Calorie counted gourmet lunch meals. No, I am not reading off your wish list. I am talking about Eatonomist– a Gurgaon based venture started by ex-management consultants, Nupur Khanna and Anisha Dhar.
The idea of Eatonomist hit Anisha and Nupur when they faced the conundrum of trying to obtain calorie counted lunches for themselves. “We visited various nutritionists and most of them would say have a 250 calorie lunch. It got us thinking that where would you step out for lunch, or order -in and get a calorie counted, delicious, gourmet lunch. After pondering on the question for half an hour, we still did not have an answer. We started our preliminary research, asked our friends and colleagues and everyone seemed to like the idea of a calorie counted gourmet lunch delivery service. Thus, Eatonomist was born. We also visited nutritionists, created a team of Chefs and worked on recipes to figure out if this could be done. If calorie counted food could be made tasty.”
Coming from a corporate background they often faced boring lunches, which made them realize that there were many people looking out for similar options. “Working in a corporate office has its perks – a stable income, high-flying friends and most of all – the lunch hour. But every once in a while, one introspects – Where is the zing? And every now and then, this question leads to a quest for something more unusual, something more relevant, and something more sumptuous. Like many others, we were trying out different food regimes, driven by social and corporate pressure to eat healthy. Day after day, lunch after lunch, salad after salad, celery just didn’t cut it anymore. And so we set out on an adventure looking for recipes that could tantalize taste buds and boast of a health quotient at the same time.”
What followed was a whole lot of experimenting, recipe trials and market research. “We visited Gyms, hospitals, schools etc and realized in the name of health all that was being sold were salads, soups and steamed or boiled tasteless food. Foodies like us wanted real food without piling on the calories that came with it. We also conducted surveys with corporates to help us understand the market better.
We put together an accomplished team of seasoned chefs and nutritionists to navigate through the ever challenging world of healthy eating. Months of research and multiple recipe trials (yummy ones, at that) later, Eatonomist was here. As luck would have it, we managed to achieve the unthinkable – over 80 menu options (and counting) that confidently walk the thin-line between healthy and tasty.”
Ok, now we have to ask them about their menu. “We have an envious menu. We offer dishes under two calorie counts – 500 and 300 along with soups and salads. 8 new dishes are displayed everyday taking the total count to over 80 dishes. We have an ex Taj consultant and a nutritionist on board. We went through a myriad of recipes before selecting those that really worked. We did not try to push boundaries with dishes like daal makhni for example. We realized that a true daal makhni lover would hate the daal without the makhan(butter). We twisted and adapted the recipes to meet the required calorie counts by substituting dairy creamers with non- dairy creamers, high cholesterol oil with olive oil and flour with whole wheat. In this process we ended up creating innovative dishes such as the Veg Rogan Josh and the mock meat whole wheat spaghetti. We have kept equal options for both vegetarians and non-vegetarians and divided the menu into International and Indian cuisine, thereby ensuring that palates of all regions are satiated.”
How did they approach their customers with this novel concept? That must have been challenging. “We are selling a product which is different from anything available in the market. We are providing the customer with calorie counted, gourmet, healthy and delicious food. The customer needs to understand that to maintain a healthy lifestyle one does not have to follow strict diets or eat only salads for lunch. When we say relate health with food the first thing that people think about it is tasteless steamed dishes, salads or soups etc. We bring gourmet dishes that have been altered by changing ingredients such as using lean cuts of meat, non- dairy creamers, low cholesterol organic oil, fresh ingredients. The dishes taste even better than the original recipes. A lot of thought and research has gone into creating these dishes.”
“Eatonomist takes care of the lunch calories. We have a lot of customer’s who return to us on a regular basis once they start realizing the plethora of benefits eating lunch from Eatonomist has. However, there still is a resistance when it comes to eating at the office cafeteria where one can eat endlessly without thinking of the consequences a heavy lunch like that can have on the health”.
They also tell us about how they have to deal with inflationary costs of superior quality ingredients and manage logistics. “Quality ingredients come at a price. However, we have been making efforts towards keeping this under check. Due to the nature of our recipes and superior quality ingredients used, this has been a challenge. We want to provide the customer with only the best. For example, we use only low quality organic oil which is more expensive than normal cooking oils used in the market. We use only lean cuts of meat which are pricier than the readily available cuts. “
“Managing logistics is omnipresent in the food sector. When we say logistics, getting the food on time to the customer ensuring it is hot and delivered within the promised timelines. We have been trying various permutations and combinations to nail delivery time. The unpredictable traffic snarls and large distances within Gurgaon add to the challenge.”
After hearing about the intensive work that went into Eatonomist, it may seem redundant to ask about customer feedback. With a 4.9 rating on Zomato and more than 3000 likes on their Facebook page we were not surprised by what they told us – “We have definitely created a buzz in the corporate lunch segment. Customers are appreciating the food and our Zomato rating says it all. Our customers have rated us as one of the best delivery services in Gurgaon and our numbers are increasing at an unprecedented rate every week.”
Eatonomist is now working on expanding their venture. “We have an expansion plan in mind, we are planning to move cover the entire NCR region. “ They also plan to add product lines to target larger segments.
What would they tell future food entrepreneurs? “Cook food with all honesty and love and ensure that choicest ingredients are used. Curate recipes ensuring customer health and wellbeing in mind.“
On this noble thought we wish Eatonomist good luck for all their future plans.
Eatonomist is a calorie counted gourmet lunch delivery service currently operational in Gurgaon.
Visit their website and their Facebook page to know more.
You can mail them at info@eatonomist.com, or call them on +918800233100 with your queries.
Images courtesy of: Eatonomist