Cooking up BANG! Curry<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI\u2019m really excited to talk about this business. I\u2019ve had my mouth watering ever since I read about it, so you\u2019ll have to take us through how you dreamt up this wonderful brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, it really did come after motherhood, as many things do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the children were born and lots of time in the kitchen, whereas I didn\u2019t really spend that much time in the kitchen before that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All of a sudden, I was thinking about what was going into their tummies and thinking about nutrition, whereas before I was out in restaurants and just whizzing together meals quite easily and not taking that much care of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I was really thinking about what and how to make these beautiful dishes that my mum would make for us as children and evoke those childhood memories back again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And growing up with my mum, who\u2019s an absolute amazing cook, she\u2019s such a perfectionist, and I used to follow her around the kitchen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So after the children, it just brought back all those childhood memories and the times that I would watch my mum cook in the kitchen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I used to come up with my own little hacks, because I never understood what she did, because there were over a dozen different ingredients that she would play around with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so to satisfy my curiosity and to get me involved in the kitchen because as a 9, 10-year-old, you can pretty much make a bit of a mess. But she encouraged it. She didn\u2019t say no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She\u2019d get a little bowl and then she would portion out all the different flavourings, the spices and the herbs, and she\u2019d create that little spectrum for me to go and play with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so that was kind of the memory that sparked the whole premise of BANG! Curry and those teachings that mum gave me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And yeah, I just thought, \u201cYou know what? I can do something with this.\u201d And it\u2019s a range that was put together to help share and promote that curry-making experience with other people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Assessing the risk and return<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou paint such an evocative picture. And in fact, I remember being a kid and always smelling chopped onions and garlic on my mum\u2019s fingers because she spent a lot of time cooking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She worked full time, but on the weekends, and that was the special time smelling the tomatoes, cooking in the kitchen. So I know exactly what you mean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then it\u2019s quite a big jump from being someone on a salary and you were working as a quant at the time, so you were a financial analyst, to then sort of risking it all on an untried business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps you could talk me through your thought process when it came to actually taking the jump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo being a quant and being in that business, you are very measured about risk and return, it was part of my daily routine, and it threads through everything that I did as part of my role at the various jobs that I had as a quant analyst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so when it comes to risk and return, I\u2019m not averse to it at all, as long as it\u2019s measured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When BANG! came along, I\u2019d had lots of ideas before, but nothing jumped out of me with such instinct and such resolution that I had no doubts whatsoever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I did some back-of-the-envelope calculations, I did a gross profit, quick calculation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the time I felt it couldn\u2019t go wrong. There was a huge gap in the market. I saw an opportunity, and it was pretty much who\u2019s going to get there first? And so yeah, I got busy very quickly. It was a no-brainer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Starting with \u00a30 budget<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how much did you have in the startup pot? What was the budget that you thought, \u201cRight, I can get going with this\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nZero. It was pretty much zero, honestly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I started very much organically, and it was all part of the weekly shop. I would experiment. My poor children and family had to eat curry pretty much more frequently than usual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I incorporated it at first, I would say for about a year, perfecting those recipes, understanding whether there was an appetite for it. So I did do a decent amount of market research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so when I started to raise finance for it, it was through cookery classes. And so that\u2019s when I got a bit of a pot. And so we call that bootstrapping, when you make something and then you reinvest it back in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was like that for a few years until we got our first contract with HelloFresh, and we were spotted after being in farmer\u2019s food markets for about 6 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it all started with the cookery classes, teaching people how to make some basic recipes that I\u2019ve known along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve taught friends and family, the basics, like a dhal, a tarka dhal, a biryani, and madras, and bhajis. These are really well-known favourites that I\u2019ve taught over and over and over again, and took them through the cookery classes to really market test whether it\u2019s something worth pursuing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And yes, we turned it into a product, some basic products, went to markets, farmer\u2019s markets locally, there was Chiswick, Barnes, some in Clapham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We did quite a few, actually. It was fun. It was really fun. And then we stopped when it stopped being fun because it coincided with getting on the shelves at Whole Foods Market and it was just before the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And until we got our contract with HelloFresh, which I\u2019m so proud of, and it really is what launched the brand, we then went out to get a little bit of investment. It wasn\u2019t much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My mum pretty much loaned us \u00a310,000 (CA$17,750.65) in order to scale up the operations, and I was able to buy a piece of machinery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And lucky for me, Mark\u2019s a manufacturing engineer. He\u2019s a whiz with mechanics and electronics and everything of that sort. So between us, we were able to hire an industrial unit out locally to us, which is an ActOn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We took this machine, rewired it. It was pretty industrial and it\u2019s a big blender mixer machine. And that was the start of BANG! where we did some really big-scale production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have to say, since then, that was a long time ago, we don\u2019t produce anything ourselves anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We did it the hard way, but I think there\u2019s a real benefit from doing that because you understand the ins and outs of production. So yeah, so our first injection was the \u00a310,000 (CA$17,750.65).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat sounds so exciting though, buying this enormous machine and standing there in this sort of industrial space staring at this enormous thing for grinding and mixing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How exciting that must\u2019ve been, that moment, because that must\u2019ve felt so real to you then, out of the kitchen and into this business space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt was literally out of my home kitchen and into this stainless-steel machine. It was pretty surreal, I have to admit it. It was a real moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then seeing the recipes getting accolades on the HelloFresh website, having the head chef ring me and ask me for the next recipe, discussing ingredients. Yeah, it was a good time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Filling the product gap for HelloFresh<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDid you have any idea you would go the recipe kit route in terms of finding a partner to launch you in that way? Or was that just a happy accident? How did that conversation with HelloFresh come about?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI kind of sought it out. I could see a real analogy between what we were doing and what the idea behind BANG! was and what Hello HelloFresh were doing out in the marketplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the time, HelloFresh were quite big in the US, but in the UK they\u2019d just started out. And I think they\u2019re a bit of a franchise, aren\u2019t they, they\u2019re all over the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the UK at the time, they weren\u2019t really that hot on curry. They didn\u2019t have many curry recipes or they didn\u2019t have any. And so I stepped in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think it was a bit of luck actually, because obviously I know what I\u2019m talking about when it comes to the curry recipes, and it kind of matched with their needs at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so I gave them a really good solution to something to add to their repertoire. So I wouldn\u2019t say it was an accident, but it was one of many opportunities I\u2019d pursued and it came through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s amazing. You have to think sometimes quite laterally about routes to market. So it\u2019s great to hear your story of finding someone that\u2019s almost a springboard into people\u2019s homes and their pallets. It\u2019s so interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The overlaps between science and business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I\u2019m interested to know, because you were a physics PhD, so what skills do you feel you\u2019ve brought from working in the lab at Imperial College?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is there an overlap, I suppose when you\u2019re putting together spice kits, because it is sort of like a science, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nPhysics is an incredible subject, it\u2019s all about problem solving, it\u2019s highly analytical, it\u2019s very creative, and that\u2019s something I didn\u2019t recognize before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I really see a parallel between the techniques that I used in the lab, whether they\u2019re optics or lenses, mirrors, light, all of those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I guess I swapped out for spice ingredients and herbs and the tolerances behind each measurement and getting to those trials and reducing trials from 200 to 50 rather than 200 to 120.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was an easier route to get there using the techniques that I\u2019ve learned through science. And it was really surprising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo traditionally, you\u2019ve come full circle, and you are disrupting tradition almost by coming all the way around 360.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, that\u2019s right, actually. If we think about the disruption that BANG! is causing in its category, I\u2019m really proud of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I just wanted to blow away the conceptions of what people call curry now. And it sounds so minor, but actually I feel really passionate about it because the cuisine itself and what I grew up with is not what you find in the shops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I find it a little bit almost insulting to the consumer to give them something like this that is not flavoursome, it\u2019s not healthy, it\u2019s not involving the consumer in the whole cooking process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What we do is to help to involve that person in the enjoyment in the kitchen, to evoke the pride and healthiness of this way of cooking. Not to mention all the sustainability that goes along with our range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, we\u2019ll come back to the sustainability, but I\u2019m interested in what you\u2019re saying about giving people part of the experience of cooking and being involved in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there is a magic, isn\u2019t there, when the spices hit the pan and you get the aromas releasing, it\u2019s almost like a heady moment where you\u2019re getting carried away with what you\u2019re about to eat. So it\u2019s like theatre, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is. It\u2019s very much like theatre. And honestly, I\u2019ll never tire of using BANG! at least on a 2 weekly basis and every time think, \u201cYeah, this is good. This happened really quick, and it saved me so much effort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Studying in a 99% male dominated field<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to hear more about your experiences studying physics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You said something really interesting there about being the only woman in the college. Being an outlier like that must\u2019ve been quite challenging at times. Was it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did that teach you to be quite resilient as a person, and have you been able to pull those, I suppose, characteristics that you built within the lab, pull them through into your entrepreneurial journey?