.

[00:05:00] Unconditional, unadulterated love from her.

[00:05:01] No matter whether you were a naughty girl that day or not.

[00:05:04] Got it.

[00:05:05] She's always showered that.

[00:05:08] And I think that's a really important job for a parent to do.

[00:05:12] I think at that point, it was an important job for the mother to do.

[00:05:15] I think today's world, one of the parents needs to be as unconditionally.

[00:05:21] To be around for the kids.

[00:05:22] I think that's important.

[00:05:23] You think that's getting compromised these days?

[00:05:25] More women are out.

[00:05:26] We all do.

[00:05:27] Like I said, we grew up in a joint family.

[00:05:29] So, there are lots of advantages.

[00:05:31] Like when my chachi was working, because my mom was there,

[00:05:34] she could look after her kids.

[00:05:36] When my chachi was working, I had a woman figure to look up to that you can be a working

[00:05:40] mother also.

[00:05:41] And a lot of responsibility gets distributed.

[00:05:44] Right.

[00:05:45] Now, because we go more nuclear, it's very unfair to expect parents, now a couple to be

[00:05:51] a working couple to earn enough to survive in the expensive world that it is today.

[00:05:55] And to take care of kids.

[00:05:57] To look after the kids.

[00:05:58] To also at times look after the parents.

[00:06:00] Yes.

[00:06:00] Because after a point, they get unhealthy.

[00:06:02] So, I think the amount of burden that comes on two people's shoulder is a lot.

[00:06:06] Which is why I think I'm a bit of a believer in this traditional joint family system.

[00:06:11] You still living in a joint family?

[00:06:13] We live with our parents, yes.

[00:06:15] Oh, lovely.

[00:06:16] And I always tell people there are lots of reasons that I'm a working mom.

[00:06:20] The biggest reason is because my mom is there to look after my kids.

[00:06:23] Today, I'm here talking to you.

[00:06:25] Yeah.

[00:06:25] Not worried about what's happening to my kids because mama is there.

[00:06:28] Got it.

[00:06:29] And I feel that's the biggest support a woman needs.

[00:06:32] Yeah.

[00:06:33] Either your mama or your mother-in-law or someone in the family

[00:06:36] who's like now at this stage where they do not want to follow their career anymore.

[00:06:41] They've retired.

[00:06:42] They say it takes a village to raise a child, right?

[00:06:43] It does.

[00:06:43] Exactly.

[00:06:44] So, literally it does.

[00:06:44] That's true.

[00:06:45] It's not only about a mother.

[00:06:45] And grandparents do a fabulous job of passing those values to kids.

[00:06:50] So, your mom has played an integral role whether for you or for your kids.

[00:06:53] Huge.

[00:06:53] And you took to psychology, right?

[00:06:55] Or later.

[00:06:56] Yes.

[00:06:56] In college.

[00:06:56] So, since we're talking about a family background, a lot of my value system, I also feel

[00:07:02] comes from my mom's side of the family.

[00:07:04] Okay.

[00:07:04] My mom's side and her parents, her great grandparents, her grandparents, they were all freedom fighters.

[00:07:11] Okay.

[00:07:11] So, I think that she was a little bit of a thought that, man, you can do anything,

[00:07:15] do good quality, do good quality, do good quality, give back to society, whether the

[00:07:18] society is your city, your nation, the world doesn't matter.

[00:07:21] Be aware of the community around you.

[00:07:22] But that, I think between saying my, with my dad's side of the family saying being successful

[00:07:27] and with my mom's side of the family was like success is important, but also contributing.

[00:07:31] Contributing.

[00:07:32] Giving back to the society.

[00:07:33] Exactly.

[00:07:33] That's it.

[00:07:34] So, I think that value system, I can now see when we make decisions at work, where it

[00:07:38] comes from.

[00:07:38] Got it.

[00:07:39] Got it.

[00:07:40] Tell me about your days in psychology.

[00:07:42] So, my main reason to take up psychology was because I think I was quite clear that at

[00:07:48] some point I want to either be someone important in the business or do my own business.

[00:07:54] Okay.

[00:07:54] But why psychology?

[00:07:56] Because I think psychology helps you understand human behavior in a way where you can, now

[00:08:02] it's up to you where you apply it.

[00:08:04] Many people go into business by doing a business degree, by doing an MBA and I felt the thing

[00:08:10] that will give me an edge is the fact that I will come from the human behavior side because

[00:08:13] honestly when we are doing a business, when we are making a product, when we are building

[00:08:17] a team, when we're talking to consumers, all of this is human behavior.

[00:08:21] So, it's skills.

[00:08:21] Everything. If I have to make a bread today, I have to understand what does the consumer

[00:08:26] want. At times the consumer says we want this, this, this, but even they are unable to

[00:08:32] articulate it. So, you have to understand what would the meaning behind that be.

[00:08:35] Yeah.

[00:08:35] So, I've always found psychology a very interesting field. I went to England to study psychology

[00:08:41] where psychology is treated as a science.

[00:08:43] Got it.

[00:08:44] Which means we studied a lot of brain, we studied a lot of biology.

[00:08:47] You did neurosciences?

[00:08:48] Yes, even neurosciences. We did a lot of cognitive psychology.

[00:08:51] Okay.

[00:08:51] Because it helps you understand behavior that works from a very scientific way.

[00:08:57] I understood.

[00:08:58] And I think that entire approach during my undergrad degree was so systematic and so

[00:09:03] problem solving. A lot of the skills is what I use in business today.

[00:09:07] But you didn't want to pursue anything in psychology per se?

[00:09:09] No, I think it was...

[00:09:10] No, it was very clear from day one that I want to study psychology to get that skill set.

[00:09:15] Or it to help you to...

[00:09:16] Exactly. I think that was always very clear.

[00:09:18] Okay.

[00:09:18] Having said that, I found your counseling psychology, motivation psychology, very interesting subjects

[00:09:23] towards my final year. Okay.

[00:09:25] But it was all again from the point that we apply in business.

[00:09:30] Why baking?

[00:09:32] Why baking?

[00:09:33] What was that aha moment in your life which decided that, yes, I'm going to become a baker?

[00:09:39] So there is a very popular restaurant in Bombay called Khyber.

[00:09:42] And this is in Kulaba.

[00:09:44] We were there having lunch with someone and basically asking them to share their entrepreneur

[00:09:50] journey with us.

[00:09:51] Okay.

[00:09:51] And we were just there as young, wannabe entrepreneurs.

[00:09:56] What do you think you will say? What is inspiring?

[00:09:59] Whilst we were having lunch, we were having some version of bread.

[00:10:02] Okay.

[00:10:03] And then we used to write notes, but we used to keep these dictophones to record

[00:10:06] conversations so that we could transcribe it later.

[00:10:10] And someone made a passing statement that, yeah, India doesn't get bread in India.

[00:10:14] This was not supposed to be a business idea. This was a comment to some bread that we had on the

[00:10:19] table or some experience someone was relating. I don't remember the context, but it was a passing

[00:10:23] statement. A few days later, when we were transcribing those notes, when we listened to the sentence again,

[00:10:29] we said, yeah, yeah, it's a business idea. Because poor India bread, but even like the bread I grew up

[00:10:39] eating now was so bad. I can't explain to you. And we said, let's make authentic good bread because

[00:10:45] what we are consuming daily, there is quality compromise.

[00:10:49] When you say bad quality, does it have preservatives or standards?

[00:10:54] Everything. If I talk from a chef's point of view, which is what used to initially bother me,

[00:10:59] the techniques were incorrect. Okay.

[00:11:01] You go to any household and

[00:11:06] you start cooking when the dadi is there. And if you start doing shortcuts, dadi

[00:11:10] ko bat khatakta hai. Correct.

[00:11:11] That you make the halwa, you don't have to cook the whole wheat in the good

[00:11:14] meat, and you have to cook the gas. Correct.

[00:11:17] And you have to cook the whole wheat.

[00:11:17] That will be a lot of difference. Correct.

[00:11:19] So as a chef, the first thing that used to bother me is the way we make bread in India,

[00:11:23] we kill over the natural flavor to it. Okay.

[00:11:26] Because we over-need it, we put too much yeast, we don't prove it correctly. Lots of incorrect

[00:11:31] practices. Okay.

[00:11:32] That's right. As the business grew, the more I studied bread, we also realized that incorrect

[00:11:38] practices also meant a lot of stabilizers, a lot of emulsifiers, a lot of preservatives,

[00:11:43] which honestly, a loaf of bread really doesn't need.

[00:11:55] Some things are not designed to last. Yeah.

[00:11:58] And some things shouldn't. Yeah. And some things should go bad on the second or the third day.

[00:12:03] What if it's kept in the fridge?

[00:12:05] Fridge, okay. Fridge will come out a little while. Right.

[00:12:07] But you know, I always tell people that if my bread

[00:12:09] you gave me and it was fungus, it's a great thing.

[00:12:11] Because now you don't believe that I would not give preservatives.

[00:12:15] Looking at these experiments in which this guy just put stuff in the glass box.

[00:12:20] Yeah. I don't know his influencer's name.

[00:12:23] And he checks all the big brands of burgers,

[00:12:26] and then you put the fungus in the glass box.

[00:12:28] That is good. Like what you just said. Right?

[00:12:31] If there's fungus in the glass box, it's a problem.

[00:12:32] You speak to any nutritionist and she will say,

[00:12:34] if you're buying subsea or fruits and if it's very beautiful looking,

[00:12:37] something's wrong. Because natural things are so perfect.

[00:12:41] It's not shiny. Exactly.

[00:12:43] So those are our cues as a consumer.

[00:12:46] So once you get in the industry, you realize

[00:12:49] like I said, their techniques were incorrect.

[00:12:52] They were added a lot of additives.

[00:12:53] They're the other thing. Bread, I think it's always made in a very unhygienic way.

[00:12:57] Okay.

[00:12:57] Because it's such a tight margin product

[00:12:59] that nobody really has the money to spend on ensuring the facility is kept in a particular way.

