Who wouldn't like a hot lunch at work? Specially if it's a calorie-defined meal, cooked with olive oil and is fairly fat-free.
Throw in ingredients such as high-fibre chappatis, a salad, brown rice... And you would be happier that you're achieving the unimaginable — eating a healthy meal at work.
That’s the promise that i-Tiffin is making to Bangaloreans. And ‘I’ in their case, for a change in IT city, stands for ‘intelligent’. “We’re not a catering company. We are a nutrition company,” Deepa Prakash, product head at i-Tiffin, is quick to define and distinguish themselves.
“Our mission is to change the way India eats. We have a variety of food available in our country, but people tend to eat out of lack of knowledge. In nutrition science we can blend ingredients seamlessly into a complete meal,” says this nutritionist, who has an uncanny ability to sneak in healthy gourds into a potato sabji, and cabbage into daal.
She also holds a Ph.D in food behaviour from the University of Mysore and a PGD in quality assurance and food analysis, DFRL, University of Mysore.
“We initially thought we would be catering for a niche segment that is calorie-conscious. But our survey in Bangalore found there are many health conscious people who don’t know where to get healthy food,” says i-Tiffin CEO Tapan Kumar Das. Tapan, an IIMA grad, has earlier co-founded Qua Nutrition, a signature nutrition clinic. I-Tiffin offers what the body needs in terms of the right quantity, ingredients, process, storage, and hygiene, according to international food HACCP (hazard analysis and critical control points) standards, claims Tapan. The food is filled hot into EU grade trays, heat sealed, and sent for delivery in insulated containers, adds Deepa.
Their kitchen in Indiranagar has been dishing out lunch platters for the last three months to over 200 subscribers in the city. About 50 percent of these subscribers are bachelors or men whose families are in other cities, 20 per cent are senior citizens, and the remaining, are couples where both partners work and are unable to get a meal going in the morning, says Tapan.
Right now they offer only vegetarian meals, but by January 2014 they hope to start the non-vegetarian option too. Convenience and affordability is what they are aiming for, he says.
Each day’s meal is different, but the standard 550 calorie meal consists of three hi-fibre chappatis, a vegetable-based dal, a subji, a brown-rice based rice dish, and a salad. Bangalore being a cosmopolitan city, we've ensured the meal caters to a pan-Indian palate, says Tapan. "We've done serious R&D into what an average urban Indian needs to eat, based on many factors.
Most vegetarian Indians tend to eat less protein and more fat, and feel fatigued easily, and we intend to address that with a fulfilling meal that balances carbs, proteins, minerals, dietary fibre," says Deepa.
Their general wellness meal is designed so you feel light enough after eating to work, and avoid bingeing between the crucial evening hours.
Soon they hope to have specific food trays for diabetics, for those looking for heart healthy food, a children's food tray in tie-ups with schools, dinner trays, full-day meals, weight-watchers' tray, non-oily i-biriyani too. They are already in talks with companies to cater to entire offices.
A monthly subscription of vegetarian tray costs Rs. 1,750, with 20 trays delivered Monday to Friday. They do not deliver one-off meals . Each day’s menu is announced on their FB page. I-Tiffin can be contacted on 7353230000/ 9008600079.
Published - January 03, 2014 02:29 pm IST