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nImperial is well known, when I was there, it was well known for being 99% percent male, and I was the only female, definitely in the Blackett Lab, we called it, which is opposite the Royal Albert Hall. It\u2019s a very nice place to study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I didn\u2019t really focus on being the only female. I understood that I had to perform a lot better, or I was being scrutinized because I was female, but the way I coped with it was just to get on with it and let that be a you problem if you like, and I just carried on and just did what I was there to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I focused on that too much, I think it would\u2019ve detracted me from the enjoyment and the reason I was there, because you can\u2019t do a physics PhD for any other reason apart from your love of the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the only thing that will drive you through because it\u2019s tough. There\u2019s not really much financial reward. It\u2019s all about achievement and seeking what you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your belief in your business will carry you through hard times<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then when you did the pivot into becoming a business owner, a recipe maker, you were in your 40s, you\u2019ve mentioned you\u2019d had kids by that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did that feel like a lot of pressure to make it work, because presumably you had financial responsibilities. You\u2019re not a footloose, fancy-free 20-year-old with nothing to lose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And how did that, I guess, influence your journey? Was that pressure actually quite motivating so that you had to be successful?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think you spot on there, actually. Yeah, there was a lot of pressure involved because I\u2019d come from such a high achieving background, I guess, in terms of the other fields I was involved with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I was well aware of the opinions that maybe some people may have had like \u201cWhat on earth is she doing? What\u2019s that got to do with anything scientific or financial or quantitative?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But again, I just carried on because I knew I had something, so that belief obviously carried me through those hard times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was difficult because I didn\u2019t have a wage to rely on, a constant stream, and I couldn\u2019t ring up IT when I needed help. It is all about solving everything yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019re a one-man band for quite some time, and it was difficult, but then the small wins along the way, that\u2019s what keeps you going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use Amazon reviews to boost sales<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about some of those small wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we talked about HelloFresh and how that parachuted you into the big time, well into the small big time. And then what did you do next? How did you build on that momentum to keep growing the brand, winning new customers? What were the next wins on the list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, it was all about getting the name out there, being seen. Micro influencers is what we used quite heavily. Amazon was a big brand awareness winner for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now I mentioned that we started pretty much the whole scaling of our online business through the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we made a good choice by just coming out of retail and concentrating everything online. So we decided to go online, we created our own website, which I clumsily developed in the first days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We fast evolved from there, but it worked, it was fine, and we launched onto Amazon. We actually even launched into Amazon EU before we couldn\u2019t trade in EU anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s what really helped us, and we escalated our sales there mainly through reviews, and making sure our customers came back and reviewed our products, because reviews are everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s the social media that ties in. It\u2019s all one big marketing loop, if you like. It all tells that story, and one piece doesn\u2019t work without the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it was fast learning how all those different channels work together. It\u2019s quite complicated, but once you get your head around it, I think online was where we really started to establish ourselves in the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to get people to leave reviews<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you get people to leave reviews? Because that\u2019s just like the silver bullet, isn\u2019t it? If you can get people to say that they\u2019re happy, people are so happy to tell you when they\u2019re annoyed or when something hasn\u2019t met expectations, but to get them to take the time to say this was great, that\u2019s hard. How did you do that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, we took the effort of having direct contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019d have people that actually did the customer service. We automated the process of asking for reviews in a clever way, but not in an illegal way, because Amazon\u2019s got some quite stringent rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was time-consuming but worth it, because even just the 1 review makes such a big difference on the stats. And we made sure we looked at customer feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So all of those things really impacted the future NPD of our products. So we listened, and I think we need to listen to make sure we continually improve what we are giving. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become resilient to feedback and use it to improve<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you react to feedback? Because in the world of curry, I can imagine you\u2019ve got this spectrum of people when it comes to spice, some say tiny bit is too much and some are like blow my head off. How on earth do you cater to all of those people at once?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, that\u2019s a great question actually, because I think I developed my resilience to it all when I was on the market stall right at the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I\u2019d have people say to me, \u201cOh, it\u2019s too spicy,\u201d and I didn\u2019t understand because spicy isn\u2019t in my vocabulary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was saying, \u201cWhat does that mean? Too spicy?\u201d But it literally means heat, and I wasn\u2019t aware of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I got accustomed to different ways of describing the flavours. And because we have quite a big range that caters for every taste, if you like, I was always able to direct somebody to a different flavour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know what? Every flavour is not for everyone. And I soon learned to not get offended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, it\u2019s very personal to me because I\u2019ve developed them all from scratch, but you can\u2019t make everyone happy. But I\u2019m happy to say that most people are really delighted when they use what we are doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if they\u2019re not, then I really try and dissect how they use the product because there may be something not quite right in how we\u2019re communicating the use of them. So I\u2019m quite stringent about those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make your product versatile<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how do you get people to buy again and again? Because it seems like when you create a kit like this, you want it to be on the rotation, like when you\u2019re doing your meal prep, as you say, maybe every couple of weeks there it is, BANG! Curry on the rotation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how do you stay in people\u2019s minds? Just refresh them, \u201cRemember we\u2019re here, we\u2019re tasty.\u201d How do you do that? How do you get repeat purchases?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo we try to give inspiration. So we want BANG! to be a way of life, not just a product that you use and get bored with. It\u2019s the versatility that we are giving people and the empowerment to do what they want to do with their meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if you\u2019ve got dietary requirements, if you\u2019ve got ingredient preferences, you don\u2019t like meat or you just love vegan-type ingredients, there\u2019s always something for that person, and we want to inspire with lots of different recipes that they can use with just the 1 kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can vary it up, but you know you\u2019ve got your flavour locked in, and I think that\u2019s why people come back. They don\u2019t get bored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ll buy it once and they know they can change it up a bit and it will go down well when they take that effort to put some time into it and make it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIs that through social media? Are you sharing sort of, \u201cHey, look, you can use this kit for an exciting barbecue dish, or have you tried using paneer, or\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you show them another way to use it and how do you keep refreshing that? Is it like TikTok videos? How are you doing it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWe are doing it pretty much through social media. That\u2019s very instant, and sharing recipes. We\u2019ve got recipes on our website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are with Waitrose, they are also starting to showcase some of our recipes. It\u2019s still early days, but on the horizon, we\u2019ve got some lovely recipes that are going to appear in their weekend magazines, and it\u2019s through those platforms that we like to keep on refreshing those recipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And because that\u2019s what it\u2019s about, right? Everyone gets bored with the same old weekday meals or even if someone\u2019s coming round, how do I knock something together quickly and everyone\u2019s happy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We like to solve that problem and make mealtimes exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Competition proves that there is demand in your market<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about what the competitor landscape looks like now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because you were obviously doing something at the beginning of what became quite a big wave of recipe kits and different kinds of kits focusing on different kinds of cuisines, and there\u2019s now quite a lot of curry kits out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you stand out, and has that brought more awareness to the category as a whole? Is that a good thing, or has it sort of stolen some of your customers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe way I see it is that I would rather not be the only product in a category and be carving that out because frankly, we have been carving that category out and it\u2019s hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s difficult when you are having to convince buyer after buyer that you have a consumer group out there that are crying out for this type of product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019m actually really pleased, because it proves our point that there\u2019s a demand for it, and actually, competition\u2019s good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are quite confident, quietly confident with our range and that we can stand up to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you don\u2019t want to waste too much time looking at the competition. You want to just be focusing on the next thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping new product ideas fresh and flowing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about that. How frequently do you bring out new products? Is there a lot of pressure to have this pipeline of NPD constantly going, going?