Building an Unlikely Foods Giant Startup
Viraj Bahl of Veeba sauces is an interesting man. Upon graduation, his father told him that he would have to earn his way into a life of prosperity. His father told him that he would have to earn outside the family business. He would have to establish a basic lifestyle before participating in the family business.
Hearing this, Viraj did not flinch. Viraj found a path that was way . He found work on an oil rig and put away a pile of money. A pile of money would enable him to live a life of decent comfort for the rest of his life.
Once he established a basic lifestyle, his father was good for his word. Viraj joined the family business – Dr.Oetker’s fun foods around the year 2003. Amidst the back of the IT Offshoring and India’s decade of growth, Oetker took off. It became a massive success, and Viraj likes to quip that it succeeded despite him.
Sale of Dr.Oetker and Founding Pocketful
Around 2009, Viraj’s father decided to sell the family’s legacy business in sauces – Dr.Oetker to a Multinational company (MNC). As many first-generation entrepreneurs will tell you, there comes an opening that one has to take. And this is what his father did when he sold the company to an MNC.
Viraj, fresh on the heels of the sale of Oetker, was itching to try his hand at what naturally comes to every human being – starting a restaurant. Viraj founded Pocketful, a combination of fine dine and quick-service restaurants. To make a long story short, this bombed. The venture failed, and Viraj lost a good chunk of money.
Anindita Sampath of Yoga Bars
Founding Veeba
Not one to stop at failure, Viraj set about starting up again. However, this time around, he was going to do something familiar with. Only, he was going to do it bigger and better. He founded Veeba. As he likes to say and we totally, the sauce is the unsung hero of the Indian palette, kitchen, dishes, and Indian cooking. Without the sauces, the dish is just a skeleton of things.
BTW – the Indian Food Industry runs into several lakhs of Crores per year.
Sauce – The Unsung Hero of the Kitchen
The next time you try your favorite Bhel Puri or Chicken Tikka Masala – imagine the dish without the sauce, and you’ll understand. Today, Veeba has grown into one of India’s largest foods companies, especially in sauces. They have recreated every imaginable amazing flavor on the planet and brought it closer to us.