[00:13:04] Okay. Okay.

[00:13:05] So these were the things we said we will never do.

[00:13:07] Okay.

[00:13:08] And if it costs us a bit more, which it would,

[00:13:11] we will inform the consumer of that.

[00:13:14] And we found consumers, if they know why they are paying the extra,

[00:13:17] they're willing to pay the extra.

[00:13:19] But when you were in London,

[00:13:20] you got this clear vision that you want to start?

[00:13:23] This has happened when I was in,

[00:13:25] so we actually just thought that bakery business idea is good.

[00:13:28] Then,

[00:13:29] This is after you guys met for that lunch.

[00:13:33] Yeah.

[00:13:33] That's right.

[00:13:33] That's right.

[00:13:34] That's right.

[00:13:37] That's right.

[00:13:37] And we have a short list.

[00:13:40] We're still not clear whether we're starting a business,

[00:13:42] but we're still in that research phase.

[00:13:44] Got it.

[00:13:44] So this I'm talking about

[00:13:46] Feb, March 2012.

[00:13:49] Now in the research, we realized

[00:13:51] that the founding team,

[00:13:53] this one,

[00:13:53] I'm not sure that there was no bakery or hospitality industry.

[00:13:56] It wasn't in our family.

[00:13:58] It wasn't in the industry.

[00:13:59] And we've always felt that someone needs to be technically sound.

[00:14:02] Okay.

[00:14:03] That's when I found a course in New York,

[00:14:05] which was dedicated to bread baking.

[00:14:07] Okay.

[00:14:08] And I went to New York to see how bread is made.

[00:14:12] Obviously, I was going to learn,

[00:14:13] but my intention was to be a shame.

[00:14:15] Okay.

[00:14:16] It's only once I went there and my chefs was so passionate about what they did.

[00:14:22] And when I started baking and touching the dough and experiencing what is fermentation

[00:14:25] and eating that later, I was like,

[00:14:29] I don't have to make bread in life.

[00:14:31] And if we don't do anything, we'll make bread.

[00:14:32] Okay.

[00:14:33] It was clear.

[00:14:34] That day, I think.

[00:14:35] It's a very sensorial experience, you know,

[00:14:36] like what we discussed.

[00:14:37] I remember.

[00:14:39] I think those two months, I was also by myself.

[00:14:42] So I feel when you're by yourself now, you,

[00:14:43] you think and meditate and dwell a lot on what's happening, why it's happening.

[00:14:48] And on my fifth day, I knew that my whole purpose in life was to bake bread.

[00:14:53] And I wrote an email to my family saying,

[00:14:55] I know we have to start a business, which we will,

[00:14:57] but that's my only purpose in life.

[00:15:02] And every time we had to make a really complicated loaf of bread,

[00:15:05] especially like a chrasan, where you have to get the temperatures right

[00:15:09] and the lamination has to be right.

[00:15:10] The puffiness, right?

[00:15:11] Exactly.

[00:15:11] So I used to chant the Gayatri Mantra, like trying to be focused.

[00:15:15] And I always tell people that two times in my life where I've experienced God,

[00:15:22] once is when I was sheeting this chrasan and second is the day I gave birth to my twin boys.

[00:15:27] Because I think

[00:15:29] to me, bread baking can be that sensory and spiritually uplifting a process.

[00:15:35] And once you experience that now, I think our consumers also get it now.

[00:15:39] Because the same energy, the same passion, the same product,

[00:15:43] the same product,

[00:15:44] When you say a Gayatri Mantra, is it like a process ritual you guys follow?

[00:15:48] I follow. I follow. I as an individual. I think when I was a kid, when I was scared of my

[00:15:54] mother, I used to chant the Gayatri Mantra.

[00:15:58] You're the second chef who's telling me this on the show.

[00:16:00] Yeah.

[00:16:00] Shari Mehta, she was here and she does this.

[00:16:04] Her process is all about chanting.

[00:16:07] And connecting with the food and connecting with the ingredients.

[00:16:11] My mom used to tell me as a child that whenever you're cooking,

[00:16:15] you should be happy.

[00:16:17] Either you put on music that makes you happy or you surround yourself with people who make you happy.

[00:16:27] It's creativity.

[00:16:28] It is. And I think this is true for so many things we do in life.

[00:16:31] That's true.

[00:16:31] And which is what we try to do at the Bakers doesn't it?

[00:16:33] Whoever is baking, you must be in a comfortable, happy place.

[00:16:36] And you must really enjoy what you're doing.

[00:16:39] It can't just be an eight-hour job and a means to an end.

[00:16:42] And this is all handmade.

[00:16:43] Everything is handmade.

[00:16:44] Nothing is machine made.

[00:16:44] No.

[00:16:45] Nothing.

[00:16:45] Everything is handmade.

[00:16:46] And okay, so this is interesting because you started slow, 2013.

[00:16:52] Right?

[00:16:53] I mean, the R&D started in 2012.

[00:16:55] Commercially, we started in 2013.

[00:16:56] Okay.

[00:16:56] And you had met your husband by then.

[00:16:58] Yes.

[00:16:59] So, Snee and I met in 2008.

[00:17:01] Okay.

[00:17:02] Instead, our entire meeting and connecting and romance happened over entrepreneurship because

[00:17:09] I think initially it was like, oh love at first sight, some attraction and all of that happening.

[00:17:13] But when we started spending time together, what we connected the most over was entrepreneurship.

[00:17:17] Okay.

[00:17:18] And we still get mocked till date by our friends.

[00:17:22] Yeah, you can leave it alone.

[00:17:25] You don't have a romantic conversation.

[00:17:26] So, we have to go to Maldives and talk about business.

[00:17:29] And we always joke that when we go to a really nice restaurant for dinner,

[00:17:34] 10 minutes into the dinner, we ask a tissue paper, we ask a pen and we ask a business strategy.

[00:17:41] But I think this is something that excites us.

[00:17:43] It does not bring us down.

[00:17:45] It excites us.

[00:17:45] And he's your business partner as well.

[00:17:47] I think he's my partner in life.

[00:17:48] Partner in life.

[00:17:49] And it's not been easy, but it's been a lot of fun.

[00:17:52] When you say it's not been easy means what?

[00:17:54] See, when you fall in love with someone, everything's nice and rosy, right?

[00:17:58] Yes.

[00:17:58] Or you're too into it, you're like, gosh, like he doesn't pack his bags properly.

[00:18:02] And he doesn't change his T-shirt and you know, those things.

[00:18:04] Too much exposure.

[00:18:05] Yeah.

[00:18:05] Exactly.

[00:18:06] But I think those things we were still like really happy with when we started working.

[00:18:10] There was a lot.

[00:18:11] I mean, anyways, I think life is really difficult as an entrepreneur.

[00:18:14] When you start and we started bootstrapped,

[00:18:16] then there's a couple, you realize not is he earning, not am I earning.

[00:18:21] The business is not earning.

[00:18:22] So how are you going to survive?

[00:18:23] So there's a lot of hardship that happens.

[00:18:25] And there are days when you will be unfair to each other.

[00:18:31] Maybe some of it was justified.

[00:18:33] A lot of it is not justified.

[00:18:35] Then there are days when you're like, I can't live with this person.

[00:18:37] I can't work with this person.

[00:18:39] All of that happens.

[00:18:41] But once all this

[00:18:44] dhamaka ho gaya and sab kama ho gaya, then you realize

[00:18:46] ke yaar, ye ye ek hai jo mere har ek cheeze

[00:18:49] I must mera pain point samajta hai.

[00:18:51] Right.

[00:18:52] He understands my pain point as a husband wife.

[00:18:54] He understands my pain point as a partner.

[00:18:56] He understands my pain point as a co-founder.

[00:18:58] He also understands my pain point now as a co-parent.

[00:19:02] So then you realize ke ye sab jhagade hee k hai.

[00:19:07] But the value and the strength that we have.

[00:19:09] Trust and the faith you have in relation.

[00:19:10] Also, I think between Snena, we have very complementary strengths.

[00:19:13] Okay.

[00:19:13] So there's always like I need you and you need me and I respect you and you respect me.

[00:19:17] Hmm.

[00:19:18] And I think that once you've crossed that initial hurdle,

[00:19:21] I don't think there's a stronger partnership than this.

[00:19:24] Yeah.

[00:19:25] Yeah.

[00:19:25] Which people sense, which our kids sense, which our families sense, which people at work sense.

[00:19:29] And they will know ke kai bari ye dunnoh sab jhagade rahi hain time pass ke liye.

[00:19:33] But they also know ke chagade ke bad kuch achcha hi hona hain.

[00:19:36] Exactly.

[00:19:36] Kisi aspect mein toh kuch nikhale ga.

[00:19:38] Kisi aspect mein toh nikhale ga, yeah.

[00:19:39] Yeah.

[00:19:39] So how did you, you have twins?

[00:19:43] Twin boys, yes.

[00:19:44] Right.

[00:19:44] And you had your twins early in the marriage?

[00:19:47] No, this was I think maybe five or six years into our marriage.

[00:19:52] Five or six years into our marriage.

[00:19:53] And by then your business had already started.

[00:19:55] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:19:56] So I think we always say our first child was the baker's dozen.

[00:19:59] Okay.

[00:19:59] Our second child was our pet tindin.

[00:20:02] And then the third child is our twin boys.

[00:20:04] So he said one by one ho hain.

[00:20:06] Okay.

[00:20:06] So how was motherhood?

[00:20:08] With my twin boys?

[00:20:09] Yes.

[00:20:10] It's been, so I've, I've always wanted kids.

[00:20:13] We, we just kind of I think delayed the process because

[00:20:16] we were really enjoying it.

[00:20:20] We were getting very excited, etc.

[00:20:21] And when the time came and I got pregnant and

[00:20:24] my pregnancy was not easy.

[00:20:26] I was, I had morning sickness throughout nine months.

[00:20:28] Okay.

[00:20:29] But once the boys were born, something in me changed.

[00:20:33] And I can't explain how because literally a week before

[00:20:37] Delevia was talking to my guy.