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is the most exciting part. Honestly, it\u2019s just what I live for, NPD and the next thing and coming up with new ideas and making them just come to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the beginning, it literally took 18 months for that first recipe to be perfect. Now, using all of those scientific techniques I talked about, I\u2019ve got a methodology, and that last NPD I put together took me maybe 4 goes. I was so happy, and it was just amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are seeing it in a new professional range. So what we are focusing on now is, we\u2019ve got a new range that has come out, which we launched together with some help with a non-exec director that we employed last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now he comes from a really rich background of food service, and he helped a company called Santa Maria, I don\u2019t know if you know them, but they\u2019re really big in the Mexican spice space now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He helped us as a company to reformulate what we\u2019ve done really well in retail and apply it to the catering industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so we\u2019ve got this bulk range we\u2019ve called BANG! Curry Professional, and that is so exciting. I\u2019ve got some really exciting news I can\u2019t share with you today, but that\u2019s pretty much our next launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that to me is so exciting because that\u2019s feeding literally the masses. We are changing some really big things out there in terms of curry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd are you still the one formulating the recipes? You mentioned they\u2019re the methodology and it taking four goes to get it right, but is it still you sort of there with your hat on, your goggles on, mixing up all the spices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wouldn\u2019t pass that to anyone, because that\u2019s where I find the most joy. No, that\u2019s me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it might not be me in a year\u2019s time, but at the moment, yeah, that\u2019s all down to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019ve got to do what you love. It\u2019s really sad when you interview people, you start businesses and the thing they love doing at the beginning, 5 years on, they\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I can\u2019t do that anymore. I\u2019ve got to delegate that to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s nice to hang on to the bits that you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use paid classes as a way to bootstrap your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou mentioned at the beginning, Shelly, about bootstrapping, and we talk about bootstrapping quite a bit on this show, and I\u2019d love to hear some of the really clever bootstrapping strategies that worked for you and your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the ways that you grew while still cutting costs, saving money, being clever about how you spent on marketing or go to market. So tell me about some of those strategies, 1 or 2 that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe one I would say I felt really gave us a lot of return was the cookery classes that we did. It was quite a lot of effort on our part, but we got so much out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We charged for seats, and I literally did it in our own kitchen, so there was no rent involved, so everything went straight into profit, ingredients don\u2019t really cost very much, and we were ranking at number 1 on Google for Indian cooking lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was pretty much it, I don\u2019t know how I did it, I have to admit, but I built the website, and it ranked us up there, and it was really quite low cost to the company in order to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think we got some really nice wins out of that, and obviously some reviews as well on Google about BANG! Curry and the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the intellectual property we took out of that as well is what people actually wanted out of a product, and what sort of recipes and how much time were they prepared to take with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I was showing them step-by-step, I wasn\u2019t using the kits, and I was showing them from A to Z every single piece that would go into the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was not 1 customer that didn\u2019t go away, take the recipe that I would give them, and cook it from scratch, they all ended up just using the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the end I\u2019d give them a little gift bag with the kits and the recipes, but I don\u2019t know anyone that actually cooked the whole thing from scratch, went out and bought all the different ingredients. And so there was a lot of learning gained from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it helped kickstart, it helped finance things like branding, things like print packaging, all of these things, all to do with cost of goods, which at the beginning that\u2019s all we were paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any marketing, we tried to be very clever about it in terms of guerrilla marketing, digital advertising, which basically I tried to turn my head to and did all that stuff initially myself. I basically worked that bit out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1440x810.jpg\")
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I\u2019m really excited to talk about this business. I\u2019ve had my mouth watering ever since I read about it, so you\u2019ll have to take us through how you dreamt up this wonderful brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, it really did come after motherhood, as many things do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the children were born and lots of time in the kitchen, whereas I didn\u2019t really spend that much time in the kitchen before that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All of a sudden, I was thinking about what was going into their tummies and thinking about nutrition, whereas before I was out in restaurants and just whizzing together meals quite easily and not taking that much care of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I was really thinking about what and how to make these beautiful dishes that my mum would make for us as children and evoke those childhood memories back again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And growing up with my mum, who\u2019s an absolute amazing cook, she\u2019s such a perfectionist, and I used to follow her around the kitchen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So after the children, it just brought back all those childhood memories and the times that I would watch my mum cook in the kitchen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I used to come up with my own little hacks, because I never understood what she did, because there were over a dozen different ingredients that she would play around with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so to satisfy my curiosity and to get me involved in the kitchen because as a 9, 10-year-old, you can pretty much make a bit of a mess. But she encouraged it. She didn\u2019t say no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She\u2019d get a little bowl and then she would portion out all the different flavourings, the spices and the herbs, and she\u2019d create that little spectrum for me to go and play with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so that was kind of the memory that sparked the whole premise of BANG! Curry and those teachings that mum gave me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And yeah, I just thought, \u201cYou know what? I can do something with this.\u201d And it\u2019s a range that was put together to help share and promote that curry-making experience with other people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Assessing the risk and return<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou paint such an evocative picture. And in fact, I remember being a kid and always smelling chopped onions and garlic on my mum\u2019s fingers because she spent a lot of time cooking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She worked full time, but on the weekends, and that was the special time smelling the tomatoes, cooking in the kitchen. So I know exactly what you mean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then it\u2019s quite a big jump from being someone on a salary and you were working as a quant at the time, so you were a financial analyst, to then sort of risking it all on an untried business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps you could talk me through your thought process when it came to actually taking the jump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo being a quant and being in that business, you are very measured about risk and return, it was part of my daily routine, and it threads through everything that I did as part of my role at the various jobs that I had as a quant analyst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so when it comes to risk and return, I\u2019m not averse to it at all, as long as it\u2019s measured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When BANG! came along, I\u2019d had lots of ideas before, but nothing jumped out of me with such instinct and such resolution that I had no doubts whatsoever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I did some back-of-the-envelope calculations, I did a gross profit, quick calculation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the time I felt it couldn\u2019t go wrong. There was a huge gap in the market. I saw an opportunity, and it was pretty much who\u2019s going to get there first? And so yeah, I got busy very quickly. It was a no-brainer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Starting with \u00a30 budget<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how much did you have in the startup pot? What was the budget that you thought, \u201cRight, I can get going with this\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nZero. It was pretty much zero, honestly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I started very much organically, and it was all part of the weekly shop. I would experiment. My poor children and family had to eat curry pretty much more frequently than usual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I incorporated it at first, I would say for about a year, perfecting those recipes, understanding whether there was an appetite for it. So I did do a decent amount of market research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so when I started to raise finance for it, it was through cookery classes. And so that\u2019s when I got a bit of a pot. And so we call that bootstrapping, when you make something and then you reinvest it back in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was like that for a few years until we got our first contract with HelloFresh, and we were spotted after being in farmer\u2019s food markets for about 6 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it all started with the cookery classes, teaching people how to make some basic recipes that I\u2019ve known along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve taught friends and family, the basics, like a dhal, a tarka dhal, a biryani, and madras, and bhajis. These are really well-known favourites that I\u2019ve taught over and over and over again, and took them through the cookery classes to really market test whether it\u2019s something worth pursuing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And yes, we turned it into a product, some basic products, went to markets, farmer\u2019s markets locally, there was Chiswick, Barnes, some in Clapham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We did quite a few, actually. It was fun. It was really fun. And then we stopped when it stopped being fun because it coincided with getting on the shelves at Whole Foods Market and it was just before the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And until we got our contract with HelloFresh, which I\u2019m so proud of, and it really is what launched the brand, we then went out to get a little bit of investment. It wasn\u2019t much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My mum pretty much loaned us \u00a310,000 (CA$17,750.65) in order to scale up the operations, and I was able to buy a piece of machinery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And lucky for me, Mark\u2019s a manufacturing engineer. He\u2019s a whiz with mechanics and electronics and everything of that sort. So between us, we were able to hire an industrial unit out locally to us, which is an ActOn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We took this machine, rewired it. It was pretty industrial and it\u2019s a big blender mixer machine. And that was the start of BANG! where we did some really big-scale production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have to say, since then, that was a long time ago, we don\u2019t produce anything ourselves anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We did it the hard way, but I think there\u2019s a real benefit from doing that because you understand the ins and outs of production. So yeah, so our first injection was the \u00a310,000 (CA$17,750.65).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat sounds so exciting though, buying this enormous machine and standing there in this sort of industrial space staring at this enormous thing for grinding and mixing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How exciting that must\u2019ve been, that moment, because that must\u2019ve felt so real to you then, out of the kitchen and into this business space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt was literally out of my home kitchen and into this stainless-steel machine. It was pretty surreal, I have to admit it. It was a real moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then seeing the recipes getting accolades on the HelloFresh website, having the head chef ring me and ask me for the next recipe, discussing ingredients. Yeah, it was a good time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Filling the product gap for HelloFresh<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDid you have any idea you would go the recipe kit route in terms of finding a partner to launch you in that way? Or was that just a happy accident? How did that conversation with HelloFresh come about?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI kind of sought it out. I could see a real analogy between what we were doing and what the idea behind BANG! was and what Hello HelloFresh were doing out in the marketplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the time, HelloFresh were quite big in the US, but in the UK they\u2019d just started out. And I think they\u2019re a bit of a franchise, aren\u2019t they, they\u2019re all over the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the UK at the time, they weren\u2019t really that hot on curry. They didn\u2019t have many curry recipes or they didn\u2019t have any. And so I stepped in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think it was a bit of luck actually, because obviously I know what I\u2019m talking about when it comes to the curry recipes, and it kind of matched with their needs at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so I gave them a really good solution to something to add to their repertoire. So I wouldn\u2019t say it was an accident, but it was one of many opportunities I\u2019d pursued and it came through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s amazing. You have to think sometimes quite laterally about routes to market. So it\u2019s great to hear your story of finding someone that\u2019s almost a springboard into people\u2019s homes and their pallets. It\u2019s so interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The overlaps between science and business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I\u2019m interested to know, because you were a physics PhD, so what skills do you feel you\u2019ve brought from working in the lab at Imperial College?