Mother-daughter pair Poonam and Jaya Tulsiani had a humble beginning of business making ‘home-cooked Sindhi meals’ for a girl’s only PG hostel in Panaji, Goa’s capital city
Luqman Mulam
You might not find any men working the kitchens or counters at Goa’s Sindhi restaurant — Basseraa. But what you can and will find is an abundance of home-style cooked Sindhi delicacies at this Panaji restaurant. From the revered Sindhi flatbread, Koki, and the lip-smacking kheema pav to every imaginable Sindhi food, Basseraa has it all.
As a Sales Manager at Swiggy, my first encounter with this unassuming spot came in 2018, when I took up the role at Swiggy, for the Goa region. What transpired after a seemingly straightforward sales conversation, is today a truly magical experience. Here’s an account of my journey with Basseraa.
At a time when reports suggest that only 3% of female chefs make up the F&B industry in India, mother-daughter pair Poonam and Jaya Tulsiani are a welcome change.
As time went by, demand grew and the women expanded their business to cater to the rest of the street and eventually the entire locality
Basseraa is quite a popular restaurant in Goa today, but its founders had humble beginnings. Seven years ago the duo started their business making ‘home-cooked Sindhi meals’ for a girl’s only PG hostel in Panaji, Goa’s capital city. As time went by, demand grew and the women expanded their business to cater to the rest of the street and eventually the entire locality. With appreciation coming their way, opening a restaurant was the natural thing to do. So they launched Basseraa in the Campal Trade Centre in Panaji, the same locality where they started their venture.
Jaya handles the administration and the restaurant area, while her mother and the other seven women employees are tasked with creating dishes that make this restaurant a sensation
“When we started our restaurant we had three purposes in mind. To serve the best Sindhi/North Indian food in town, to ensure that each dish that leaves our kitchen has a ‘mother’s touch’ to it, and to empower women like us along the way. That’s why our kitchen is run by extremely enterprising women,” says Jaya.
Jaya handles the administration and the restaurant area, while her mother and the other seven women employees are tasked with creating dishes that make this restaurant a sensation.
Currently the team has no plans to move to another location but they have introduced seven virtual brands with the support of Swiggy.
Basseraa stepped into the online space with Swiggy in 2018 and after my research, I found that there was a gap in the cuisine market in Goa. So, I started by sprucing up their menu with attractive images and descriptions of dishes. I also worked together with Basseraa and curated menus, while sorting out the best and top-selling items in the area. That helped set things in motion.
In the midst of the pandemic, when customers look towards restaurants that are high on hygiene value, Basseraa was not one to be left behind. I helped them adapt the right processes to earn the health badge to create more visibility and enabled them to become one of the first restaurants in the area to do so. To top it off, our team also enabled promotions and discounts to help boost their business. Since partnering with Swiggy in 2018, Basseraa saw close to 100% increase in sales.
The response that the team received after using these organic growth levers was amazing. Post that rush, I suggested that it would work to their advantage if they started advertising. This helped Basseraa get the right attention from a larger spectrum of customers, and get many more people to try out their food.
But I wasn’t satisfied with that. I knew the potential for Sindhi food was tremendous. I analyzed their restaurant’s data and noticed that there was an increased demand for Sindhi food in areas where Basseraa couldn’t reach within the city. So I advised them to opt for a longer delivery radius. What followed was a rise in orders that led to happy owners and happier customers.
They introduced seven new virtual restaurant brands to reach more customers
Something that also works in favor of Basseraa is how they handle feedback. Jaya and Poonam are mindful of the information they receive. They’re open to receive inputs and take their customer reviews seriously.
As part of their plan to expand, Basseraa has been making huge strides. They introduced seven new virtual restaurant brands to reach more customers. Launching these brands was easy, considering the response we received with their first outlet. They maintain high standards of quality and specialize in a wide variety of food, from Parathas to Biryanis!
But, Poonam and Jaya trod carefully. “We were not sure how this (launching the brands) would fare on Swiggy. It was Luqman Mulam who helped us sense the opportunity. So we took that step and launched seven brands in Panjim,” Jaya says.
While the restaurant’s growth has been tremendous, Jaya attributes a part of its success to Swiggy. “We’ve grown massively in the online space and our customers love us and our food. But now they get a chance to try our food and its variations at their doorstep, all thanks to Swiggy! We consider our partnership with Swiggy as a blessing, especially during this pandemic,” Jaya adds.
While every restaurant that I’ve worked with is special, I hold Basseraa close to my heart because it isn’t about just growing a restaurant. For me, it was about growing a restaurant that stands for women empowerment. It makes me feel like I am working towards a meaningful cause.
It’s true what they say, a house becomes a home because of a mother, and Poonam has proved that time and again.
But if you aren’t sure of that, ask any of Basseraa’s clients who wait patiently for their food to arrive. They’ll answer, but only after they’ve polished off their order of home-made style, delicious Sindhi food.
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Courtesy: LinkedIn (Posted on Aug 31, 2021)