[00:20:38] I'm not sure.

[00:20:39] Uncle, tell me, I'll come back to work.

[00:20:41] And he said,

[00:20:42] two months, you should be at home.

[00:20:47] I'd not come back to work for almost a year, year and a half.

[00:20:49] Because when the kids were born, I only wanted to be with them.

[00:20:53] I just wanted to, and you know, being with them was not easy because

[00:20:58] anyways, I think being a mother only is not easy.

[00:21:01] We were twins, they never slept.

[00:21:02] I don't remember sleeping more than 45 minutes at a stretch for my first two years of motherhood.

[00:21:08] But there was a lot of happiness, joy, looking after them, nurturing them.

[00:21:12] And I was really, really enjoying it.

[00:21:14] Yeah.

[00:21:16] And as they grew older, I think once about a year and a half, then I said,

[00:21:20] Mama, I want to get back to work now because I've enjoyed this.

[00:21:23] I want to continue.

[00:21:23] But I also, I miss being at the Baker's and I really want to be there.

[00:21:27] And that's when she kicked in saying, listen,

[00:21:29] you go to work.

[00:21:30] Today, I'll go two hours and I'll look after kids.

[00:21:31] Tomorrow, four hours.

[00:21:32] And then, then, then.

[00:21:33] So, transitioned.

[00:21:33] I think it took me about two or three weeks to go from a two hour work day to a eight hour.

[00:21:40] Some of it is wanting to be with kids.

[00:21:42] A lot of it is what your body allows you.

[00:21:45] Because there were times when I would go to work and within two hours,

[00:21:47] I would start feeling so sleepy.

[00:21:49] Yeah.

[00:21:50] And I would just keep my head on my table and go off to sleep for half an hour.

[00:21:53] This day takes nine months to even come back to the original shape.

[00:21:55] It's a lot of shaming around what a woman's body goes through.

[00:22:00] Yeah.

[00:22:01] And it was not easy for me to get back to work.

[00:22:04] There were times when I was in the meeting and I would really struggle,

[00:22:09] concentrating throughout.

[00:22:09] And I would have to ask the same question three times to understand the point.

[00:22:14] And I think some of it I got away with because I was running the business,

[00:22:17] but it's not, it's not easy by any stretch of the imagination.

[00:22:20] But then what kept you going, going back?

[00:22:22] You said you were two hours, three hours, four hours.

[00:22:24] You kept stretching.

[00:22:25] I think I always loved Baker's.

[00:22:27] I always loved working.

[00:22:28] Because it was your first baby anyway.

[00:22:30] Yes.

[00:22:30] And for me, Baker's doesn't, it's yes a business, but it is so passion driven that it gives me a lot of joy.

[00:22:36] So having a passion before having kids is easier for you to get back.

[00:22:41] I just feel whatever you do in life, it should be out of passion.

[00:22:43] I know that everyone has no option.

[00:22:45] A lot of us have to take up jobs just to pay the bills.

[00:22:48] But if we can take up something which is, which makes us happy, we're just that much better at it.

[00:22:54] And more committed then.

[00:22:55] Yeah.

[00:22:56] And you know, you know, you actually put a whole topic on the work life balance.

[00:22:59] Balance.

[00:22:59] That you fell in love with work.

[00:23:01] So that was also...

[00:23:03] It's part of your life.

[00:23:05] Exactly.

[00:23:05] There's nothing accommodating.

[00:23:06] And I felt once the kids started becoming older, I remember when they were about two years old.

[00:23:12] And they hadn't started any version of school at that point.

[00:23:15] And I had to go to the factory at night and they were supposed to be sleeping through the night,

[00:23:19] but clearly that didn't happen.

[00:23:21] So one of them woke up.

[00:23:22] So I told my mom that I want to go to the factory and I'll send him to the factory.

[00:23:26] He doesn't leave you, he will be complaining and you have to look after the other one.

[00:23:30] So you took one kid along.

[00:23:32] So this was like let's say a Monday night.

[00:23:34] So he put him in the car seat and he went to the factory.

[00:23:37] How old was he?

[00:23:38] He must be about maybe 23, 24, 25 months.

[00:23:42] Quite young.

[00:23:43] He started to go and start, but school didn't forget.

[00:23:47] And I think at two and a half they started some version of a preschool.

[00:23:49] Preschool.

[00:23:50] So I think this must have been about two years old.

[00:23:52] So I took him to the factory at night.

[00:23:54] He was enjoying it and everything that happened.

[00:23:59] Then we came back the next day.

[00:24:01] My second son's daughter was like,

[00:24:02] Mama, I want to go to my mom.

[00:24:04] So three days later, I did one more night shift.

[00:24:06] I said, I'll go to your number.

[00:24:07] I'll go to your number.

[00:24:07] Okay.

[00:24:08] So I think the kids started seeing that mama is working and mama is working at all hours

[00:24:13] of the day.

[00:24:13] Yeah.

[00:24:14] And I don't think they were thinking how we can be cooperative, but they were thinking

[00:24:18] how can we enjoy this?

[00:24:19] Yeah.

[00:24:19] You know, someone told me like when, when I became a mother, she said that you should

[00:24:25] not fit into your kids schedule and it kids fit into your schedule and they'll adapt.

[00:24:30] Because sometimes you know, the husband might stop living their life only because they're

[00:24:33] like, chau, no, the kids schedule around you.

[00:24:36] And then I should try to maintain a schedule for the kids so that they could sleep, eat on time

[00:24:40] to give me some peace.

[00:24:41] That's for sure.

[00:24:42] That's basic.

[00:24:42] But a lot of it was like, listen, this is our lifestyle as a family.

[00:24:47] So yes, you have a schedule.

[00:24:49] I have a schedule.

[00:24:50] So it's integration.

[00:24:50] I mean today, Sneh and I take holidays only basis on our school calendar.

[00:24:57] Absolutely.

[00:24:58] So obviously their calendars now dictating our vacation time, which is fine.

[00:25:02] So as a family, you realize what needs to happen.

[00:25:05] And there are so many times when, when if my mom's not at home or she's traveling,

[00:25:10] I tell the kids get school, I will do my work.

[00:25:14] You sit there and you do your homework or you play or whatever it is that you have to do.

[00:25:18] So you're integrating into each other's lives.

[00:25:20] And we are very comfortable.

[00:25:21] By the way, even my upbringing was like this.

[00:25:24] There were days when I was a handful to my mom and she's like, I'm sending you to papa's office.

[00:25:29] And in the office of papa's office, I had a small cabin.

[00:25:32] So I sat there and I would do whatever I would do.

[00:25:35] And then because we all can be scared from papa.

[00:25:38] I was a good girl there.

[00:25:39] Then I would come back in the evening.

[00:25:41] That cabin is still my office cabin.

[00:25:43] So I always tell people like, I've been in this office since I was like that.

[00:25:46] That was a bad show too.

[00:25:47] Yeah.

[00:25:47] Nice.

[00:25:48] But I think kids understand that.

[00:25:50] So that is the new definition of work-life balance.

[00:25:53] Like what you're just saying.

[00:25:54] Some version.

[00:25:54] It's about integrating into each other's lives, which brings balance out.

[00:25:58] Exactly.

[00:25:58] And I feel, I feel as a woman and as a mother, I have boys, which means I have to work as much

[00:26:06] harder to raise them, right?

[00:26:07] You know, people say raise your girls, right?

[00:26:08] I don't think that's true.

[00:26:10] You have to raise your boys, right?

[00:26:11] So I want my boys to grow up saying, women work.

[00:26:14] At times women work more than their male counterparts.

[00:26:18] At times the male counterparts help out in the house, help out with the kids and all of this

[00:26:51] is normal.

[00:26:53] So they're okay to compromise on mama time if they think it's justified.

[00:26:57] Got it.

[00:26:57] And I'm okay with that too.

[00:26:59] That works for me.

[00:26:59] Yeah.

[00:27:00] Kids are smart these days.

[00:27:01] Very smart.

[00:27:02] They're observing.

[00:27:03] They're so much more vocal.

[00:27:05] Yes.

[00:27:05] They are very expressive.

[00:27:06] Yes.

[00:27:07] And I think, I don't remember being as vocal when I was a child.

[00:27:11] It was a lot like, mama, papa, then we'll do this.

[00:27:13] Yeah.

[00:27:14] Now a lot of it is like, let's have an open conversation.

[00:27:16] They have an opinion.

[00:27:16] They have an opinion.

[00:27:17] Yes.

[00:27:18] It's the gen alpha, the typical gen alpha you're facing.

[00:27:21] Yes.

[00:27:21] But where they are like really good boys is, they know how to negotiate and they're like,

[00:27:26] we have an opinion.

[00:27:27] We know you get the final call, but let's, I will still share with you.

[00:27:31] But they don't throw tantrums.

[00:27:32] They don't do it.

[00:27:33] They don't do it.

[00:27:34] Those sort of things touch wood.

[00:27:37] So for a woman to come back after, you know, delivery and get back to work force.

[00:27:43] So a proper ecosystem, a support system is required.

[00:27:46] Like you had your mother and your, you know, understanding husband and a larger system.

[00:27:50] But what if women don't have that?

[00:27:53] What do you do?

[00:27:55] I don't know.

[00:27:56] Life is really difficult then, but I feel first as women, we must

[00:28:01] ask for help shamelessly.

[00:28:03] Okay.

[00:28:04] Without feeling guilt around it.

[00:28:05] Okay.

[00:28:06] It is our right and prerogative to ask for help.

[00:28:08] This help could be asking for help at work.

[00:28:11] There have been so many times, uh, girls in our office have said,

[00:28:14] can I just get my child to work for two, three hours?

[00:28:16] Because I had no one to look after.

[00:28:18] Doh ganta dao?

[00:28:18] Aant ganta dao?

[00:28:19] Das ganta dao?

[00:28:20] No problem.

[00:28:21] And it is totally okay.

[00:28:22] So there are, or there are times when they say, listen, I know today is an important day,

[00:28:26] but I will not be able to come because of these, these, these reasons.