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is there an overlap, I suppose when you\u2019re putting together spice kits, because it is sort of like a science, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nPhysics is an incredible subject, it\u2019s all about problem solving, it\u2019s highly analytical, it\u2019s very creative, and that\u2019s something I didn\u2019t recognize before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I really see a parallel between the techniques that I used in the lab, whether they\u2019re optics or lenses, mirrors, light, all of those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I guess I swapped out for spice ingredients and herbs and the tolerances behind each measurement and getting to those trials and reducing trials from 200 to 50 rather than 200 to 120.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was an easier route to get there using the techniques that I\u2019ve learned through science. And it was really surprising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo traditionally, you\u2019ve come full circle, and you are disrupting tradition almost by coming all the way around 360.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, that\u2019s right, actually. If we think about the disruption that BANG! is causing in its category, I\u2019m really proud of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I just wanted to blow away the conceptions of what people call curry now. And it sounds so minor, but actually I feel really passionate about it because the cuisine itself and what I grew up with is not what you find in the shops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I find it a little bit almost insulting to the consumer to give them something like this that is not flavoursome, it\u2019s not healthy, it\u2019s not involving the consumer in the whole cooking process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What we do is to help to involve that person in the enjoyment in the kitchen, to evoke the pride and healthiness of this way of cooking. Not to mention all the sustainability that goes along with our range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, we\u2019ll come back to the sustainability, but I\u2019m interested in what you\u2019re saying about giving people part of the experience of cooking and being involved in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there is a magic, isn\u2019t there, when the spices hit the pan and you get the aromas releasing, it\u2019s almost like a heady moment where you\u2019re getting carried away with what you\u2019re about to eat. So it\u2019s like theatre, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is. It\u2019s very much like theatre. And honestly, I\u2019ll never tire of using BANG! at least on a 2 weekly basis and every time think, \u201cYeah, this is good. This happened really quick, and it saved me so much effort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Studying in a 99% male dominated field<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to hear more about your experiences studying physics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You said something really interesting there about being the only woman in the college. Being an outlier like that must\u2019ve been quite challenging at times. Was it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did that teach you to be quite resilient as a person, and have you been able to pull those, I suppose, characteristics that you built within the lab, pull them through into your entrepreneurial journey?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nImperial is well known, when I was there, it was well known for being 99% percent male, and I was the only female, definitely in the Blackett Lab, we called it, which is opposite the Royal Albert Hall. It\u2019s a very nice place to study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I didn\u2019t really focus on being the only female. I understood that I had to perform a lot better, or I was being scrutinized because I was female, but the way I coped with it was just to get on with it and let that be a you problem if you like, and I just carried on and just did what I was there to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I focused on that too much, I think it would\u2019ve detracted me from the enjoyment and the reason I was there, because you can\u2019t do a physics PhD for any other reason apart from your love of the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the only thing that will drive you through because it\u2019s tough. There\u2019s not really much financial reward. It\u2019s all about achievement and seeking what you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your belief in your business will carry you through hard times<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then when you did the pivot into becoming a business owner, a recipe maker, you were in your 40s, you\u2019ve mentioned you\u2019d had kids by that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did that feel like a lot of pressure to make it work, because presumably you had financial responsibilities. You\u2019re not a footloose, fancy-free 20-year-old with nothing to lose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And how did that, I guess, influence your journey? Was that pressure actually quite motivating so that you had to be successful?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think you spot on there, actually. Yeah, there was a lot of pressure involved because I\u2019d come from such a high achieving background, I guess, in terms of the other fields I was involved with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I was well aware of the opinions that maybe some people may have had like \u201cWhat on earth is she doing? What\u2019s that got to do with anything scientific or financial or quantitative?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But again, I just carried on because I knew I had something, so that belief obviously carried me through those hard times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was difficult because I didn\u2019t have a wage to rely on, a constant stream, and I couldn\u2019t ring up IT when I needed help. It is all about solving everything yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019re a one-man band for quite some time, and it was difficult, but then the small wins along the way, that\u2019s what keeps you going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use Amazon reviews to boost sales<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about some of those small wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we talked about HelloFresh and how that parachuted you into the big time, well into the small big time. And then what did you do next? How did you build on that momentum to keep growing the brand, winning new customers? What were the next wins on the list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, it was all about getting the name out there, being seen. Micro influencers is what we used quite heavily. Amazon was a big brand awareness winner for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now I mentioned that we started pretty much the whole scaling of our online business through the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we made a good choice by just coming out of retail and concentrating everything online. So we decided to go online, we created our own website, which I clumsily developed in the first days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We fast evolved from there, but it worked, it was fine, and we launched onto Amazon. We actually even launched into Amazon EU before we couldn\u2019t trade in EU anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s what really helped us, and we escalated our sales there mainly through reviews, and making sure our customers came back and reviewed our products, because reviews are everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s the social media that ties in. It\u2019s all one big marketing loop, if you like. It all tells that story, and one piece doesn\u2019t work without the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it was fast learning how all those different channels work together. It\u2019s quite complicated, but once you get your head around it, I think online was where we really started to establish ourselves in the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to get people to leave reviews<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you get people to leave reviews? Because that\u2019s just like the silver bullet, isn\u2019t it? If you can get people to say that they\u2019re happy, people are so happy to tell you when they\u2019re annoyed or when something hasn\u2019t met expectations, but to get them to take the time to say this was great, that\u2019s hard. How did you do that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, we took the effort of having direct contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019d have people that actually did the customer service. We automated the process of asking for reviews in a clever way, but not in an illegal way, because Amazon\u2019s got some quite stringent rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was time-consuming but worth it, because even just the 1 review makes such a big difference on the stats. And we made sure we looked at customer feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So all of those things really impacted the future NPD of our products. So we listened, and I think we need to listen to make sure we continually improve what we are giving. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become resilient to feedback and use it to improve<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you react to feedback? Because in the world of curry, I can imagine you\u2019ve got this spectrum of people when it comes to spice, some say tiny bit is too much and some are like blow my head off. How on earth do you cater to all of those people at once?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, that\u2019s a great question actually, because I think I developed my resilience to it all when I was on the market stall right at the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I\u2019d have people say to me, \u201cOh, it\u2019s too spicy,\u201d and I didn\u2019t understand because spicy isn\u2019t in my vocabulary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was saying, \u201cWhat does that mean? Too spicy?\u201d But it literally means heat, and I wasn\u2019t aware of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I got accustomed to different ways of describing the flavours. And because we have quite a big range that caters for every taste, if you like, I was always able to direct somebody to a different flavour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know what? Every flavour is not for everyone. And I soon learned to not get offended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, it\u2019s very personal to me because I\u2019ve developed them all from scratch, but you can\u2019t make everyone happy. But I\u2019m happy to say that most people are really delighted when they use what we are doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if they\u2019re not, then I really try and dissect how they use the product because there may be something not quite right in how we\u2019re communicating the use of them. So I\u2019m quite stringent about those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make your product versatile<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how do you get people to buy again and again? Because it seems like when you create a kit like this, you want it to be on the rotation, like when you\u2019re doing your meal prep, as you say, maybe every couple of weeks there it is, BANG! Curry on the rotation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how do you stay in people\u2019s minds? Just refresh them, \u201cRemember we\u2019re here, we\u2019re tasty.\u201d How do you do that? How do you get repeat purchases?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo we try to give inspiration. So we want BANG! to be a way of life, not just a product that you use and get bored with. It\u2019s the versatility that we are giving people and the empowerment to do what they want to do with their meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if you\u2019ve got dietary requirements, if you\u2019ve got ingredient preferences, you don\u2019t like meat or you just love vegan-type ingredients, there\u2019s always something for that person, and we want to inspire with lots of different recipes that they can use with just the 1 kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can vary it up, but you know you\u2019ve got your flavour locked in, and I think that\u2019s why people come back. They don\u2019t get bored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ll buy it once and they know they can change it up a bit and it will go down well when they take that effort to put some time into it and make it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIs that through social media? Are you sharing sort of, \u201cHey, look, you can use this kit for an exciting barbecue dish, or have you tried using paneer, or\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you show them another way to use it and how do you keep refreshing that? Is it like TikTok videos? How are you doing it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWe are doing it pretty much through social media. That\u2019s very instant, and sharing recipes. We\u2019ve got recipes on our website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are with Waitrose, they are also starting to showcase some of our recipes. It\u2019s still early days, but on the horizon, we\u2019ve got some lovely recipes that are going to appear in their weekend magazines, and it\u2019s through those platforms that we like to keep on refreshing those recipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And because that\u2019s what it\u2019s about, right? Everyone gets bored with the same old weekday meals or even if someone\u2019s coming round, how do I knock something together quickly and everyone\u2019s happy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We like to solve that problem and make mealtimes exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Competition proves that there is demand in your market<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about what the competitor landscape looks like now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because you were obviously doing something at the beginning of what became quite a big wave of recipe kits and different kinds of kits focusing on different kinds of cuisines, and there\u2019s now quite a lot of curry kits out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you stand out, and has that brought more awareness to the category as a whole? Is that a good thing, or has it sort of stolen some of your customers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe way I see it is that I would rather not be the only product in a category and be carving that out because frankly, we have been carving that category out and it\u2019s hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s difficult when you are having to convince buyer after buyer that you have a consumer group out there that are crying out for this type of product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019m actually really pleased, because it proves our point that there\u2019s a demand for it, and actually, competition\u2019s good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are quite confident, quietly confident with our range and that we can stand up to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you don\u2019t want to waste too much time looking at the competition. You want to just be focusing on the next thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping new product ideas fresh and flowing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about that. How frequently do you bring out new products? Is there a lot of pressure to have this pipeline of NPD constantly going, going?