Punjabis are passionate for work and use their creativity to do something different; believes Pushpinder Bagga, the founder and CEO of DishMe, a startup that grew from a very interesting idea.
Originally from Punjab, Pushpinder migrated to Australia and chose Adelaide to start a new life in Australia.
"But soon after migrating and settling in Adelaide, I developed some stomach issues that were diagnosed to be related to the type of fast food I was eating. Being busy while settling down in a completely new environment, I had no time to cook for myself and was mostly relying on the easily available fast food", says Mr Bagga.
The client base runs into thousands who prefer homelike food right in their workplaces. Source: Pushpinder
"But my health issues forced me to start searching around for some nice, healthy and home like food. I did find a few ‘tiffin’ providers but wasn’t satisfied with their food which was again, mostly spicy and oily. So I requested the providers to give me the food that they were eating themselves and not the one that they cook for selling".
This change made a big difference in Pushpinder’s health. In turn, the providers asked him to keep customizing his food orders and that same food was ultimately delivered to other customers as well – making it hugely popular.
"That was the moment when this wonderful idea of starting ‘DishMe’ came up in my mind," he says.
"It became so popular that all my friends started buying that homemade, simple yet tasty, customized food. When I told my colleagues at work, they also started ordering that food during office hours and this small-scale idea became a full-fledged business".
"Currently DishMe has approximately 750 cooks from various backgrounds in its database. We have Indian, Vietnamese, Japanese, Thai cooks who can meet the demand of our clients who want simple yet healthy home-like cuisine. Our client base has grown into thousands," he told SBS Punjabi.
All those who can cook from their own home can join DishMe. Source: Pushpinder
"We have a 14 member advisory team including some food industry champions like former CEO of Dominos. DishMe is not only a profitable venture for me but in turn is supporting many others as well e.g. cooks, delivery boys and admin staff to meet their financial goals".
The business is selected as finalists for IABCA-2018 awards.