[00:28:28] And you have to design teams in a way that women get to take that day off, even if it's last minute.

[00:28:35] So I feel as a woman before having a child first, let's get these things in place.

[00:28:40] It's the same thing, the kind of strategy would bring to business.

[00:28:43] Got it.

[00:28:44] Before you start a business, you think,

[00:28:45] I'm going to get money, I'm going to get the product, I'm going to get the packaging.

[00:28:49] So before having a child, think who's going to be my support system post this child?

[00:28:54] What is my husband going to do?

[00:28:55] What am I going to do?

[00:28:56] Is my mother-in-law going to help?

[00:28:58] We, when we were in Bombay, in our same complex,

[00:29:02] Snez Boa used to stay.

[00:29:03] Hmm.

[00:29:03] So she became our support system.

[00:29:05] Okay.

[00:29:05] So you ask for help from anywhere and everywhere.

[00:29:08] Yeah.

[00:29:09] We became really pally with our neighbors.

[00:29:11] Yeah.

[00:29:11] And there would be times when I would tell my neighbor,

[00:29:13] auntie, I have two hours to go to the bakery.

[00:29:15] I will leave your children to your house.

[00:29:17] So you shamelessly ask for help.

[00:29:20] Not go into victim consciousness.

[00:29:22] You have to just get out of it.

[00:29:24] No benefit.

[00:29:25] No benefit.

[00:29:25] Not that, that is justified when a woman says that this is happened.

[00:29:28] It's not that she's complaining for no rhyme or reason.

[00:29:31] It's extremely justified.

[00:29:32] Yeah.

[00:29:33] At the end, it comes to the end that we have to do it.

[00:29:36] So you shamelessly ask, you should not feel guilty asking for this health.

[00:29:40] I was initially asking my own mother, I was a kid who was a kid.

[00:29:44] How many hours have to go to my mom?

[00:29:46] And then one day she told me, please do this.

[00:29:49] I enjoy this.

[00:29:51] I enjoy raising you guys.

[00:29:53] So don't be guilty about what I am doing.

[00:29:55] Yes.

[00:29:55] And it took me a lot of time to come to this level that don't be guilty.

[00:29:58] And then I feel that I wasted several months in this guilt.

[00:30:03] I don't want other mothers going through this.

[00:30:06] So I tell a lot of pregnant women that this will be all you will feel depressed, guilt, etc.

[00:30:13] It's a cycle.

[00:30:13] It's a cycle.

[00:30:15] You should allow yourself to feel that but unnecessary guilt is not going to be guilty.

[00:30:19] Got it.

[00:30:19] But how did you balance kids and home?

[00:30:22] I mean, even if you have support because motherhood changes you.

[00:30:27] I think first of all,

[00:30:28] You will always carry that little guilt or little guilt.

[00:30:30] It's a little bit.

[00:30:31] And something is fine too.

[00:30:33] It's a lot of it is prioritization.

[00:30:35] Where you say, like my kids said,

[00:30:37] Mama, don't go to a party.

[00:30:39] So I stopped a lot of socializing with my friends.

[00:30:41] Because we always had a six day work week.

[00:30:45] So Monday to Saturday, we are working.

[00:30:47] Tuesdays and night, we have two hours.

[00:30:49] Sunday is the only day you get.

[00:30:51] So I also felt that we'd rather be with our kids than a lot of our friends.

[00:30:56] Yeah.

[00:30:57] And it's not that we were ignoring our friends.

[00:30:58] We just felt that this is what I want to do right now.

[00:31:01] This is what we were enjoying doing right now.

[00:31:03] Mm-hmm.

[00:31:03] And our friends also understood that.

[00:31:05] Mm-hmm.

[00:31:05] So a lot of it is accepting that I'm going to have a different life.

[00:31:09] And initially, it is not easy to accept.

[00:31:12] Initially, it bothers you.

[00:31:14] But you start gradually becoming okay with it.

[00:31:17] And I always tell people that let's not complain about the cards we are dealt.

[00:31:21] Let's see what is the best I can make with these cards.

[00:31:24] Make do with it.

[00:31:24] Which is true in motherhood, as a husband, wife, in business.

[00:31:27] See, same philosophy, every job.

[00:31:29] Okay.

[00:31:30] So see, you have two kids.

[00:31:32] You have a flourishing business.

[00:31:34] You are obviously, you have a very strong business acumen.

[00:31:38] Yeah.

[00:31:39] But I always feel if you don't have a proper balance in mental and physical health as well.

[00:31:44] Yes.

[00:31:45] Then everything will fall apart.

[00:31:46] Very true.

[00:31:47] What is your go-to hack?

[00:31:50] For me, I started going to the gym about six years ago.

[00:31:54] Okay.

[00:31:55] Initially, the idea was I just want to get into a good shape.

[00:31:58] I need my body to be fitter.

[00:31:59] I need to look better.

[00:32:02] A year into it, I realized that you don't achieve all the goals in the goal.

[00:32:05] You don't do it.

[00:32:06] But I realized, I remember giving up my gym for about six, eight months when I was getting,

[00:32:11] I was doing a management course from IM Bangalore.

[00:32:14] When it was work, kids and scores were becoming too difficult.

[00:32:17] So I gave up on gym.

[00:32:18] I had a lot of problems in that six months.

[00:32:19] I was getting a lot of sick.

[00:32:21] I was giving up every month.

[00:32:23] I was giving antibiotics every month.

[00:32:37] Yes.

[00:32:38] So then I figured out a way that if anything is compromised in life, this thing is not going to happen.

[00:32:42] So now I've designed my schedule in a way where four days a week, I get to go to the gym.

[00:32:47] I get to work out.

[00:32:50] I think as we grow older, maintaining your body in terms of stamina is extremely important.

[00:32:57] Because after a point, we start degrading faster.

[00:33:00] So there are things like when it comes to eating healthy.

[00:33:04] I eat a lot of homemade food.

[00:33:06] Okay.

[00:33:06] I think if we have, let's say, 14 meals a week, at least 12, if not 13 of them will be homemade.

[00:33:12] Homemade.

[00:33:13] So I always believe that if you eat the food, anything is healthy.

[00:33:17] Working out is very important for me.

[00:33:19] Okay.

[00:33:19] And now from the point, what will make me stronger, healthier, what will make my muscles better?

[00:33:24] Right.

[00:33:24] So this is about you.

[00:33:26] Yes.

[00:33:26] What about the environment in the house?

[00:33:28] Is your husband also into fitness and health?

[00:33:30] Is your kids also getting exposed to this aspect about yourself?

[00:33:34] So the kids, yes.

[00:33:35] Snee also works out three, four times a week at least.

[00:33:38] We don't do it together.

[00:33:40] He has a different time slot and I have a different time slot.

[00:33:42] Our kids, obviously they're too young for a gym workout.

[00:33:45] But they're observing you guys.

[00:33:47] But they're extremely active in sports.

[00:33:48] They love playing in the garden.

[00:33:50] They love their football.

[00:33:50] They love their cricket and not a little bit.

[00:33:52] These guys are crazy and very high stamina.

[00:33:55] Yeah.

[00:33:56] Instead they, if I ever have to plan a holiday

[00:33:59] and that holiday happens to be on a football day, you can't plan that holiday.

[00:34:03] Yeah.

[00:34:04] They will never miss their football class.

[00:34:06] Got it.

[00:34:07] So I think as a family, we all know health is important.

[00:34:12] And with kids, it's easier because they play with sports and they have better stamina.

[00:34:15] Yeah.

[00:34:16] So I was also curious because see the way you guys have expanded and the business pressures,

[00:34:22] this all comes from something which you're investing on yourself, which is time.

[00:34:26] Yes.

[00:34:27] You need to take out that need time and invest in yourself.

[00:34:29] Because that much energy is going out to everybody around your staff, your partners, your investors.

[00:34:36] So talking about your business, what is the current status and how are you looking to expand further?

[00:34:44] When you say current status now, what are we talking about?

[00:34:47] Are we talking about financials?

[00:35:18] Yes.

[00:35:19] What do you define as a good quality?

[00:35:21] What do you define as a good quality?

[00:35:23] I have eaten my product through my pregnancy, through post delivery.

[00:35:27] When our kids were about eight, nine months and they could start eating proper solids.

[00:35:32] I fed them my product.

[00:35:33] Okay.

[00:35:34] My dad who's a diabetic eats sourdough and doesn't get any sugar spikes.

[00:35:39] So my quality standard is that if in my most vulnerable position, if I'm eating this, I can make this, I can buy this.

[00:35:47] So wheat product is not spiking as sugar?

[00:35:50] Yeah.

[00:35:50] So now again, this changes body to body.

[00:35:52] Okay.

[00:35:52] We use a lot of sourdough in all the products.

[00:35:55] Okay.

[00:35:56] Whether this is a traditional sourdough bread, which is like oval and crusty or which is this is a sadharan bread like a pound or a sized sandwich bread.

[00:36:03] Yeah.

[00:36:03] We put a lot of sourdough in all of them.

[00:36:05] Yeah.

[00:36:05] Sourdough automatically is a gut friendly.

[00:36:08] So it's not so much of the benefits of the gut.

[00:36:10] Okay.

[00:36:12] Sourdough obviously adds to taste.

[00:36:14] Recently, we realized with sourdough, a lot of our consumers have told us we don't get sugar spikes.

[00:36:20] Wow.

[00:36:20] Are they wearing the patch or they do their checks like on Instagram?

[00:36:23] A lot of some of them wear the patch, some of them use those prick monitors on a daily basis.

[00:36:30] This is not an established science right now.

[00:36:32] So I can't officially make this claim.

[00:36:34] But we noticed this in a lot of places.

[00:36:36] Okay.

[00:36:37] And a lot of people tell us that if you eat sourdough,

[00:36:41] you don't get the bread for the whole feeling.

[00:36:44] Instead, I remember in 2021 when we were opening our store in Bangalore,

[00:36:48] a customer came and said, listen, I don't eat gluten with our bread.