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is the most exciting part. Honestly, it\u2019s just what I live for, NPD and the next thing and coming up with new ideas and making them just come to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the beginning, it literally took 18 months for that first recipe to be perfect. Now, using all of those scientific techniques I talked about, I\u2019ve got a methodology, and that last NPD I put together took me maybe 4 goes. I was so happy, and it was just amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are seeing it in a new professional range. So what we are focusing on now is, we\u2019ve got a new range that has come out, which we launched together with some help with a non-exec director that we employed last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now he comes from a really rich background of food service, and he helped a company called Santa Maria, I don\u2019t know if you know them, but they\u2019re really big in the Mexican spice space now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He helped us as a company to reformulate what we\u2019ve done really well in retail and apply it to the catering industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so we\u2019ve got this bulk range we\u2019ve called BANG! Curry Professional, and that is so exciting. I\u2019ve got some really exciting news I can\u2019t share with you today, but that\u2019s pretty much our next launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that to me is so exciting because that\u2019s feeding literally the masses. We are changing some really big things out there in terms of curry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd are you still the one formulating the recipes? You mentioned they\u2019re the methodology and it taking four goes to get it right, but is it still you sort of there with your hat on, your goggles on, mixing up all the spices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wouldn\u2019t pass that to anyone, because that\u2019s where I find the most joy. No, that\u2019s me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it might not be me in a year\u2019s time, but at the moment, yeah, that\u2019s all down to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019ve got to do what you love. It\u2019s really sad when you interview people, you start businesses and the thing they love doing at the beginning, 5 years on, they\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I can\u2019t do that anymore. I\u2019ve got to delegate that to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s nice to hang on to the bits that you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use paid classes as a way to bootstrap your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou mentioned at the beginning, Shelly, about bootstrapping, and we talk about bootstrapping quite a bit on this show, and I\u2019d love to hear some of the really clever bootstrapping strategies that worked for you and your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the ways that you grew while still cutting costs, saving money, being clever about how you spent on marketing or go to market. So tell me about some of those strategies, 1 or 2 that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe one I would say I felt really gave us a lot of return was the cookery classes that we did. It was quite a lot of effort on our part, but we got so much out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We charged for seats, and I literally did it in our own kitchen, so there was no rent involved, so everything went straight into profit, ingredients don\u2019t really cost very much, and we were ranking at number 1 on Google for Indian cooking lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was pretty much it, I don\u2019t know how I did it, I have to admit, but I built the website, and it ranked us up there, and it was really quite low cost to the company in order to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think we got some really nice wins out of that, and obviously some reviews as well on Google about BANG! Curry and the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the intellectual property we took out of that as well is what people actually wanted out of a product, and what sort of recipes and how much time were they prepared to take with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I was showing them step-by-step, I wasn\u2019t using the kits, and I was showing them from A to Z every single piece that would go into the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was not 1 customer that didn\u2019t go away, take the recipe that I would give them, and cook it from scratch, they all ended up just using the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the end I\u2019d give them a little gift bag with the kits and the recipes, but I don\u2019t know anyone that actually cooked the whole thing from scratch, went out and bought all the different ingredients. And so there was a lot of learning gained from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it helped kickstart, it helped finance things like branding, things like print packaging, all of these things, all to do with cost of goods, which at the beginning that\u2019s all we were paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any marketing, we tried to be very clever about it in terms of guerrilla marketing, digital advertising, which basically I tried to turn my head to and did all that stuff initially myself. I basically worked that bit out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou paint such an evocative picture. And in fact, I remember being a kid and always smelling chopped onions and garlic on my mum\u2019s fingers because she spent a lot of time cooking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She worked full time, but on the weekends, and that was the special time smelling the tomatoes, cooking in the kitchen. So I know exactly what you mean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then it\u2019s quite a big jump from being someone on a salary and you were working as a quant at the time, so you were a financial analyst, to then sort of risking it all on an untried business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps you could talk me through your thought process when it came to actually taking the jump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo being a quant and being in that business, you are very measured about risk and return, it was part of my daily routine, and it threads through everything that I did as part of my role at the various jobs that I had as a quant analyst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so when it comes to risk and return, I\u2019m not averse to it at all, as long as it\u2019s measured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When BANG! came along, I\u2019d had lots of ideas before, but nothing jumped out of me with such instinct and such resolution that I had no doubts whatsoever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I did some back-of-the-envelope calculations, I did a gross profit, quick calculation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the time I felt it couldn\u2019t go wrong. There was a huge gap in the market. I saw an opportunity, and it was pretty much who\u2019s going to get there first? And so yeah, I got busy very quickly. It was a no-brainer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Starting with \u00a30 budget<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how much did you have in the startup pot? What was the budget that you thought, \u201cRight, I can get going with this\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nZero. It was pretty much zero, honestly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I started very much organically, and it was all part of the weekly shop. I would experiment. My poor children and family had to eat curry pretty much more frequently than usual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I incorporated it at first, I would say for about a year, perfecting those recipes, understanding whether there was an appetite for it. So I did do a decent amount of market research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so when I started to raise finance for it, it was through cookery classes. And so that\u2019s when I got a bit of a pot. And so we call that bootstrapping, when you make something and then you reinvest it back in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was like that for a few years until we got our first contract with HelloFresh, and we were spotted after being in farmer\u2019s food markets for about 6 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it all started with the cookery classes, teaching people how to make some basic recipes that I\u2019ve known along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve taught friends and family, the basics, like a dhal, a tarka dhal, a biryani, and madras, and bhajis. These are really well-known favourites that I\u2019ve taught over and over and over again, and took them through the cookery classes to really market test whether it\u2019s something worth pursuing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And yes, we turned it into a product, some basic products, went to markets, farmer\u2019s markets locally, there was Chiswick, Barnes, some in Clapham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We did quite a few, actually. It was fun. It was really fun. And then we stopped when it stopped being fun because it coincided with getting on the shelves at Whole Foods Market and it was just before the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And until we got our contract with HelloFresh, which I\u2019m so proud of, and it really is what launched the brand, we then went out to get a little bit of investment. It wasn\u2019t much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My mum pretty much loaned us \u00a310,000 (CA$17,750.65) in order to scale up the operations, and I was able to buy a piece of machinery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And lucky for me, Mark\u2019s a manufacturing engineer. He\u2019s a whiz with mechanics and electronics and everything of that sort. So between us, we were able to hire an industrial unit out locally to us, which is an ActOn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We took this machine, rewired it. It was pretty industrial and it\u2019s a big blender mixer machine. And that was the start of BANG! where we did some really big-scale production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have to say, since then, that was a long time ago, we don\u2019t produce anything ourselves anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We did it the hard way, but I think there\u2019s a real benefit from doing that because you understand the ins and outs of production. So yeah, so our first injection was the \u00a310,000 (CA$17,750.65).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat sounds so exciting though, buying this enormous machine and standing there in this sort of industrial space staring at this enormous thing for grinding and mixing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How exciting that must\u2019ve been, that moment, because that must\u2019ve felt so real to you then, out of the kitchen and into this business space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt was literally out of my home kitchen and into this stainless-steel machine. It was pretty surreal, I have to admit it. It was a real moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then seeing the recipes getting accolades on the HelloFresh website, having the head chef ring me and ask me for the next recipe, discussing ingredients. Yeah, it was a good time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Filling the product gap for HelloFresh<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDid you have any idea you would go the recipe kit route in terms of finding a partner to launch you in that way? Or was that just a happy accident? How did that conversation with HelloFresh come about?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI kind of sought it out. I could see a real analogy between what we were doing and what the idea behind BANG! was and what Hello HelloFresh were doing out in the marketplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the time, HelloFresh were quite big in the US, but in the UK they\u2019d just started out. And I think they\u2019re a bit of a franchise, aren\u2019t they, they\u2019re all over the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the UK at the time, they weren\u2019t really that hot on curry. They didn\u2019t have many curry recipes or they didn\u2019t have any. And so I stepped in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think it was a bit of luck actually, because obviously I know what I\u2019m talking about when it comes to the curry recipes, and it kind of matched with their needs at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so I gave them a really good solution to something to add to their repertoire. So I wouldn\u2019t say it was an accident, but it was one of many opportunities I\u2019d pursued and it came through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s amazing. You have to think sometimes quite laterally about routes to market. So it\u2019s great to hear your story of finding someone that\u2019s almost a springboard into people\u2019s homes and their pallets. It\u2019s so interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The overlaps between science and business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I\u2019m interested to know, because you were a physics PhD, so what skills do you feel you\u2019ve brought from working in the lab at Imperial College?