Sweet Nothings- Traditional Values, Modern Perspectives!

Sweet Nothings by Apoorva Bhargava is reviving age-old recipes and traditional cooking ways. They pride themselves in being old-school where a lot of emphasis is put on fresh, organic, and premium ingredients. Their preserves, syrups, squashes, desserts and other bakery items are completely artificial preservative-free. No wonder they have amassed such a loyal fan base. Apoorva Bhargava, an alumna of Loreto Convent and Banasthali Vidyapeeth, learned bakery and patisserie from IBCA, Bangalore, and gained work experience from Vivanta by Taj in Lucknow. She started her career as a fondant artist and has done 4-5 feet tall cakes at the 42nd Annual Bangalore cake show, 2016. Coming back to Lucknow, she was in a fix whether to continue working as a fondant artist or start something innovative. Followed by brainstorming, Apoorva was sure that she wanted to carve her niche. So she started the concept of ‘East Meets West’, a fusion of Indian and western desserts like Mithaai cheesecake, Spiced Pineapple Cheesecake, and a lot of other exclusive combinations. Grandma's recipes were a hit! “During Holi, our Thandai Chocolates became our specialty. Our seasonal specialties such as Aam Panna Cheesecake, Mango Chilli Mousse, or the Mango Kulfi Cheesecake were getting quite popular. After having built a sturdy clientele, it was time for us to expand but I wanted to go the traditional route in baking. Finally, I got my hands on a ‘Bhatti’ (traditional oven) where I decided to bake. I never wanted to bake in an OTG or a small oven. Buying a commercial oven at this stage was not easy. We started baking biscuits and mind you, not cookies! We did simple traditional tea cakes and brought back the nice smoky flavour in the baked goods. Our Diwali hampers were a hit”, Apoorva Reminisced. Traditional buiscuits “During the winter season, due to the easy availability of fruits at reasonable prices, I experimented, tried, and tested my grandmother's recipes of jams and squashes. Age-old recipes that were much loved were guava jelly, gooseberry jams, lemon squashes, etc. Apart from that, we worked a lot on fruit and vegetable preserves. Awarded by the honorable governor Shri Ram Naik at the Mango Festival In a span of three years, we have won a lot of appreciation and awards. We were awarded by the honorable governor Shri Ram Naik at the Mango Festival, won the third prize for the best stall at the India Food Expo organized by IIA, and for two consecutive years, we have been winning the shield at Raj Bhawan for food preservation”, she added.   BV: What sets you apart from your competitors? Apoorva: Lucknow has a lot of bakers and home bakers but I can surely guarantee that we are completely different. While others are busy doing the same, copying each other, we are following the traditional ways. Baking in a bhatti, doing authentic cheesecakes, making 100% natural, chemical-free, We are proud to be baking in a bhatti, doing authentic cheesecakes, making 100% natural, chemical-free, pure jams, jellies, and squashes as well as making traditional recipes with a twist. People trust us with quality and purity.   BV:  What were the initial risk and challenges that you faced with your venture?  Apoorva: Since I am a home baker, a huge initial investment was not required. I was always told that word of mouth marketing is much better than digital marketing. So I used to make desserts, chocolates send them to friends, acquaintances, and neighbors. That's how I created my space. Initially, the availability of ingredients was a major challenge. Arranging the smallest of things was a difficulty. There is only one shop in Lucknow which had all the baking essentials and if they were out of stock for anything, we went for a toss. I always wanted to do something exclusive and never wanted the same packaging for my goodies. So for packaging, I had to take trips to Delhi and Mumbai and invested a lot of money. Artificial preservative-free products For some time, doing business with friends and acquaintances was good but I wanted to go the corporate order route. So, when I got my first bulk order of 8,000 chocolates through a reseller, it was quite a challenge. One of the challenges that I faced was that the cost of buying ingredients in bulk was almost the same as buying smaller quantities. While I managed to fulfill that order, I hardly made any profits. That experience taught me to negotiate my pricing. I was satisfied with the proof-of-concept of corporate orders. Putting up stalls at exhibitions was costly and we ended up in losses and only after 3-4 flop exhibitions we could create a market for ourselves. BV:  In the current situation, what challenges are you facing in your business? What steps have you taken to mitigate/overcome those? Apoorva: Since we are dependent on seasonal produce for our preserves, we prepare preservative-free batches for the whole season. Due to government restrictions, we have a lot of unsold stock. We are also majorly dependent on exhibitions and weddings for sales, so, we have lost out on a lot due to cancellations. The weather also keeps on fluctuating which is one of the major reasons for food spoilage. The yummy traditional cakes On the positive side, aggregators like Zomato and Swiggy took us on board. We had new clients and many repeat orders. However, due to an increase in delivery charges, our sales kept declining. But despite fluctuating sales, something is better than nothing. Although we have placed our products in various stores, due to the lack of footfalls, the sales aren’t that great. BV: Any word of advice for upcoming food startups? Apoorva: Quality is one thing that will keep you going always. With more people becoming health-conscious, they don’t mind paying a premium for premium healthy and quality products. Innovate and experiment with the basics and you’ll come up with great results. Instead of investing in a brick and mortar place, a cloud kitchen is a better idea as in the coming times, people will prefer home-cooked food rather than restaurant food. Educate people about your products first and then try to sell them. Go with traditional Indian cuisines (Bengali, Gujarati, etc) rather than foreign ones. For more such updates, follow us on Facebook and  Instagram. Download our magazine Spunky Indian for exclusive stories.