[00:36:52] But your bread does not have the same reaction as other whole wheat breads.

[00:36:56] And obviously, whole wheat is the gluten.

[00:36:58] So hey, nowhere are we close to gluten free.

[00:37:00] We're not even half gluten.

[00:37:01] Yeah.

[00:37:02] But I think a lot of this is sourdough.

[00:37:04] Sourdough.

[00:37:05] Sourdough.

[00:37:05] And the quantity of sourdough that we put in.

[00:37:07] Okay.

[00:37:07] So I just feel, and it's, yeah, that's the same.

[00:37:11] So you're never a big one from the mother's house.

[00:37:13] It doesn't happen.

[00:37:15] It doesn't happen.

[00:37:15] Because they used the bread,

[00:37:17] used the bread, used the bread, used the bread, made the bread.

[00:37:19] It doesn't have the same.

[00:37:20] So people think this sounds like fluff, but no, this is really, really, really true.

[00:37:25] Yeah.

[00:37:25] So I feel like our food philosophy has always remained the same, that we want to make the

[00:37:29] highest quality product.

[00:37:32] Where we've also adapted to this philosophy is in our early five, six years, I used to make

[00:37:38] the statement that when I develop a recipe, whether it's a bread or a cake, I don't look

[00:37:42] at the cost price of it.

[00:37:44] I make that product the way I would have made it for my mother or my child.

[00:37:47] Okay.

[00:37:48] Okay.

[00:37:48] And whatever it costs, it costs.

[00:37:50] And then you do your markup that you have to do and sell it at the MRP you have to sell

[00:37:53] it at.

[00:37:54] And consumers were extremely okay with this.

[00:37:57] A few years ago, I'd gone to a DMARC store and with my kids again doing some grocery shopping

[00:38:04] to see how things work.

[00:38:06] And I realized that, yeah, Aditi, in not trying to be arrogant, but you also made this statement

[00:38:12] that when I don't look at the cost price and I made a high quality product, there are

[00:38:16] people out there who look at the cost price, who cannot afford this product.

[00:38:19] And what you're certainly trying to say is there is a certain start of society that deserves

[00:38:25] to eat this and the rest don't get to eat it.

[00:38:27] So what did you do?

[00:38:28] So we did two things.

[00:38:30] We looked at the entire cost structure of our product and we said, what makes it unnecessarily

[00:38:35] expensive?

[00:38:37] Raw material we said, we don't compromise because we need it.

[00:38:41] We looked at our packing material, we looked at our manufacturing cost, we looked at our supply

[00:38:44] chain cost, we looked at all of this, which are in the market.

[00:38:47] And we started finding ways where, wherever there was fat in the business was.

[00:38:54] So now a consumer is able to buy a great quality sourdough whole wheat sandwich bread,

[00:39:00] which initially was Rs. 100, now it's Rs. 65.

[00:39:03] Now we're competing with almost like a Britannia player out there.

[00:39:07] You're maybe 5-6.

[00:39:08] You're also into sustainability, right?

[00:39:10] All the packaging and all you are doing.

[00:39:12] We also did that.

[00:39:13] So first thing was, let's make our product good quality, but affordable.

[00:39:17] Because everybody should get to it.

[00:39:19] Second was, now it's affordable, but how do you grow distribution?

[00:39:22] So initially we were a pure D2C brand, which you could buy only from our stores.

[00:39:27] Today you can buy a baker's business product across about 33 cities, span India,

[00:39:31] across about 2000 different touch points.

[00:39:34] Whether this is QuickCom, whether it's a Nature's Basket, whether it's a Namdhari,

[00:39:38] whether it is a Ecom, Amazon, all of it.

[00:39:43] So we've just, we've spread you factories in Ahmedabad.

[00:39:46] So our Ahmedabad factory produces breads for Ahmedabad and all the cakes, cookies, crackers,

[00:39:51] pan India.

[00:39:52] We put up many factories now in the past one year in Bombay, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore,

[00:39:57] where we are roast bread.

[00:39:58] And who's doing your branding?

[00:40:00] Our branding, we have an agency who does the designing for us.

[00:40:06] Okay.

[00:40:07] All in-house.

[00:40:09] So you have people in-house, the team is in-house.

[00:40:11] Yes.

[00:40:11] You also do influencer marketing?

[00:40:13] Some of it, yes.

[00:40:14] Okay.

[00:40:15] I don't think we've cracked the formula with influencer marketing as yet.

[00:40:19] Okay.

[00:40:20] But what we've, what works for us is a lot of honest content that we put out there.

[00:40:26] We share a lot of videos of our factory.

[00:40:28] We share a lot of videos of how things are made and how things are packed.

[00:40:31] We share a lot of videos telling them,

[00:40:32] what does our label mean?

[00:40:34] Your factory visits are they inspired from wine trails and whiskey trails?

[00:40:39] No.

[00:40:39] I was wondering.

[00:40:40] Our factory visits have a very silly logic actually.

[00:40:42] Tell me.

[00:40:43] Our first little kitchen was in Varada in Bombay.

[00:40:46] And our kitchen opened in December 2012.

[00:40:49] And we were supposed to open the store at the same time.

[00:40:53] If we had a legal problem with our store, we could not start with the store.

[00:40:59] And then we started doing delivery of breads.

[00:41:01] Okay.

[00:41:01] We were going to deliver at home.

[00:41:03] Then some customers said, son, I want to watch our kitchen.

[00:41:06] Okay.

[00:41:06] So I said, I want tea.

[00:41:08] Okay.

[00:41:08] And kitchen was like my favorite place.

[00:41:10] So my kitchen was like my favorite place.

[00:41:11] So we started inviting a lot of customers, guests just to come, come see the kitchen.

[00:41:17] And they would come and we used to do a lot of workshops.

[00:41:22] And this became a huge USB for us because we were not hiding the kitchen.

[00:41:27] So we've always had a kitchen, which is very nice, clean.

[00:41:31] They would see the ingredients kept on the shelves and they would say,

[00:41:33] I'm not sure they would have a kitchen.

[00:41:35] So the trust started coming.

[00:41:36] So we didn't do any shortcut.

[00:41:38] And then we realized that this works.

[00:41:40] And people just want to see honest content.

[00:41:43] So in a lot of our marketing, what works for us is not influencers saying that this is good,

[00:41:49] but we invite people to our factory in Ahmedabad.

[00:41:52] We do a lot of testimonies.

[00:41:53] We do a lot of video content of how things are made.

[00:41:56] We also have been fascinated.

[00:41:58] It's a very prominent heritage story.

[00:42:00] Exactly.

[00:42:01] Getting to the roots.

[00:42:02] Yeah.

[00:42:03] And even our factory in Ahmedabad is designed in a very sexy, very cliche.

[00:42:09] It doesn't look like a factory.

[00:42:10] It has all glass panels and you can see through when you're sitting in the conference room,

[00:42:14] you can see the bread kitchen and the pastry kitchen and seeing what's happening.

[00:42:17] Oh, lovely.

[00:42:18] And we always sit in a way where the guest gets to not look at us,

[00:42:22] but look at what's happening behind.

[00:42:23] Wow.

[00:42:24] Because we really have nothing to hide.

[00:42:25] Instead, we want to show it off more if possible.

[00:42:27] But now do you have like this official?

[00:42:29] People can just go?

[00:42:30] We do a lot of guest invites, whether it's our partners or vendors.

[00:42:34] A lot of schools in Ahmedabad send their kids for their picnics, for workshops, for field visits.

[00:42:40] And they ask the most interesting questions, the most shameless questions.

[00:42:50] And they ask us to take a look at us, and we become a PhD.

[00:42:53] And they ask us, these people are like, this is not coming to me.

[00:42:55] They are not coming to me.

[00:43:20] something very scalable. I always wanted something very high quality. So out of what he wanted and what I wanted out of this jhagda, this output came out.

[00:43:32] Like I told you earlier, when you're doing jhagda, eventually something is good.

[00:43:36] Is it safe to say you guys have a very unique business offering in India?

[00:43:42] I think it is safe to say that the way we are going about expanding it is unique.

[00:43:47] There will be lots of mom and pop shop bakeries in India who are making an excellent product as good or better than ours.

[00:43:55] But the fact that we are able to distribute it and you get it easily wherever, whenever you want it, that is what makes it very unique.

[00:44:02] I remember being at a farmer's market selling bread in Bangalore and the lady who put it up and she said,

[00:44:10] Oh, I love it, but how did I get it in Hyderabad? I said, auntie don't worry.

[00:44:13] You can go to any quick platform and get it there.

[00:44:16] So there was a lot of, oh, thank you guys.

[00:44:18] Sometimes you go to a farmer's market and you go to a farmer's market and you go to a farmer's market and you go to a farmer's market.

[00:44:22] Those sort of things. So I think that's what makes us really unique.

[00:44:26] And what are the next five years looking like?

[00:44:29] Next five years, like I said, we want to make it even more affordable and even more easily available.

[00:44:34] Because I just feel I love my bread so much.

[00:44:38] I just want to eat it all in India.

[00:44:39] So how do we get it in India?

[00:44:41] In terms of product quality, in terms of the cost price, in terms of distribution.

[00:44:46] That's what we are really after.

[00:44:49] Second, how important is marketing for you?

[00:44:52] How important is marketing is the most important thing because what happens is when you are much smaller, you get away with a lot of things.

[00:45:00] Because your product is so niche, organic word of mouth marketing.

[00:45:05] Now, when we start becoming scalable, you are competing with the mass brands also and the prestige brands also.

[00:45:13] So you have to be able to explain why me? Why should you put in the extra effort to buy me? Why should you pay that little extra for me? And that is extremely important.

[00:45:25] Do you have decent marketing budgets?

[00:45:27] Yes.

[00:45:28] And how much of it is focused on brand versus product?

[00:45:31] Most of it is towards the brand.

[00:45:34] Towards the brand.

[00:45:34] As of now you need brand building, of course.

