Four friends decided to feed Delhi’s pursuit of food exploration and charmed food festivals back into our lives with the Grub Fest. They tell us how they made people pick up the fork that they haven’t put down since then.
Iconic restaurants, new food trends, smashing tipples, favourite desserts, entertainment- Delhi’s been getting grubby with all this and more for over a year! We get talking to the men who put the capital’s quest for food adventures under one roof (tent) and reinvented the concept of food festivals with The Grub Fest.
Over nine years of experience in the Events industry among them, and a shared passion for food and entertainment was the perfect recipe to bring the four entrepreneurs, Chaitanya Mathur, Aman Kumar, Arjun Jain, and Mani Singh Cheema together for India’s largest food festival of its kind. It was after visiting similar fests around the world that Chaitanya recognised a need for a similar event on India’s food scene, “I started my first ‘event venture’ EME in 2007 when I was 18. Since then it’s been a journey of trying out new spaces-from banking & finance to Banging Beats to Business Manager at Vir Das’ comedy company- but it was the entertainment industry that always pulled me back. And so, Grub Fest happened when I met my current partners in 2013 and we realised all four of us had a vision to create an event larger and grander than anything we’d ever worked on. We knew India had scope for a food related event, and we waited till the time was right. April 2015 saw the launch of the festival, and ever since there’s no looking back,” he tells us.
We learn that they’re no strangers to putting together smashing events, as Aman says, “We’ve been a part of F1, MRF Challenge (feeder series for F1 & F3), and concerts across India. For me, the idea of a food festival sparked at the Singapore Grand Prix in 2012, where the organisers had combined the racing sport and entertainment to put together a perfect event. That was the deciding moment for us to curate a festival which is not just about food, but an experience that visitors never forget.” With music performances, games, hover boards rolling about, wrestling matches, and entertainers like Nikhil Chinapa at previous Grubs, they certainly know how to amp up the fun factor!
Getting their formula of great food+great times bang on, they’ve already hosted four successful editions of the festival in Delhi & Pune in a short span of one and a half years, and ready are to get Mumbai grubbed later this year. Chatting about their journey Chaitanya says, “From our first event where we were looking to find proof in the model, to our recently concluded event (October 2016) which perhaps garnered the largest turnout for any ticketed event in the F&B industry in the country, it’s been a roller coaster! Over time we’ve seen our partner restaurateurs give their best in showcasing not only their product in taste but also look and feel. Grub has always been about the experience and I’m happy to see most patrons respond to each festival with positive and exciting reviews.” They were aces in the entertainment business, but the F&B was an unexplored territory, despite the industry being highly competitive and critical, the boys have raced ahead with swell experiences in tow, “Being in the food space has been very exciting, I’ve learnt the tricks of the trade, and created a great network of restaurateurs, chefs, critics, and others in the industry. I’m also expanding into the hospitality industry with a few projects in the pipeline scheduled to launch later this year,” he shares.
Scaling such heights in an industry where businesses appear and disappear from the scene in a blink is no mean feat, we ask them about their holy grail for newbies looking to set foot in F&B and Aman advises them to, “Spend a lot of time on research and have an experienced team behind you to be successful. F&B industry is the most difficult one to be in, you cannot survive here anymore unless you have a winning formula.” Chaitanya offers insight on the common mistakes made by food startups, “We’ve encountered over 100 food startups over the course of our events. For starters, I would say testing waters with food festivals is an intelligent and certainly more economical way to assess market with their ventures, rather than renting exorbitant brick and mortar spaces, being tied down with leases, HR & Marketing issues- in short, learning the hard way whether their model works or not. The one mistake most startups make is over-analysing sales and footfalls. Numbers are subjective and it’s almost impossible to assume average case scenarios in urban cities while defining financial models.”
With that fresh take away from their stellar journey by our side, we fire up the signature DSSC rapid fire for the two gents:
Q. If you had to pick one, organising the fest was most fun in which city & why?
Aman: It’s definitely Delhi, as it’s our home and this is where we started. But we are definitely looking forward to doing something in Mumbai & London soon!
Q. What’s been your most intriguing food experience till date?
Chaitanya: When I was 14 I happened to be flying a European carrier by myself, the air hostess asked my preferred option for a meal and I was quick to give my choice for their best non-vegetarian selection. Once I’d devoured the dish I couldn’t help but ask what had I just been served, and was told that it was venison. At that time my knowledge of meats were limited to chicken, mutton, beef and pork and I had to wait to get back to my family to ask about this new meat- it was then that I realised I had deer meat! Ever since, I haven’t tried it again but in all honesty it wasn’t bad at all. Definitely my most intriguing food experience till date.
Q. What’s the one aspect of this industry that you love & one you hate?
Aman: The scale of this industry, there is no end to growth. The industry has found a lot of interest by VC’s & HNI’s across the globe, which gives a great opportunity for home grown brands to grow and become Global. However, looking at the other side of the coin, the scale of the industry has made survival difficult for new entrants.
Q. It’s the last day on earth-what’s going to be on your plate?
Chaitanya: This would be an ultimate cheat day, so everything extra fried and a lot of beer!
This conversation is a part of the DSSC Secret Conversation Series, where we get candid with the ace of base industry disrupters.
