Sairaj Dhond highlights his entrepreneurial venture, Wakao Foods, which offer a range of naturally, grown, plant-based products in ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook forms.
A lawyer by education and an entrepreneur by passion, Sairaj Dhond is the Founder-CEO of Wakao Foods, a new-age food production company. Hailing from a lineage of business experts, Sairaj had a natural inclination towards entrepreneurship from a young age. A serial entrepreneur at heart, Sairaj believes in a diverse business trajectory with ventures across various sectors of the market. Staying true to his vision, he has now entered the F&B space with his debut project, Wakao Foods, a sustainable food brand that offers hand-picked natural food products that are healthy, tasty and cruelty-free.
With early schooling at Sharada Mandir High School, followed by the Mushtifund High School, Sairaj went on to complete his LLB (Hons.) from the V M Salgaocar College of Law in Panaji. Sairaj began his professional journey with a year-long stint in criminal litigation but soon defied his academic led profession in pursuit of his true calling – entrepreneurship. In 2014, he started his venture under the banner of Dhond Group Green Infra LLP specializing in lighting and solar solutions. The company, in its six years of existence, has successfully branched into multiple verticals from lighting and solar solutions to real estate restoration and now the food and beverage industry.
Sairaj elaborates on getting into the food startup space. “The food startup space always excited me. The lockdown gave me the perfect opportunity to dwell deeper into it. That’s when I came across this fruit that was to be the superfood of the world ‘Jackfruit’. Its nutritional value and meaty texture literally blew me away. I realized that we were sitting on a huge opportunity, which needed to be explored.”
Wakao Foods has a delicious range of the Wakao Jack Meat which is curated to suit different tastes – from meat lovers to fitness enthusiasts there is something for everyone. The ready-to-cook varieties include the Raw Jack, that can be used as a meat substitute in any recipe for a decadent vegan alternative and the Jack Burger Patty, that makes cheat meals healthy in a never seen before avatar. The ready-to-eat varieties include the Teriyaki Jack, that is perfectly paired with a slider or as a frankie to enhance its flavours; the BBQ Jack, that makes for a mouth-watering filling for wraps; and the Butter Jack, that is the go-to choice to whip up a quick meal along with a side of some steaming rice.
He then goes on to speak about the idea of market penetration, his strategies to make people aware of their products and get into the market space. “Educating the people about our product is our number one goal. This is as good as an invention and therefore we would have to put in that much more effort in educating and informing the public. We are running a strong social media campaign which is educative as well as informative and is engaging a large part of our clientele.”
Wakao Foods has entered the market through three different avenues. Firstly, through the online medium – their website www.wakaofoods.com, where the customers can place their orders at the touch of a button and it would be delivered to their doorstep across India. The products are also available on Amazon and Flipkart. On the offline front, they are available in over 20 stores across Goa and are looking at expanding to other States, too. Thirdly, they are available through their HoReCa partners and their products can be experienced through some delectable dishes at one’s favourite restaurants and cafés across Goa. Wakao Foods are also supplying to some of the best caterers who would be preparing some lovely dishes from Wakao Jack meat at special functions.
As of now, Sairaj and his company are self-funded and do not have any investors on board. But with the growth possibilities and multiple markets that the brand is looking into tapping, they may have to look at joining hands and strengthening the team soon. “We have already been approached by a few private investors who have shown keep interest in coming on board, but we are yet to look in that direction,” says Sairaj.
Sairaj aims to establish his brand in the Goan market as a target for the first year in business. He plans to start moving in few other metro cities across the country. “We look at growing our reach in the HoReCa segment quite a bit and collaborating with various hospitality brands. Exports are also something that we are working very hard towards.”
Sairaj highlights the challenges encountered by him in setting up the business. “Setting up a brand from scratch is never easy. One of the challenges was to get on board multiple agencies from different parts of India remotely and then to coordinate with them to get the desired results. Contrary to the general opinion, we actually did not find it too cumbersome to get all the requisite permissions for setting up the business. In these COVID times, the biggest challenge was travelling and having physical meetings. In the last few months I had to travel extensively taking all safety precautions to remote villages in Kerala and Goa to set up our raw material procurement and supply chain, this was indeed an experience of a lifetime and an unseen challenge.”
Regarding his future plans, Sairaj says, “The next step is to grow our footprint to various cities and expand our offline presence through some strategic tie-ups. We are also looking at starting our own Wakao Boutique Retail food chain across the country. My aim is to take this superfood literally from our backyard to the rest of the world and therefore exports will be one of our major focus areas. We will strive hard to persuade every restaurant across India to someday have a vegan section on their menu,” says Sairaj emphatically, about the path ahead for Wakao Foods
