Aditi Gupta has a maniacal look about her as she enters her factory in Mylapore. She washes her hands, wears a scrub cap and a mask, washes her hands again, then sanitises them, puts on gloves and gets to work with herbs and garlic cloves. Her team of four helpers follow suit, applying sanitiser every 10 minutes. “I am fanatical about cleanliness because all my products are preservative-free and even a speck of dirt can ruin the entire batch,” says the 28-year-old who recently launched Posh Nosh, a line of sauces.
To begin with there's Roasted Garlic Cloves in oil, Chocolate Fudge Sauce, Sticky Caramel Sauce and Creamy Mayo Spread (Sweet Chilli Flavour); the young entrepreneur is working on more. Why did she start with these? “I used to make chocolate fudge sauce at home. I looked around for fudge sauce here but I never found a thick, good quality one. Also I love fudge sauce. I love caramel sauce as well,” she trails off. So does that mean whatever she loves to eat has become part of her business plan? She nods laughing, "I am not trained in food technology or food sciences; this venture is the result of my love for food.” Given that she’s in the facility from morning to evening — churning, beating, mixing, tasting — she must come home with an overpowering smell of those ingredients. “Thankfully my husband hasn't complained yet,” she grins.
Aditi returned to Chennai in 2008 after completing her Masters in Human Resources in the University of Birmingham. After a short stint in the family business (her family runs Funskool), she wanted to start something on her own. “While staying in England I had developed an interest in cooking because there is such a variety of interesting ingredients there. When I looked for sauces here I realised they had preservatives and the imported ones were exorbitant. That made me come up with Posh Nosh and I love the name,” Aditi beams.
Since her products are 100 per cent vegetarian, she says it made her work more cumbersome. “Coming up with the perfect mayo was the most challenging. I tried so many formulations and it took me four to five months.” During that phase Aditi was literally like a mad scientist, mixing, adding and subtracting ingredients. She would wake up, brush her teeth and start stirring various combinations. The other three products too went through the trial and error stages before being launched. Once the recipes were perfect and standardised, she started her facility.
Just like how great ingredients got Aditi interested in cooking, she hopes Posh Nosh too would inspire people to try out new recipes. “My little nephew and niece have gotten into the habit of using these on their brownies and cakes. As for me, well, I use the four everyday. It’s the mayo at breakfast, the roasted garlic with my sautéed vegetables at dinner, and the caramel and fudge sauce I snack on throughout the day,” she giggles.
Posh Nosh is available at Amma Naana, Nuts and Spices, Brown Tree and Gormei Market and Aditi has plans to take it to Bangalore and other Indian cities.
