Goli Vada Pav comes to Chennai

It is fast food. It is finger food and still it is mobile food. Yet it is spicy food. You named it? Yes, it is Vada Pav (A potato mixture sandwiched in between slices of pav). Chennaites very soon will have an opportunity to taste it, according to Venkatesh Iyer, Founder and CEO, Goli Vada Pav.

He said young Indian population in the age group of 10 to 21 with their changing lifestyle prefer fast food that too finger food. Many do not have patience to wait at the restaurant as the time taken for processing and serving food takes time. Many multinational companies (MNCs), have opened their outlets to cater to the demand for these types of eaters. Road-side vendors too participated in this rally and made quick money in selling fast food items. Goli Vada Pav, a Mumbai-based ethnic food chain, was set up in 2004, the founders being Venkatesh Iyer and Shivadas Menon.

Mr. Iyer said Goli Vada Pav made an entry in Mumbai in 2004. “Our major challenges are wastages, pilferages, standardisation, price fluctuations of raw materials and the like to establish the brand”. Then the company entered into a contract with Vista Processed Foods, which manufactures burgers for MacDonald's in India. Vista is a subsidiary of the U.S.-based OSI.

He said Goli Vada Pav was being manufactured at a fully automated plant in Taloja near Mumbai and conformed to the same standards of any multinational fast food chain product in countries such as Europe and the U.S. “There are seven varieties now available in four states, 30 cities and in 125 stores with a price range of Rs.20-35,” he said.

The CEO said the company received Rs.21-crore funding from VenturEast, a southern venture capital firm, last month and the funds would be utilised towards expansion, improving managerial capabilities, getting methods in place, manpower and a little bit of marketing. He said the company was looking at expanding and spreading its wings. The immediate target was to have a presence in Chennai (a trial store is already operational at Express Avenue) and Coimbatore. In the next 3-4 years, the company was planning to have 150 stores in the south as part of its consolidation effort. It would open another 100 stores in Maharashtra besides expanding in the north.