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is there an overlap, I suppose when you\u2019re putting together spice kits, because it is sort of like a science, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nPhysics is an incredible subject, it\u2019s all about problem solving, it\u2019s highly analytical, it\u2019s very creative, and that\u2019s something I didn\u2019t recognize before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I really see a parallel between the techniques that I used in the lab, whether they\u2019re optics or lenses, mirrors, light, all of those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I guess I swapped out for spice ingredients and herbs and the tolerances behind each measurement and getting to those trials and reducing trials from 200 to 50 rather than 200 to 120.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was an easier route to get there using the techniques that I\u2019ve learned through science. And it was really surprising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo traditionally, you\u2019ve come full circle, and you are disrupting tradition almost by coming all the way around 360.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, that\u2019s right, actually. If we think about the disruption that BANG! is causing in its category, I\u2019m really proud of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I just wanted to blow away the conceptions of what people call curry now. And it sounds so minor, but actually I feel really passionate about it because the cuisine itself and what I grew up with is not what you find in the shops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I find it a little bit almost insulting to the consumer to give them something like this that is not flavoursome, it\u2019s not healthy, it\u2019s not involving the consumer in the whole cooking process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What we do is to help to involve that person in the enjoyment in the kitchen, to evoke the pride and healthiness of this way of cooking. Not to mention all the sustainability that goes along with our range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, we\u2019ll come back to the sustainability, but I\u2019m interested in what you\u2019re saying about giving people part of the experience of cooking and being involved in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there is a magic, isn\u2019t there, when the spices hit the pan and you get the aromas releasing, it\u2019s almost like a heady moment where you\u2019re getting carried away with what you\u2019re about to eat. So it\u2019s like theatre, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is. It\u2019s very much like theatre. And honestly, I\u2019ll never tire of using BANG! at least on a 2 weekly basis and every time think, \u201cYeah, this is good. This happened really quick, and it saved me so much effort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Studying in a 99% male dominated field<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to hear more about your experiences studying physics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You said something really interesting there about being the only woman in the college. Being an outlier like that must\u2019ve been quite challenging at times. Was it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did that teach you to be quite resilient as a person, and have you been able to pull those, I suppose, characteristics that you built within the lab, pull them through into your entrepreneurial journey?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nImperial is well known, when I was there, it was well known for being 99% percent male, and I was the only female, definitely in the Blackett Lab, we called it, which is opposite the Royal Albert Hall. It\u2019s a very nice place to study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I didn\u2019t really focus on being the only female. I understood that I had to perform a lot better, or I was being scrutinized because I was female, but the way I coped with it was just to get on with it and let that be a you problem if you like, and I just carried on and just did what I was there to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I focused on that too much, I think it would\u2019ve detracted me from the enjoyment and the reason I was there, because you can\u2019t do a physics PhD for any other reason apart from your love of the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the only thing that will drive you through because it\u2019s tough. There\u2019s not really much financial reward. It\u2019s all about achievement and seeking what you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your belief in your business will carry you through hard times<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then when you did the pivot into becoming a business owner, a recipe maker, you were in your 40s, you\u2019ve mentioned you\u2019d had kids by that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did that feel like a lot of pressure to make it work, because presumably you had financial responsibilities. You\u2019re not a footloose, fancy-free 20-year-old with nothing to lose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And how did that, I guess, influence your journey? Was that pressure actually quite motivating so that you had to be successful?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think you spot on there, actually. Yeah, there was a lot of pressure involved because I\u2019d come from such a high achieving background, I guess, in terms of the other fields I was involved with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I was well aware of the opinions that maybe some people may have had like \u201cWhat on earth is she doing? What\u2019s that got to do with anything scientific or financial or quantitative?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But again, I just carried on because I knew I had something, so that belief obviously carried me through those hard times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was difficult because I didn\u2019t have a wage to rely on, a constant stream, and I couldn\u2019t ring up IT when I needed help. It is all about solving everything yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019re a one-man band for quite some time, and it was difficult, but then the small wins along the way, that\u2019s what keeps you going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use Amazon reviews to boost sales<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about some of those small wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we talked about HelloFresh and how that parachuted you into the big time, well into the small big time. And then what did you do next? How did you build on that momentum to keep growing the brand, winning new customers? What were the next wins on the list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, it was all about getting the name out there, being seen. Micro influencers is what we used quite heavily. Amazon was a big brand awareness winner for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now I mentioned that we started pretty much the whole scaling of our online business through the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we made a good choice by just coming out of retail and concentrating everything online. So we decided to go online, we created our own website, which I clumsily developed in the first days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We fast evolved from there, but it worked, it was fine, and we launched onto Amazon. We actually even launched into Amazon EU before we couldn\u2019t trade in EU anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s what really helped us, and we escalated our sales there mainly through reviews, and making sure our customers came back and reviewed our products, because reviews are everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s the social media that ties in. It\u2019s all one big marketing loop, if you like. It all tells that story, and one piece doesn\u2019t work without the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it was fast learning how all those different channels work together. It\u2019s quite complicated, but once you get your head around it, I think online was where we really started to establish ourselves in the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to get people to leave reviews<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you get people to leave reviews? Because that\u2019s just like the silver bullet, isn\u2019t it? If you can get people to say that they\u2019re happy, people are so happy to tell you when they\u2019re annoyed or when something hasn\u2019t met expectations, but to get them to take the time to say this was great, that\u2019s hard. How did you do that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, we took the effort of having direct contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019d have people that actually did the customer service. We automated the process of asking for reviews in a clever way, but not in an illegal way, because Amazon\u2019s got some quite stringent rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was time-consuming but worth it, because even just the 1 review makes such a big difference on the stats. And we made sure we looked at customer feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So all of those things really impacted the future NPD of our products. So we listened, and I think we need to listen to make sure we continually improve what we are giving. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become resilient to feedback and use it to improve<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you react to feedback? Because in the world of curry, I can imagine you\u2019ve got this spectrum of people when it comes to spice, some say tiny bit is too much and some are like blow my head off. How on earth do you cater to all of those people at once?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, that\u2019s a great question actually, because I think I developed my resilience to it all when I was on the market stall right at the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I\u2019d have people say to me, \u201cOh, it\u2019s too spicy,\u201d and I didn\u2019t understand because spicy isn\u2019t in my vocabulary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was saying, \u201cWhat does that mean? Too spicy?\u201d But it literally means heat, and I wasn\u2019t aware of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I got accustomed to different ways of describing the flavours. And because we have quite a big range that caters for every taste, if you like, I was always able to direct somebody to a different flavour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know what? Every flavour is not for everyone. And I soon learned to not get offended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, it\u2019s very personal to me because I\u2019ve developed them all from scratch, but you can\u2019t make everyone happy. But I\u2019m happy to say that most people are really delighted when they use what we are doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if they\u2019re not, then I really try and dissect how they use the product because there may be something not quite right in how we\u2019re communicating the use of them. So I\u2019m quite stringent about those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make your product versatile<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how do you get people to buy again and again? Because it seems like when you create a kit like this, you want it to be on the rotation, like when you\u2019re doing your meal prep, as you say, maybe every couple of weeks there it is, BANG! Curry on the rotation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how do you stay in people\u2019s minds? Just refresh them, \u201cRemember we\u2019re here, we\u2019re tasty.\u201d How do you do that? How do you get repeat purchases?