‘There is no sincere love than the love of food’-
George Bernard Shaw
Food enthusiast, Pankaj Gupta is quintessential and ubiquitous and living his dream of making his food brand ‘Petu Pankaj’ number one in the world. Food has always been his passion. Pankaj’s friends used to tease him by name, ‘Petu’. Being a foodie since childhood, Pankaj used to eat his friends food when he was in school. Whenever he was travelling with friends, the food handling department was always given to him because everyone knew they can only trust Pankaj when it comes to food. He loved tasting and experimenting rustic food while traveling. Slowly it became a passion for him. Before opening his food chain, Pankaj was Chartered Accountant for eighteen years. But watching cookery shows on TV was still his favourite pass time. Eventually, Pankaj decided to do something in the food business in 2016. For more than one and a half year, Pankaj did a thorough research on food and how he can start making business out of it. His younger brother is a Chef; Pankaj called him and asked about some general rules in this business. Pankaj’s brother knew what exactly he wanted to do so he helped him in setting up his new business. His family initially did not support him because of his totally out-of-the-track career choice, but eventually they loved the idea. After a lot of hardships and efforts, in November, 2018, he launched a brand named, ‘Petu Pankaj’.
THE SPECIALTIES
The brand is known for its rustic Indian Biryanis and authentic curries. They serve delicious Biryanis with quality rice, authentic spices and herbs. They have filed three patents for Biryanis and one for curry, which will be launching soon. Undoubtedly, customers love their food because they find the perfect balance of spices and health benefits in it. One of the best thing in their food is they do not add common salt in their food. Petu Pankaj prefers adding blended mineral salt in their dishes. Secondly, they do not use red chilies powder in their food because of its health risk. There are some more spices which are not good for health, so the alternates are used to add the taste maintaining health as a priority in their food. The food is prepared as it was made in villages, years ago, in Brass utensils. Petu means ‘connoisseur of food’ and that was how, ‘Petu Pankaj’ got discovered. The ‘authentic’ curries are still made in the same way as they were made earlier, using same oils, cooking time and spices but with more health benefits. The brand does not add synthetic items like mayonnaise and other sauces.
TARGET AUDIENCE
People of all age groups can enjoy their food because of the ingredients added in food. We are the only brand who gives 100 percent cash back (full return amount). Every day we select one lucky customer who gets 100 percent refund (if the customer orders directly- walk in, telephone order or a website order).
STORE LOCATION AND FUTURE PLANNING
The first store of this QSR( Quick service restaurant) was opened in November 2018, in Sector 8 Chandigarh; rest of the stores are in Zirakpur, Panchkula, Mohali and a base kitchen in Industrial Area, Chandigarh. Petu Pankaj is adding a new breakfast menu which will include a lot of new food items, fusion items with eggs, bringing different states of India together. Pankaj wants to build a brand which can generate employment, healthy food, revenue and avenues for everybody.
“I really love Indian food. I got a lot of opportunities to settle outside India but I just cannot leave my Indian roots. That is the reason the brand exclusively deliver Indian food”
Pankaj Gupta