The pandemic might have put us all in our homes, but it also added the word health in our lives. Today’s men have specially moved to eating and being healthy. It has become important for many of us to take proper care of our body, be it by putting the right kind of foods in it or by making sure to be fit through different exercises and yoga.
Although, as soon as one hears the word ‘frozen food’ the images of unhealthy, grease dipped, fat, and cheesy foods start appearing in our minds. The idea of any food item coming from the frozen food industry has always been associated with unhealthy and chemicals based food.
Even though it’s women who are considered as the caretakers, it is generally men who decide about what the family will eat, especially when one is dining out. And when it comes to decisions like these, we have all forever heard from our parents that when it comes to frozen foods like pizza, one should be cautious of their unhealthiness.
Breaking this stereotype and bringing us frozen food that is not only chemical and preservatives free but also does not add any artificial flavor is Sharan Goyal, founder of ‘Pizzo & Crozzo’. An idea that generated during 2019 and took itself beyond the B2B regime and into the hands of customers during the lockdown.
Sharan says, “We started in April of 2019 as a pure B2B pizza company. In six months we had some really good clients, which were buying and serving our pizza. When COVID hit in March 2020 we had seven and a half thousand frozen pizzas in storage. This left us with two options, either to let our product go to waste or we figure out how to distribute it. We started approaching consumers through various mediums, which included selling pizzas door to door. This led to us switching from a B2B model to a B2C model.”
According to a report published by the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), says that in FY21 (April 2020 to March 2021), the Indian Food services industry declined by 53 percent. While the world was shutting down and the food industry was seeing a sharp decline, ‘Pizzo & Crozzo’ was making its own path.
Their love for creation and providing the world with a great taste is what kept Sharan and his team going. He explains, “The day the lockdown was announced, the next day we went to the police station to get the essential services like the pass and license. That very day we were in the kitchen, experimenting, and trying out new products. It was a lot of fun.”
However, when it comes to frozen food, there is always a myth that frozen food equates unhealthy, chemical based food that is not good for our body or heart and can create many diseases in our body. Breaking this myth and stereotype was one of the major challenges that Sharan and his team faced.
Talking about the roadblocks of his journey, Sharan shares, “It was a huge uphill battle to convince the customers of the benefits of the frozen food. None of our products have any preservatives, chemicals, artificial ingredients, etc. Our philosophy is that we would only create something that I would happily feed to my family, knowing that it is good for them and it is tasty and nutritious.”
While one hears that the food is not only nutritious and healthy but also tasty, the question ‘how’ is an obvious one that crosses our minds. The company uses a proprietary blast freezing setup for their frozen food products. Sharan explains this, “The proprietary freezing blast setup is fully customised for us. A roll in the blast freezer chills the product, and can get it from room temperature which is about 32 degrees to frozen which is minus 18 degrees, in less than 20 minutes. This locks in the nutrition, taste, and texture into the product without needing to add any harmful substances.”
The market and the consumers have accepted the brand with open hands and while, Sharan is not planning any third venture, he is definitely working to make the brand a household name. Sharan says, “We are scaling up our distribution by looking to kind of raise funds, take it really to the next level. Grow fast and grow strong. So the idea is to make this from where it is today to make it at least a 100x, a 1000x, from where we are right now.”
With a principle and a guiding support like that every business has the scope to grow and take on any obstacle that comes, be it even be a pandemic.