Given the fast-paced reality of city life, the joy of a wholesome, home-cooked meal is a fantasy, or at best, a childhood memory for most New Yorkers. The complexity of cosmopolitan life often means the simple pleasures are the most overlooked, eclipsed by the ambition, progress, and cutthroat capitalism that makes a healthy connection to oneself, one’s food, and one’s community seem impossible.
Fast-growing startup Saavor is asking whether technology could offer New Yorkers the chance to reconnect to the nostalgic simplicity of childhood. It’s the kind of simplicity that, at the time, made a home-cooked meal shared with loved ones look like the only thing that really mattered.
That sort of return-to-form is exactly what Saavor Co-Founder & CEO Poonam VK aims to offer with her soon-to-be-released app. Saavor allows users to book chefs, bartenders, or servers to locations of their choice. The result is that New Yorkers can enjoy a healthy meal prepared in their home or neighborhood, in the company of loved ones, with the click of a button.
And who knows? For some, it could even mean the simple joys of childhood aren’t as incompatible with big-city life as they once seemed.
We sat down with Poonam VK to see how she’s looking to bring home-cooked meals back into busy New York City households.
Q. How would you define SAAVOR as a company in one phrase or a sentence?
A. A platform that connects people who love food and beverages and are passionate about it.
Q. How does your company help people?
A. Let me ask these set of questions: Do you miss your authentic home cooked meal? Do you get enough time to spend in the kitchen? Do you want to focus on the guests in your party and need help? Are you passionate about cooking and making an amazing drink? Do you want food to be delivered to your doorstep? Do you want to hire someone for your food establishment? Get on Saavor, it’s a simple fix!
Q. Where were you when the idea for your company was born? What were you doing?
A. I got this idea when I was in Texas, 2015 while getting my MBA.
As an international student I was missing a certain kind of comfort food, you know the one you can only get back home – and that desire, that yearning made me realize a need for such a platform in the market.
Q. What’s the hardest obstacle your company has faced so far? Have you overcome it, and if so how?
A. There are many but we are lucky that it was not related to the product build. The 2a square company based out of India are a good firm to work with. They were very understanding and flexible with our needs. Two of the main challenges that I see going forth are:
Food is such an important part of everyone’s life. The regulation issue with the home kitchens has been a huge Obstacle. We want people to be able to cook and sell whatever they want from the comfort of their home than being restricted to cook only the bakery products as seen in most of the states. Right now an alternative is having someone come over to their home to cook food for them…besides ordering non-perishable items from a near by home.
Second is our marketing challenge, we want people to realize that Saavor is not an exclusive application but an inclusive one. Our platform is open for everyone and not just professionals.
I must also say I am very happy that Dr. Suneetha Thota believed in my idea and supported me so I could meet these obstacles head-on.
Q. What do you want to be remembered for?
A. I want to make a mark and help as many people as I can along the way. Helping people help themselves.
Q. It’s 10 years in the future and you sit down at your desk to work. What are you working on?
Wow, that’s is an interesting question. To have been able to survive in such a competitive industry for 10 long years is an accomplishment in itself.
I see Saavor being part of everyone’s lifestyle globally. I see Saavor Chef being a household name. As such, I am dedicated to making Saavor a one-stop shop for food.
“I want to make a mark and help as many people I can along the way.“
Poonam VK
Q. What is it that makes your company unique? Why do you think people have taken an interest in it?
A. Saavor incorporates a certain culture, which promotes inclusivity as opposed to exclusivity. Regardless if it’s comfort food or a restaurant meal – when people cook passionately you can taste it no matter the presentation. Anyone who wishes to have a taste of any authentic food that brings back memories from home or youth will love our application. It’s an open cultural community.
We will be rolling out in Brooklyn very soon, and I already have people waiting for this application in their area. It gives me hope.
Q. What’s the main reason people want to work at your company? What draws them in and keeps them there?
A. We are all about food and how creatively we can cater the need of food to our customers is what we strive to work for at our firm. We encourage creative thinking and we take risks. I think the mere idea of giving everyone accessible to a fresh home cooked meal going against the norms and being a part of something great is what would draw everyone towards the company.
Q. Are you currently hiring, and if so what positions?
We constantly keep our eyes open, however we don’t have any positions open at the moment. We are a startup company about to launch in May. I am extremely fortunate to have the right people in our team so far who are not only creative but are very smart. Mr. Grover and I made sure we have a very strong core team.
But if anyone wants to join our firm please feel free to check out the career page on our website in the next few months
Q. If you’re seeking investment, what kind of investment are you seeking?
A. We are looking for investment from angel groups or venture firms to target the market in a much better way and take the unconventional approach of having a presence internationally asap before making it big in the US.
Time will tell whether New Yorkers will be able to reconnect to home-cooked meals, much less to the simple joys of life that they might represent, but Poonam VK is clearly on a mission to make that vision a reality.