[00:45:37] So just one second. Is that keyboard going to be a problem?

[00:45:40] In the sound?

[00:45:44] Yeah. Okay.

[00:45:46] Okay.

[00:45:47] So brand versus product.

[00:45:51] We've been now, we've raised funds from the market for in the past three years.

[00:45:55] So now obviously there is some flux to experiment with marketing.

[00:45:58] Which was not initially.

[00:46:00] We do more point of sale marketing because our conversions are much better.

[00:46:04] And then we do more off point of sales marketing.

[00:46:07] Okay.

[00:46:07] But marketing remains the core to what we are doing.

[00:46:10] Okay.

[00:46:10] Because how else are you going to grow?

[00:46:12] Yeah.

[00:46:12] And competition is growing all the time.

[00:46:16] And there is so much content out there, not just in our industry.

[00:46:18] Generally there is so much content for people to consume.

[00:46:21] Sure.

[00:46:21] That you have to be upping the game every month.

[00:46:23] Sure.

[00:46:23] So have you considered brand pace?

[00:46:26] We've recently done a campaign with Soha Ali Khan.

[00:46:29] Yeah.

[00:46:29] It's a small collaboration over a limited period of time where we are, where she's talking about the fact that we have no nasties in our product.

[00:46:40] We have zero meta, we have no palm oil, things like that.

[00:46:42] And we're experimenting with how this goes.

[00:46:44] It's been, now we are about 20 days into the campaign.

[00:46:47] And I can already see this attraction because she's an extremely credible person.

[00:46:52] Yeah.

[00:46:52] She talks by nature a lot about health and fitness.

[00:46:57] So there's a lot of trust in her when someone, when she would promote a product like that.

[00:47:01] But is it impacting awareness or it's going to impact also your down the funnel?

[00:47:06] Right now, because it's early on, it will be more awareness, which is what we're looking after.

[00:47:09] What are you looking after?

[00:47:11] Are you measuring it?

[00:47:12] Are you putting some studies?

[00:47:14] Yes, yes, yes.

[00:47:14] We have.

[00:47:14] It's just too early for us to give any metric to it right now.

[00:47:18] But it is.

[00:47:19] Our main thing is awareness right now because we feel if you are able to bring awareness towards your product,

[00:47:24] to get them to experiment for the first time.

[00:47:27] Now the taste and the price point have to do the rest of the job.

[00:47:29] Now, no celebrity campaign can work.

[00:47:32] The celebrity campaign can only help you get.

[00:47:34] Drive the awareness.

[00:47:35] Yes.

[00:47:35] But down the final it has to be product.

[00:47:37] Yes, it has to be product and the price you're selling it at.

[00:47:40] And how easily it's available in all those operations that are coming out.

[00:47:43] Are you going to do like some pop-up shops at malls, some activations?

[00:47:47] No, we, we.

[00:47:49] During festival period because it's just happening now and now.

[00:47:52] We find it far more lucrative to do more marketing activities at point of sales because the customer over there has now gone with the intention.

[00:47:58] So like a nature's basket or.

[00:48:00] A nature's basket or a blanket platform or a reliance because the customer has gone there to shop.

[00:48:05] With a state of mind to shop.

[00:48:06] With the intention.

[00:48:07] Now you're telling them these are all the options that we have.

[00:48:09] So what kind of activity would you do there?

[00:48:12] Recently because it's the Diwadi period now we've lost, launched festive hampers.

[00:48:17] Okay.

[00:48:17] So where initially a lot of people would buy a product and put it in a hamper with mixed products itself.

[00:48:23] But aajkal to hum sab kul ashtunen dirakhi kar vachat sab yaad atata and you want a ready-made hamper right?

[00:48:28] So we've done a lot of Diwadi gifting hamper service.

[00:48:30] And it's only been in the market for about 10 days now.

[00:48:34] And I think we're already 90% sold out of the inventory.

[00:48:37] We got an order yesterday and Sneena were figuring out ki hum he cater kaise gareng.

[00:48:41] So these hampers are working really well.

[00:48:43] So occasion marketing really helps right?

[00:48:44] All these big occasions.

[00:48:46] Aajkal I think occasions pura saad hab hojata hai na.

[00:48:49] Every month there is something.

[00:48:51] A lot of times occasions are also like I'm coming over to your house can I get something.

[00:48:54] More personal.

[00:48:55] Exactly.

[00:48:56] So even a lot of quick calm platforms are concentrating on gifting being a permanent thing.

[00:49:01] Very moment marketing.

[00:49:01] So yes this would work for us.

[00:49:02] But from a branding perspective have you thought of how you want to position this brand amongst Gen Z or millennials?

[00:49:08] Is it more quirky, fun, is it serious, is it…

[00:49:11] No I don't think we've ever been serious but we've always served this certain amount of quirkiness

[00:49:18] but a lot of authentic and honesty.

[00:49:20] And I feel that is a message that serves across generations.

[00:49:24] Obviously you have to find a quirkier and more innovative ways of making the same point.

[00:49:28] Do you have communication?

[00:49:28] Do you have a comms for it?

[00:49:30] Our marketing team looks at it because the messaging is very clear.

[00:49:33] We're talking about no nasties, we're talking about real ingredients.

[00:49:36] What this means is hum palm oil na use karayenge.

[00:49:39] If someone says whole wheat, then it doesn't have meat.

[00:49:42] Very product-led.

[00:49:44] Then a lot of it is our banana bread is really why it's so tasty because it has real bananas in it.

[00:49:49] And consumers need this little small bits of information to help them make the choice.

[00:49:55] Why this banana bread over someone else's banana bread?

[00:49:57] So it's a very strong digital strategy and point of sales and influencers also would play a huge role eventually.

[00:50:02] Our sampling also works really great.

[00:50:04] So in a lot of physical stores, we have promoters who will make you taste the product.

[00:50:09] Because I feel that food and nothing says as good as…

[00:50:11] I'll say all the things.

[00:50:12] If you're interested, then you'll buy it.

[00:50:15] Correct.

[00:50:16] And that works brilliantly for us.

[00:50:18] So there are these places like a…

[00:50:21] You know, where the simulation happens for kids, right?

[00:50:25] Yeah.

[00:50:25] They show how pizzas are made, how breads are made.

[00:50:28] And are you…

[00:50:29] Do you consider to take a place there for branding purpose?

[00:50:34] I don't think…

[00:50:34] Not right now.

[00:50:34] I don't think that is something we're looking at currently.

[00:50:38] Okay.

[00:50:39] I think our big market is…

[00:50:42] Who's your audience?

[00:50:44] Initially, we used to think these are 30, 35 plus women married with kids who want to make more conscious choices.

[00:50:51] But a lot of our sales data for the past six, seven months that we've been looking at says they are definitely a market.

[00:50:58] But there is an age group between 20 to 30 who are conscious eaters.

[00:51:02] 20 to 30.

[00:51:03] And there's a huge market there.

[00:51:05] And these are people who are buying a product.

[00:51:07] Now we need to adapt more of our messaging in a way that they find it interesting to see.

[00:51:11] Got it.

[00:51:12] The message does not change.

[00:51:13] The way of communication changes.

[00:51:14] These will be your Gen Z.

[00:51:16] Gen Z's, yes.

[00:51:17] Primarily Gen Z.

[00:51:18] Because they are far more conscious of the choices that they're making.

[00:51:21] And you know, we were raised in the way that when you grow, you get money, you'll buy good things.

[00:51:25] That is not the philosophy of Gen Z.

[00:51:28] Where they are saying, listen, I deserve to have something good even if I'm not earning.

[00:51:33] I will earn at some point.

[00:51:34] But today when I'm 20, 21, I'm going to college.

[00:51:36] I still deserve to eat something good.

[00:51:37] I still deserve to be healthy.

[00:51:39] And some of those choices are good choices because the kind of damage bad food can do to you earlier.

[00:51:45] And if you eat multivitamins, exercise, eat at home.

[00:51:48] It's very difficult to fix it later.

[00:51:51] Are you doing any studies?

[00:51:53] Are you doing any studies or reports and collaboration?

[00:51:56] We are doing some research with a few scientists to figure out the benefits of sourdough.

[00:52:02] Okay.

[00:52:03] Yeah.

[00:52:03] On different parts of your health.

[00:52:05] Like the way I said, sugar or gut and so on.

[00:52:07] Because there's a lot of goodness to it.

[00:52:10] But now in our country, sourdough is still premium, fancy and people are buying it for the gourmet value.

[00:52:17] They've not totally grasped the health value to it.

[00:52:19] It's not for everyday breakfast yet.

[00:52:21] Let me put it this way.

[00:52:22] Yes, but it should be.

[00:52:22] It is for occasion.

[00:52:23] It should be.

[00:52:24] Which is why we've taken sourdough and put it in sadharan breads like a sandwich bread,

[00:52:28] a pav, a pizza, a pizza.

[00:52:30] Saying okay you don't want to eat the crusties though.

[00:52:32] Maybe not everyday.

[00:52:32] Maybe you don't like it.

[00:52:34] If you like your soft square bread, it should still have all those health benefits.

[00:52:38] Like I said, why the health benefits only at a particular price point?

[00:52:41] Yeah.

[00:52:41] Everybody should get it.

[00:52:42] Everybody should get it.

[00:52:43] Yeah.

[00:52:44] It should be as uniform.

[00:52:45] It should be.

[00:52:46] Why not?

[00:52:47] Do you see your kids getting into this career?

[00:52:51] I don't think so.

[00:52:52] No?

[00:52:52] I think…

[00:52:53] Have they voiced it?

[00:52:54] Anything otherwise?

[00:52:55] They have to play cricket, make Virat Kodi, so I don't think…

[00:52:59] One has to make Virat and the other has to do something.

[00:53:01] They are obsessed with sports right now.

[00:53:05] And I think it's okay.

[00:53:06] I mean, there's no real point for them to think about this right now.

[00:53:08] They should just do what drives them and what excites them.

[00:53:11] Yeah.

[00:53:12] What's next?

[00:53:13] Shark Tank?