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo we try to give inspiration. So we want BANG! to be a way of life, not just a product that you use and get bored with. It\u2019s the versatility that we are giving people and the empowerment to do what they want to do with their meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if you\u2019ve got dietary requirements, if you\u2019ve got ingredient preferences, you don\u2019t like meat or you just love vegan-type ingredients, there\u2019s always something for that person, and we want to inspire with lots of different recipes that they can use with just the 1 kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can vary it up, but you know you\u2019ve got your flavour locked in, and I think that\u2019s why people come back. They don\u2019t get bored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ll buy it once and they know they can change it up a bit and it will go down well when they take that effort to put some time into it and make it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIs that through social media? Are you sharing sort of, \u201cHey, look, you can use this kit for an exciting barbecue dish, or have you tried using paneer, or\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you show them another way to use it and how do you keep refreshing that? Is it like TikTok videos? How are you doing it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWe are doing it pretty much through social media. That\u2019s very instant, and sharing recipes. We\u2019ve got recipes on our website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are with Waitrose, they are also starting to showcase some of our recipes. It\u2019s still early days, but on the horizon, we\u2019ve got some lovely recipes that are going to appear in their weekend magazines, and it\u2019s through those platforms that we like to keep on refreshing those recipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And because that\u2019s what it\u2019s about, right? Everyone gets bored with the same old weekday meals or even if someone\u2019s coming round, how do I knock something together quickly and everyone\u2019s happy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We like to solve that problem and make mealtimes exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Competition proves that there is demand in your market<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about what the competitor landscape looks like now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because you were obviously doing something at the beginning of what became quite a big wave of recipe kits and different kinds of kits focusing on different kinds of cuisines, and there\u2019s now quite a lot of curry kits out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you stand out, and has that brought more awareness to the category as a whole? Is that a good thing, or has it sort of stolen some of your customers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe way I see it is that I would rather not be the only product in a category and be carving that out because frankly, we have been carving that category out and it\u2019s hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s difficult when you are having to convince buyer after buyer that you have a consumer group out there that are crying out for this type of product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019m actually really pleased, because it proves our point that there\u2019s a demand for it, and actually, competition\u2019s good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are quite confident, quietly confident with our range and that we can stand up to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you don\u2019t want to waste too much time looking at the competition. You want to just be focusing on the next thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping new product ideas fresh and flowing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about that. How frequently do you bring out new products? Is there a lot of pressure to have this pipeline of NPD constantly going, going?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is the most exciting part. Honestly, it\u2019s just what I live for, NPD and the next thing and coming up with new ideas and making them just come to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the beginning, it literally took 18 months for that first recipe to be perfect. Now, using all of those scientific techniques I talked about, I\u2019ve got a methodology, and that last NPD I put together took me maybe 4 goes. I was so happy, and it was just amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are seeing it in a new professional range. So what we are focusing on now is, we\u2019ve got a new range that has come out, which we launched together with some help with a non-exec director that we employed last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now he comes from a really rich background of food service, and he helped a company called Santa Maria, I don\u2019t know if you know them, but they\u2019re really big in the Mexican spice space now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He helped us as a company to reformulate what we\u2019ve done really well in retail and apply it to the catering industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so we\u2019ve got this bulk range we\u2019ve called BANG! Curry Professional, and that is so exciting. I\u2019ve got some really exciting news I can\u2019t share with you today, but that\u2019s pretty much our next launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that to me is so exciting because that\u2019s feeding literally the masses. We are changing some really big things out there in terms of curry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd are you still the one formulating the recipes? You mentioned they\u2019re the methodology and it taking four goes to get it right, but is it still you sort of there with your hat on, your goggles on, mixing up all the spices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wouldn\u2019t pass that to anyone, because that\u2019s where I find the most joy. No, that\u2019s me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it might not be me in a year\u2019s time, but at the moment, yeah, that\u2019s all down to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019ve got to do what you love. It\u2019s really sad when you interview people, you start businesses and the thing they love doing at the beginning, 5 years on, they\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I can\u2019t do that anymore. I\u2019ve got to delegate that to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s nice to hang on to the bits that you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use paid classes as a way to bootstrap your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou mentioned at the beginning, Shelly, about bootstrapping, and we talk about bootstrapping quite a bit on this show, and I\u2019d love to hear some of the really clever bootstrapping strategies that worked for you and your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the ways that you grew while still cutting costs, saving money, being clever about how you spent on marketing or go to market. So tell me about some of those strategies, 1 or 2 that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe one I would say I felt really gave us a lot of return was the cookery classes that we did. It was quite a lot of effort on our part, but we got so much out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We charged for seats, and I literally did it in our own kitchen, so there was no rent involved, so everything went straight into profit, ingredients don\u2019t really cost very much, and we were ranking at number 1 on Google for Indian cooking lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was pretty much it, I don\u2019t know how I did it, I have to admit, but I built the website, and it ranked us up there, and it was really quite low cost to the company in order to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think we got some really nice wins out of that, and obviously some reviews as well on Google about BANG! Curry and the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the intellectual property we took out of that as well is what people actually wanted out of a product, and what sort of recipes and how much time were they prepared to take with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I was showing them step-by-step, I wasn\u2019t using the kits, and I was showing them from A to Z every single piece that would go into the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was not 1 customer that didn\u2019t go away, take the recipe that I would give them, and cook it from scratch, they all ended up just using the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the end I\u2019d give them a little gift bag with the kits and the recipes, but I don\u2019t know anyone that actually cooked the whole thing from scratch, went out and bought all the different ingredients. And so there was a lot of learning gained from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it helped kickstart, it helped finance things like branding, things like print packaging, all of these things, all to do with cost of goods, which at the beginning that\u2019s all we were paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any marketing, we tried to be very clever about it in terms of guerrilla marketing, digital advertising, which basically I tried to turn my head to and did all that stuff initially myself. I basically worked that bit out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
So being a quant and being in that business, you are very measured about risk and return, it was part of my daily routine, and it threads through everything that I did as part of my role at the various jobs that I had as a quant analyst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so when it comes to risk and return, I\u2019m not averse to it at all, as long as it\u2019s measured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When BANG! came along, I\u2019d had lots of ideas before, but nothing jumped out of me with such instinct and such resolution that I had no doubts whatsoever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I did some back-of-the-envelope calculations, I did a gross profit, quick calculation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the time I felt it couldn\u2019t go wrong. There was a huge gap in the market. I saw an opportunity, and it was pretty much who\u2019s going to get there first? And so yeah, I got busy very quickly. It was a no-brainer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Starting with \u00a30 budget<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how much did you have in the startup pot? What was the budget that you thought, \u201cRight, I can get going with this\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nZero. It was pretty much zero, honestly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I started very much organically, and it was all part of the weekly shop. I would experiment. My poor children and family had to eat curry pretty much more frequently than usual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I incorporated it at first, I would say for about a year, perfecting those recipes, understanding whether there was an appetite for it. So I did do a decent amount of market research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so when I started to raise finance for it, it was through cookery classes. And so that\u2019s when I got a bit of a pot. And so we call that bootstrapping, when you make something and then you reinvest it back in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was like that for a few years until we got our first contract with HelloFresh, and we were spotted after being in farmer\u2019s food markets for about 6 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it all started with the cookery classes, teaching people how to make some basic recipes that I\u2019ve known along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve taught friends and family, the basics, like a dhal, a tarka dhal, a biryani, and madras, and bhajis. These are really well-known favourites that I\u2019ve taught over and over and over again, and took them through the cookery classes to really market test whether it\u2019s something worth pursuing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And yes, we turned it into a product, some basic products, went to markets, farmer\u2019s markets locally, there was Chiswick, Barnes, some in Clapham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We did quite a few, actually. It was fun. It was really fun. And then we stopped when it stopped being fun because it coincided with getting on the shelves at Whole Foods Market and it was just before the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And until we got our contract with HelloFresh, which I\u2019m so proud of, and it really is what launched the brand, we then went out to get a little bit of investment. It wasn\u2019t much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My mum pretty much loaned us \u00a310,000 (CA$17,750.65) in order to scale up the operations, and I was able to buy a piece of machinery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And lucky for me, Mark\u2019s a manufacturing engineer. He\u2019s a whiz with mechanics and electronics and everything of that sort. So between us, we were able to hire an industrial unit out locally to us, which is an ActOn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We took this machine, rewired it. It was pretty industrial and it\u2019s a big blender mixer machine. And that was the start of BANG! where we did some really big-scale production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have to say, since then, that was a long time ago, we don\u2019t produce anything ourselves anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We did it the hard way, but I think there\u2019s a real benefit from doing that because you understand the ins and outs of production. So yeah, so our first injection was the \u00a310,000 (CA$17,750.65).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat sounds so exciting though, buying this enormous machine and standing there in this sort of industrial space staring at this enormous thing for grinding and mixing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How exciting that must\u2019ve been, that moment, because that must\u2019ve felt so real to you then, out of the kitchen and into this business space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt was literally out of my home kitchen and into this stainless-steel machine. It was pretty surreal, I have to admit it. It was a real moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then seeing the recipes getting accolades on the HelloFresh website, having the head chef ring me and ask me for the next recipe, discussing ingredients. Yeah, it was a good time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Filling the product gap for HelloFresh<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDid you have any idea you would go the recipe kit route in terms of finding a partner to launch you in that way? Or was that just a happy accident? How did that conversation with HelloFresh come about?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI kind of sought it out. I could see a real analogy between what we were doing and what the idea behind BANG! was and what Hello HelloFresh were doing out in the marketplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the time, HelloFresh were quite big in the US, but in the UK they\u2019d just started out. And I think they\u2019re a bit of a franchise, aren\u2019t they, they\u2019re all over the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the UK at the time, they weren\u2019t really that hot on curry. They didn\u2019t have many curry recipes or they didn\u2019t have any. And so I stepped in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think it was a bit of luck actually, because obviously I know what I\u2019m talking about when it comes to the curry recipes, and it kind of matched with their needs at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so I gave them a really good solution to something to add to their repertoire. So I wouldn\u2019t say it was an accident, but it was one of many opportunities I\u2019d pursued and it came through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s amazing. You have to think sometimes quite laterally about routes to market. So it\u2019s great to hear your story of finding someone that\u2019s almost a springboard into people\u2019s homes and their pallets. It\u2019s so interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The overlaps between science and business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I\u2019m interested to know, because you were a physics PhD, so what skills do you feel you\u2019ve brought from working in the lab at Imperial College?