PocketCook App Delivers Lifestyle Specific Custom Food

By Sourav Agarwal

Posted on April 11, 2016

PocketCook is an innovative application that is built for the sole purpose of serving people with the food which suits their individual health and lifestyle. There are so many food delivery apps in the market which you can use to order food of your choice, not the food according to your health index and lifestyle disorders. This is what inspired Hyderabad-based Shashank Pawar to device the PocketCook app for those who need custom-made food in keeping with their dietary requirements.

Shashank Pawar holds a B-tech degree from NIT-W (National Institute of Technology – Warangal). He has been pursuing innovation since his college days. In his third year at NIT-W, he cofounded a startup and developed a product namely Virtual Printers, an eco-friendly alternative to thermal printers at retail stores where we get receipts, which is a sheet waste of paper from around 31 million trees. In order to bring in a change, he developed the software Virtual Printers to generate e-receipts and save trees. However, the product had a limited shelf life due to some resistance in the market.

But the potential entrepreneur in him did not feel let down. He hit upon another idea and pitched it to a college mate so that it could be monetized and he could pay his bills. The idea took the shape of WhozHigh.com which sells tees with custom designs online. It is said that entrepreneurs are rebels, and both entrepreneurs and rebels are never satisfied. Shashank began haunting for more satisfaction which eventually led him to develop PocketCook application.

While talking about his product PocketCook, Shashank Pawar says that neither restaurants nor existing food delivery apps serve healthy, nutritious food, making it a challenge for those having special dietary requirements. “Either you have to travel some distance or compromise on your health by having food with complimentary flies from a neighborhood eatery. That is what made me feel the need of initiating a healthy revolution in food through mobile technology.

“While building the app, we realized that the same food could not be served to all and then we planned to come up with different custom diet foods. Market has accepted the product and responded to our efforts towards bringing a healthy revolution in what we eat. We source raw materials from our own farms, which culinary experts use for cooking custom food keeping in view customers’ health ailments, dietary preferences and culinary choices. We have a team of delivery executives at work ensuring seamless quality from origin to consumption.”

What made PocketCook a standout in the ready-to-eat food delivery market? According to Shashank Pawar, the USP of the product is its differentiation in customizing and serving what their customers’ health rhymes with, not what their buds crave. “Our concern about customers’ health is one of the keys to the success of PocketCook,” reveals Shashank.

“PocketCook is not away from competition in the market. It has strong competitions who serve shakes, smoothies and other supplements which are not healthy at all. Today’s generation is prone to having food and beverages without considering if their gastronomic choices have health benefits. It will take some time to catch up with this group of customers. We believe in our product differentiation and philosophy for better results in the coming days, shares Shashank with an optimistic attitude.

A product is born out of an idea to take on a challenge. It is challenges that help to develop a product consistently. Shashank Pawar’s experience of building the startup WhozHigh.com came handy in case of PocketCook. Since the conceptualizing of PocketCook, he knew what to do, what to achieve, how to start, etc. For Shashank, challenges are as common yet essential as breaths.

The first challenge was to find an affordable place for setting up a kitchen at a suitable location from where potential customers were easily accessible. The next challenge was building a team of delivery boys. With so many food and grocery supply apps, delivery boys chose to go with those paying more than our initial offer. It was difficult to hire and retain delivery boys within our budget. With the number of orders going up, timely delivery became a challenge for PocketCook. We had to prioritize delivery to the customers who had to take medicines on time.

“It has been a month since the official launch of PocketCook. Shashank and his team are serving 100 customers currently including doctors and IAS officers in Hyderabad City. The customer base has been increasing by 10 every week, which is a promising sign of growth in such a competitive sector as food delivery.”

A product can go thousands of miles only if its founder has a vision. In response to what his vision of PocketCook’s future growth is, Shashank says, “When our customers go to Bangalore or Mumbai from Hyderabad, he needs not hunt for the food which we are catering to them in Hyderabad. We are looking to make sure that the same diet food is delivered to them wherever they are.”

On a closing note, Shashank Pawar, founder and CEO of PocketCook, says that a good idea like that of catering custom diet food to customers including elderly right at their doorsteps could have bitten the dust if they as a team had not taken up the challenges with a positive mindset.

PocketCook App Delivers Lifestyle Specific Custom Food