[00:53:14] No, I think we're a little bigger for Shark Tank.

[00:53:22] As a judge.

[00:53:22] I mean as a judge.

[00:53:24] I think we're much smaller for that too.

[00:53:28] I think where we are at right now is…

[00:53:32] Bakers hasn't always been bootstrapped.

[00:53:34] We did some fundraising about 2-3 years ago.

[00:53:37] That's when the first time we got external fund infusion.

[00:53:39] We did a lot of experimentation.

[00:53:40] We made profits some days, we made losses some days.

[00:53:43] Now where we know is where is the product fit, what is the marketing.

[00:53:47] We know financially we have to be profitable which we are now.

[00:53:49] So we are very clear that this stability we have to maintain growing forward also.

[00:53:55] So I think that has come in the ethos of the brand.

[00:53:59] Second, I think when we're talking about sustainability,

[00:54:01] first, we should be sustainable.

[00:54:03] We have been working very hard for a year and it has been sustainable.

[00:54:06] Explain.

[00:54:08] Like we were discussing earlier where we were talking about a whole wheat

[00:54:12] which was just 120 rupees, how did we get to 60 rupees?

[00:54:14] So we took business decisions which…

[00:54:17] You cut the fat out of the process.

[00:54:18] Yeah, we cut the fat out.

[00:54:19] Exactly.

[00:54:22] Second, a project that we took about 2 and a half years ago,

[00:54:25] because we're talking about sustainability,

[00:54:27] environmental sustainability also matters.

[00:54:29] And I was like,

[00:54:29] Nana always tell us,

[00:54:31] do anything on your country.

[00:54:33] Today, the environment is such a universal problem.

[00:54:36] And really not a problem most of us are taking seriously.

[00:54:40] About 2 years ago we said,

[00:54:42] there's a brand, its personality,

[00:54:44] its personality is so product driven,

[00:54:45] some of it is finance driven.

[00:54:47] But what about the environment we are taking away so much from?

[00:54:51] What is it about that?

[00:54:51] What are we going to do in this situation?

[00:54:53] So we hired an agency from Bombay who did a study for us

[00:54:57] to understand what is the carbon footprint of the baker's dust.

[00:55:00] Okay.

[00:55:01] How much are we taking away from the environment?

[00:55:03] And they did a very deep study,

[00:55:05] that you do how much in plastic,

[00:55:06] how much in manufacturing,

[00:55:08] how much in supply chain,

[00:55:09] how much in supply chain.

[00:55:10] So they calculated carbon.

[00:55:12] They calculated.

[00:55:12] That the footprint of your process in every part.

[00:55:16] Process, process, process,

[00:55:17] process, city, product,

[00:55:18] all that needed calculation.

[00:55:19] Okay.

[00:55:19] Then once we had this data,

[00:55:21] we said what next?

[00:55:22] So we identified two things in it.

[00:55:24] One was plastic neutrality,

[00:55:26] which means we have to recycle as much plastic as we are using.

[00:55:30] Got it.

[00:55:31] Second is green deliveries,

[00:55:33] which means the supply chain

[00:55:35] the carbon footprint of the time.

[00:55:37] A truck will go from Ahmedabad to Bombay.

[00:55:39] There will be a temple from Bombay's factory

[00:55:41] to the Bombay's warehouse

[00:55:42] to the partner's warehouse and all this.

[00:55:45] The carbon footprint that we have to offset.

[00:55:48] So these are the first two projects we took up.

[00:55:51] When we were taking up these projects,

[00:55:53] which was about a year and a half,

[00:55:54] the company was making huge losses.

[00:55:56] And now we're trying to cut out the fat.

[00:55:58] First thing the finance team says,

[00:56:00] why do you do this project?

[00:56:01] Because this is not something that's going to give you monetary benefit.

[00:56:05] Maybe in the future,

[00:56:06] but at least not today.

[00:56:08] Now the passion comes in,

[00:56:10] that you have to do something.

[00:56:12] This is decided to do something.

[00:56:13] It's not money,

[00:56:14] that's also our money.

[00:56:15] So I remember talking to about 15-20 of our team members,

[00:56:18] that we need about 20-30 racks to offset some of this.

[00:56:21] How are we going to start?

[00:56:23] Okay.

[00:56:24] And this is where I feel passion comes in.

[00:56:27] We have a storekeeper in our factory,

[00:56:29] who said,

[00:56:30] ma'am,

[00:56:31] who have LPG cylinders,

[00:56:32] which is our oven,

[00:56:33] this is when I go back to the factory,

[00:56:36] it's 3-4 kg LPG free.

[00:56:38] So I'll use it better and better use it.

[00:56:41] And I'll give it all.

[00:56:43] And optimize it properly.

[00:56:44] Exactly.

[00:56:45] Then our dispatch manager said,

[00:56:47] we buy cartons and sell products packers.

[00:56:50] I'll control it a little bit,

[00:56:51] ordering it.

[00:56:52] And I'll save money.

[00:56:54] By two of these things,

[00:56:56] we saved about 15 lakh rupees a year.

[00:56:59] So my budget is out of the way.

[00:57:01] My God.

[00:57:02] So that's true.

[00:57:02] And we realized that there are smaller aspects

[00:57:06] also where the fat exists which we don't realize.

[00:57:09] And this,

[00:57:10] the team did only because

[00:57:11] they didn't have any profit in their interest.

[00:57:14] They said that this project was interesting

[00:57:15] and we had something to do with our environment.

[00:57:18] And like I said,

[00:57:19] environment is not a problem of my city or my nation.

[00:57:21] It's a problem of the world.

[00:57:23] Yeah.

[00:57:24] So that is something extremely important

[00:57:26] that the Bakers doesn't.

[00:57:27] And gradually,

[00:57:28] how are we going to up this?

[00:57:29] We have two things offset.

[00:57:31] How will we do the third one,

[00:57:32] the fourth one and so on, so on.

[00:57:34] Okay.

[00:57:35] And does this lead to anything bigger for you guys

[00:57:38] in future?

[00:57:39] I mean,

[00:57:40] to be environmentally conscious,

[00:57:43] does it get better funding,

[00:57:44] better investors to get your...

[00:57:46] It may not.

[00:57:46] But I don't think that's the motivation honestly.

[00:57:49] No, but I'm saying as a side effect let's say.

[00:57:52] You know doing it for a good purpose.

[00:57:53] When we started to create Savado in 2013

[00:57:54] then there was no one knew Savado.

[00:57:57] No, we didn't even know Savado.

[00:57:58] We didn't even know Savado.

[00:57:59] Exactly.

[00:57:59] So in Covid time,

[00:58:00] we are all Savado experts.

[00:58:02] So Sni and I have always taken decisions

[00:58:04] which we feel are the right decisions.

[00:58:07] The value system tells us

[00:58:08] that this is what we have also realized.

[00:58:11] Most times these decisions have had a financial payout also.

[00:58:14] So there's a very strong correlation.

[00:58:16] Got it.

[00:58:17] To give you a small example is

[00:58:20] during the pandemic,

[00:58:21] when the second wave was happening,

[00:58:22] which was very traumatic.

[00:58:24] And a lot of companies were contributing

[00:58:25] by getting hospital beds, oxygen, this that.

[00:58:27] And we were thinking,

[00:58:28] what are we going to do?

[00:58:34] So we came up with this campaign called,

[00:58:40] The dose we need.

[00:58:40] Which said, if you go and take any shot of vaccine,

[00:58:43] the first, second doesn't matter.

[00:58:46] And show us a valid certificate for it.

[00:58:48] We will send you a box of cookies.

[00:58:50] It was the same idea that when we go to the doctor,

[00:58:52] we give an injection,

[00:58:53] we give an injection toffee.

[00:58:54] Or if we take a drink,

[00:58:55] we can eat ice cream.

[00:58:56] Exactly.

[00:58:56] Exactly.

[00:58:57] So we were trying to do that.

[00:58:59] Now when we initially planned for this,

[00:59:01] we said,

[00:59:01] we will make a couple of 1,500 cookies.

[00:59:04] We will make it so much.

[00:59:06] We started a website and

[00:59:07] where we went to the thing,

[00:59:09] we did not want this customer data.

[00:59:11] So we made a software which would validate

[00:59:12] that the certificate is valid or not.

[00:59:14] But we didn't give this customer data.

[00:59:15] Because the intention was not customer data collection.

[00:59:20] This went so viral.

[00:59:23] In a thing but a week,

[00:59:24] we had to put an end to it

[00:59:25] because we got 10,000 valid entries.

[00:59:28] Pan India.

[00:59:29] It was not budget for the cookies.

[00:59:31] It was not capacity for the cookies.

[00:59:34] So midway we said,

[00:59:37] we have to write to 10,000 people

[00:59:40] that your cookies are coming.

[00:59:42] It will take some time.

[00:59:42] We will send 10, 15 days.

[00:59:47] Now we were only doing this

[00:59:49] because we felt we wanted to contribute.

[00:59:51] But a lot of media came to us and said,

[00:59:54] why are you doing this?

[00:59:56] Like what is your CTA?

[00:59:57] You said, you buy a dollar.

[00:59:59] I said, no.

[01:00:01] Do you give customer data?

[01:00:02] No.

[01:00:02] Do you give data based?

[01:00:04] No.

[01:00:04] Everyone was amazed.

[01:00:05] How can you so altruistically do this?

[01:00:08] And that eventually garnered us

[01:00:09] a lot of media.

[01:00:10] Good PR and positive word of mouth.

[01:00:12] If you hear from the heart,

[01:00:15] never, never,

[01:00:16] God will do something in 6 months,

[01:00:16] 2, 4 years.

[01:00:17] He will do something.

[01:00:19] So conscious entrepreneurship,

[01:00:21] if I call it.

[01:00:22] Like what you guys are doing is not like

[01:00:23] just money will become.

[01:00:25] Money will become.

[01:00:27] But do it the right way.

[01:00:27] Do it the more human way.

[01:00:29] Exactly.

