Startup Story #5: Harshwardhan Wani’s Foody Treat

September 5, 2016

For Harshwardhan Wani, his love for confectionary and food in general created an opportunity to make it big in the startup scene. Wani worked in the Human Resources (HR) and recruitment sector for almost seven years before he decided to tread on a different path. This decision to leave his well-paying corporate job and indulge in his passion for food resulted in Foody Treat. The startup specialises in the delivery of cakes and other related products with a difference.

The twist that makes it different from similar ventures, is that with a click of a button a cake is delivered to the chosen location. But this service is available 24×7. Forgot the birthday cake just few hours before the clock strikes twelve? It’s way past the closing time of most bakeries and that’s where Foody Treat comes to the rescue. “I had an idea to make cake designing online. So you design your cake the way you like and we get it made and delivered. But, that was not technically feasible. So with modifications came in FoodyTreat.com,” explains Wani.

For someone who describes himself as a “complete foodie”, why the hunger for cakes? “I realised that the process of getting a cake of your choice was cumbersome. There was no organised delivery system barring a few.” To simplify this process, Wani went through his own set of hurdles in the form of research. “My research took me almost a year to complete. I went to 135 bakeries personally to check the status,” he shares. After realising the huge potential but lack of an organised structure, he decided to create space for an online marketplace. During the course of his research, he realised that the market is divided into the organised bakeries, unorganised ones and home bakers out of which “10-15,000 are into customised cakes.”

“After a year of collecting facts and figures, it came to light that 90,000 cakes are sold in the city, in a day and that holds great value,” reveals Wani. The skills inculcated while being a HR employee worked well in this profession too. Approaching bakeries and sharing his idea lead him to tying up with 78 bakeries, including W S Bakers, Copper Chocs, Monginis to name a few. The word spread far and wide, mostly by using the tools of social media. “Our first order came via Twitter. Now, on an average we do 30-35 deliveries all the way from Hinjewadi to Wagholi,” beams Wani.

The reason Wani calls it a startup with a difference is because of the social cause attached to it. “When we hire a person, we make sure they have completed their education and if not we help them do that by paying their school fees or tuition money. I feel that the people who work with me should grow as individuals and not just in my business,” adds Wani. Not being the premise for hiring, Wani – a native of Jalgaon – has already helped five people receive a formal education. Out of which one is a 30-year-old man, “He could not go back to school, so we are giving him computer education which will be more useful,” says Wani.

Describing himself as a risktaker, Wani always knew there was an entrepreneur in him. “What I have started does not even exist in places like the US and Australia,” he believes. This did come with its own set of challenges as bakeries do not always maintain a database and sometimes don’t disclose details of the cake, making it hard for the consumer to choose from. But, according to Wani, setting up his venture in Pune helped. “The startup environment in Pune is very encouraging, with so many startup events being organised.” The startup dream does not stop here, as he plans on extending it to cities like Nashik, Jalgaon and Bengaluru sometime soon.