[01:00:29] And we have to enjoy it.

[01:00:30] At the end of the day,

[01:00:32] we've been gifted this human life

[01:00:33] of maybe 60, 70, 80 years.

[01:00:35] Yeah.

[01:00:36] Everything cannot be driven by money.

[01:00:37] So, if you enjoy what you do,

[01:00:41] money will always come.

[01:00:42] Always follow.

[01:00:42] Always follow.

[01:00:43] There's no way it will not.

[01:00:44] So human values over anything else.

[01:00:46] Yes.

[01:00:47] And I think it works.

[01:00:48] I'm not trying to be saying to the

[01:00:50] that this will do or

[01:00:51] it will be a chance or a chance.

[01:00:53] I have full faith that if all of us do

[01:00:56] things in the correct way,

[01:00:58] every need necessity we have,

[01:01:00] it will get satisfied.

[01:01:01] When nobody knows.

[01:01:03] It could be tomorrow.

[01:01:04] It could be 10 years down the line.

[01:01:05] Got it.

[01:01:06] Do you have an approach of hiring your staff?

[01:01:11] Are you looking for like a

[01:01:13] atypical type of people to join your tribe?

[01:01:16] Because you do come with a very clear vision

[01:01:18] of where you're heading.

[01:01:20] Our biggest criteria when we're driving is

[01:01:23] we actually don't look at qualifications.

[01:01:25] The more underqualified the better it is.

[01:01:27] Okay.

[01:01:27] We only look at that

[01:01:29] that you're enjoying the work.

[01:01:32] Instead I will give you an example.

[01:01:34] We have about 80 odd bakers in our factory.

[01:01:39] In there is no sixth pass.

[01:01:42] They never have any hospitality or other bakery experience.

[01:01:45] We don't have anything.

[01:01:46] Our factory is in Kheda,

[01:01:47] which is a district about an hour away from Ahmedabad.

[01:01:51] In villages near Kheda,

[01:01:52] people come here.

[01:01:54] They initially knew nothing of baking.

[01:01:55] They've been trained on this.

[01:01:57] The way my chefs trained me.

[01:01:59] And today I believe they are one of the best bakers

[01:02:02] the country has because

[01:02:03] they may not understand how to put what they do

[01:02:06] in a very scientific way.

[01:02:08] But they understand what is proving,

[01:02:10] what is underproving,

[01:02:11] how much mixing it should be,

[01:02:12] what is overmixing,

[01:02:14] how much shape it from the hands,

[01:02:15] when you have to add it in the oven.

[01:02:18] You should not overfill an oven.

[01:02:21] If it's capacity is 10,

[01:02:23] greedy is not 12.

[01:02:24] They understand all of this.

[01:02:26] Wow.

[01:02:27] So you've generated employment technically.

[01:02:30] I mean I think all entrepreneurs do.

[01:02:31] We always believed whether it came out of goodwill

[01:02:35] or we were so young nobody wanted to come to Bakersdarsan.

[01:02:38] When you're too young nobody wants to think

[01:02:40] what will this business happen.

[01:02:42] So we also said that underqualified is going to be

[01:02:44] slowly and slowly train.

[01:02:45] It's a passion that has grown.

[01:02:47] It's a passion that I think

[01:02:48] they are more loyal to the company.

[01:02:51] And all of you are perpetually on the same wavelength.

[01:02:54] So you don't have to spend a lot of time

[01:02:56] in alignment.

[01:02:58] And they've stuck around all these years?

[01:03:01] A lot of them have.

[01:03:02] How large is your staff currently?

[01:03:05] Our staff, Pan India,

[01:03:07] on-roll and off-roll will be close to about 300 odd people.

[01:03:10] Across India?

[01:03:11] Across India.

[01:03:11] And in Ahmedabad?

[01:03:14] In Ahmedabad we will have close to about 120 people

[01:03:19] in our manufacturing and about 40 people in our head office.

[01:03:24] Interesting.

[01:03:25] Instead when we moved our manufacturing from Bombay to Ahmedabad

[01:03:27] a lot of people from Bombay moved to Ahmedabad.

[01:03:29] We have girls who moved,

[01:03:31] who got their brothers to move,

[01:03:32] who got their fathers to move,

[01:03:33] who got their mothers to move.

[01:03:34] Then they started working in our company.

[01:03:36] Wow.

[01:03:37] So a lot of girl-driven stuff happens.

[01:03:40] Lovely.

[01:03:42] Before we go into the next section,

[01:03:45] I thought we'd just make it a little light.

[01:03:47] Yes.

[01:03:48] Okay.

[01:03:48] So I'm going to ask you questions

[01:03:50] whether it's going to be bake it or break it for you.

[01:03:54] Okay.

[01:03:56] Launch a bread making course for young women entrepreneurs.

[01:03:59] Bake it or break it?

[01:04:03] Bake it.

[01:04:05] Expand your product line.

[01:04:06] Bake it is yes, right?

[01:04:08] Expand your product line to include sweets and pastries beyond just bread.

[01:04:13] We already do that.

[01:04:14] We already do that.

[01:04:15] We already do cakes, cookies, crackers.

[01:04:16] But will that ever become your hero?

[01:04:18] Yes, yes.

[01:04:19] Bake it. Definitely.

[01:04:20] Wake up at 5am daily to make the perfect sordo.

[01:04:25] Oh, so I have to stay up at night to make it.

[01:04:27] I don't have to wake up at 5am.

[01:04:28] This happens through the night.

[01:04:30] Through the night.

[01:04:30] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[01:04:31] I've done lots of night shifts.

[01:04:32] And that is the good part.

[01:04:34] Instead of October, November, December peak season.

[01:04:36] How much time does it take?

[01:04:39] A sour dough end to end.

[01:04:40] I mean, if you already have the starter ready with you because you have to have.

[01:04:44] It is a 5-hour process minimum.

[01:04:46] Wow.

[01:04:47] If not longer.

[01:04:48] It's more than baking a cake.

[01:04:50] Haan haan.

[01:04:51] Cakes are super easy.

[01:04:53] We have to be prepared at night.

[01:04:55] We have to make it a 10-hour process.

[01:04:55] We have to take a 10-hour process.

[01:04:56] We have to have 10-hour process at least.

[01:04:58] Delegate most of your day-to-day operations to focus on family and self-care.

[01:05:03] Bake it or break it.

[01:05:05] Halfway.

[01:05:05] I have learnt to do a lot of delegation in the past five years.

[01:05:11] It will never be a whole family or the other way around.

[01:05:14] But there was a lot of things that I needed to train my team to do.

[01:05:18] It's better for the business, it's better for me.

[01:05:20] So you know the art of letting go and when you need to step in.

[01:05:24] Ha ha, you have to.

[01:05:26] If you don't let go, you're not going to be able to grow as a business.

[01:05:29] Forget spending time with your family.

[01:05:30] Even if that's not your motivation, if you cannot build a team and train them to do the

[01:05:35] job as well as what you would have done, it's not possible to grow the business at all.

[01:05:40] And I think my kids taught me this.

[01:05:42] My kids taught me to be efficient.

[01:05:44] Ideally, you should have started much earlier but when your children came, you want to be

[01:05:47] with them.

[01:05:48] They need mama, mama needs a child.

[01:05:50] So then you said, now you need to educate yourself.

[01:05:54] So my children have learned something.

[01:05:56] Take a two week vacation during your busiest season.

[01:06:00] Never.

[01:06:02] Never.

[01:06:02] That will never happen.

[01:06:03] Break it.

[01:06:05] Definitely break it.

[01:06:07] Definitely break it.

[01:06:07] Experiment with a completely new ingredient in your bread.

[01:06:11] Bake it.

[01:06:12] Bake it.

[01:06:12] Bake it.

[01:06:13] Up for the challenge.

[01:06:14] Always.

[01:06:15] Yeah.

[01:06:15] Yeah, that's what we thrive for.

[01:06:17] So many times our R&D department just makes products because…

[01:06:20] Anything under experiment these days which you're launching soon?

[01:06:22] Lots, lots.

[01:06:24] We don't know if they're launching soon or not but there's lots of experimentation that happens.

[01:06:28] Some of them get translated, some of them we just do to keep…

[01:06:31] You're discard also.

[01:06:32] It's like a laboratory experiment.

[01:06:35] Yeah, yeah.

[01:06:35] I mean our R&D team works in product development half the time to sharpen their brain.

[01:06:39] Yeah.

[01:06:40] To keep the skills alive.

[01:06:42] Yeah.

[01:06:42] And some of these experiments convert into a product.

[01:06:46] Sometimes.

[01:06:47] Some of the products that we wanted to make, we never ended up making those experiments

[01:06:50] successful.

[01:06:51] But our R&D team has a good time doing this.

[01:06:55] It's the best job in the company.

[01:06:57] Everybody is like, you've done something today, let's play with us.

[01:07:01] So what is your definition of unstoppable woman?

[01:07:06] I feel every individual needs to set a target for themselves and find a way to achieve it.

[01:07:15] A lot of people tell me, and this is what I say, that's why I'm saying person not a woman.

[01:07:19] I think this has, we have to become a bit gender neutral.

[01:07:21] That's how I was raised.

[01:07:23] And we, women also need to think, if we want equality, we should also think that we're

[01:07:28] the same.

[01:07:29] So if you set a target for yourself, find a way to achieve it no matter what.

[01:07:34] Once you've achieved it, set one more target.

[01:07:36] Then one more target.

[01:07:38] And this target doesn't have to be a business target.

[01:07:39] This could be a very personal target.

[01:07:42] And that is what really makes us unstoppable because every time we realize, oh I could conquer

[01:07:47] this fear, I could conquer this challenge, I could conquer this milestone.

[01:07:51] Let's not be happy with it.

[01:07:52] Let's see what value it actually looks like.

[01:07:52] Let's bring it to the edge of the middle.

[01:07:53] So in two more target.

[01:07:53] Let's look at the best Kiss of the space,

[01:07:53] so you can do this right?

[01:07:53] Let's take the same target to the right to the right.