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is there an overlap, I suppose when you\u2019re putting together spice kits, because it is sort of like a science, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nPhysics is an incredible subject, it\u2019s all about problem solving, it\u2019s highly analytical, it\u2019s very creative, and that\u2019s something I didn\u2019t recognize before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I really see a parallel between the techniques that I used in the lab, whether they\u2019re optics or lenses, mirrors, light, all of those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I guess I swapped out for spice ingredients and herbs and the tolerances behind each measurement and getting to those trials and reducing trials from 200 to 50 rather than 200 to 120.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was an easier route to get there using the techniques that I\u2019ve learned through science. And it was really surprising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo traditionally, you\u2019ve come full circle, and you are disrupting tradition almost by coming all the way around 360.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, that\u2019s right, actually. If we think about the disruption that BANG! is causing in its category, I\u2019m really proud of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I just wanted to blow away the conceptions of what people call curry now. And it sounds so minor, but actually I feel really passionate about it because the cuisine itself and what I grew up with is not what you find in the shops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I find it a little bit almost insulting to the consumer to give them something like this that is not flavoursome, it\u2019s not healthy, it\u2019s not involving the consumer in the whole cooking process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What we do is to help to involve that person in the enjoyment in the kitchen, to evoke the pride and healthiness of this way of cooking. Not to mention all the sustainability that goes along with our range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, we\u2019ll come back to the sustainability, but I\u2019m interested in what you\u2019re saying about giving people part of the experience of cooking and being involved in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there is a magic, isn\u2019t there, when the spices hit the pan and you get the aromas releasing, it\u2019s almost like a heady moment where you\u2019re getting carried away with what you\u2019re about to eat. So it\u2019s like theatre, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is. It\u2019s very much like theatre. And honestly, I\u2019ll never tire of using BANG! at least on a 2 weekly basis and every time think, \u201cYeah, this is good. This happened really quick, and it saved me so much effort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Studying in a 99% male dominated field<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to hear more about your experiences studying physics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You said something really interesting there about being the only woman in the college. Being an outlier like that must\u2019ve been quite challenging at times. Was it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did that teach you to be quite resilient as a person, and have you been able to pull those, I suppose, characteristics that you built within the lab, pull them through into your entrepreneurial journey?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nImperial is well known, when I was there, it was well known for being 99% percent male, and I was the only female, definitely in the Blackett Lab, we called it, which is opposite the Royal Albert Hall. It\u2019s a very nice place to study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I didn\u2019t really focus on being the only female. I understood that I had to perform a lot better, or I was being scrutinized because I was female, but the way I coped with it was just to get on with it and let that be a you problem if you like, and I just carried on and just did what I was there to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I focused on that too much, I think it would\u2019ve detracted me from the enjoyment and the reason I was there, because you can\u2019t do a physics PhD for any other reason apart from your love of the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the only thing that will drive you through because it\u2019s tough. There\u2019s not really much financial reward. It\u2019s all about achievement and seeking what you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your belief in your business will carry you through hard times<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then when you did the pivot into becoming a business owner, a recipe maker, you were in your 40s, you\u2019ve mentioned you\u2019d had kids by that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did that feel like a lot of pressure to make it work, because presumably you had financial responsibilities. You\u2019re not a footloose, fancy-free 20-year-old with nothing to lose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And how did that, I guess, influence your journey? Was that pressure actually quite motivating so that you had to be successful?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think you spot on there, actually. Yeah, there was a lot of pressure involved because I\u2019d come from such a high achieving background, I guess, in terms of the other fields I was involved with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I was well aware of the opinions that maybe some people may have had like \u201cWhat on earth is she doing? What\u2019s that got to do with anything scientific or financial or quantitative?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But again, I just carried on because I knew I had something, so that belief obviously carried me through those hard times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was difficult because I didn\u2019t have a wage to rely on, a constant stream, and I couldn\u2019t ring up IT when I needed help. It is all about solving everything yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019re a one-man band for quite some time, and it was difficult, but then the small wins along the way, that\u2019s what keeps you going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use Amazon reviews to boost sales<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about some of those small wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we talked about HelloFresh and how that parachuted you into the big time, well into the small big time. And then what did you do next? How did you build on that momentum to keep growing the brand, winning new customers? What were the next wins on the list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, it was all about getting the name out there, being seen. Micro influencers is what we used quite heavily. Amazon was a big brand awareness winner for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now I mentioned that we started pretty much the whole scaling of our online business through the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we made a good choice by just coming out of retail and concentrating everything online. So we decided to go online, we created our own website, which I clumsily developed in the first days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We fast evolved from there, but it worked, it was fine, and we launched onto Amazon. We actually even launched into Amazon EU before we couldn\u2019t trade in EU anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s what really helped us, and we escalated our sales there mainly through reviews, and making sure our customers came back and reviewed our products, because reviews are everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s the social media that ties in. It\u2019s all one big marketing loop, if you like. It all tells that story, and one piece doesn\u2019t work without the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it was fast learning how all those different channels work together. It\u2019s quite complicated, but once you get your head around it, I think online was where we really started to establish ourselves in the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to get people to leave reviews<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you get people to leave reviews? Because that\u2019s just like the silver bullet, isn\u2019t it? If you can get people to say that they\u2019re happy, people are so happy to tell you when they\u2019re annoyed or when something hasn\u2019t met expectations, but to get them to take the time to say this was great, that\u2019s hard. How did you do that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, we took the effort of having direct contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019d have people that actually did the customer service. We automated the process of asking for reviews in a clever way, but not in an illegal way, because Amazon\u2019s got some quite stringent rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was time-consuming but worth it, because even just the 1 review makes such a big difference on the stats. And we made sure we looked at customer feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So all of those things really impacted the future NPD of our products. So we listened, and I think we need to listen to make sure we continually improve what we are giving. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become resilient to feedback and use it to improve<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you react to feedback? Because in the world of curry, I can imagine you\u2019ve got this spectrum of people when it comes to spice, some say tiny bit is too much and some are like blow my head off. How on earth do you cater to all of those people at once?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, that\u2019s a great question actually, because I think I developed my resilience to it all when I was on the market stall right at the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I\u2019d have people say to me, \u201cOh, it\u2019s too spicy,\u201d and I didn\u2019t understand because spicy isn\u2019t in my vocabulary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was saying, \u201cWhat does that mean? Too spicy?\u201d But it literally means heat, and I wasn\u2019t aware of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I got accustomed to different ways of describing the flavours. And because we have quite a big range that caters for every taste, if you like, I was always able to direct somebody to a different flavour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know what? Every flavour is not for everyone. And I soon learned to not get offended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, it\u2019s very personal to me because I\u2019ve developed them all from scratch, but you can\u2019t make everyone happy. But I\u2019m happy to say that most people are really delighted when they use what we are doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if they\u2019re not, then I really try and dissect how they use the product because there may be something not quite right in how we\u2019re communicating the use of them. So I\u2019m quite stringent about those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make your product versatile<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how do you get people to buy again and again? Because it seems like when you create a kit like this, you want it to be on the rotation, like when you\u2019re doing your meal prep, as you say, maybe every couple of weeks there it is, BANG! Curry on the rotation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how do you stay in people\u2019s minds? Just refresh them, \u201cRemember we\u2019re here, we\u2019re tasty.\u201d How do you do that? How do you get repeat purchases?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo we try to give inspiration. So we want BANG! to be a way of life, not just a product that you use and get bored with. It\u2019s the versatility that we are giving people and the empowerment to do what they want to do with their meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if you\u2019ve got dietary requirements, if you\u2019ve got ingredient preferences, you don\u2019t like meat or you just love vegan-type ingredients, there\u2019s always something for that person, and we want to inspire with lots of different recipes that they can use with just the 1 kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can vary it up, but you know you\u2019ve got your flavour locked in, and I think that\u2019s why people come back. They don\u2019t get bored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ll buy it once and they know they can change it up a bit and it will go down well when they take that effort to put some time into it and make it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIs that through social media? Are you sharing sort of, \u201cHey, look, you can use this kit for an exciting barbecue dish, or have you tried using paneer, or\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you show them another way to use it and how do you keep refreshing that? Is it like TikTok videos? How are you doing it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWe are doing it pretty much through social media. That\u2019s very instant, and sharing recipes. We\u2019ve got recipes on our website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are with Waitrose, they are also starting to showcase some of our recipes. It\u2019s still early days, but on the horizon, we\u2019ve got some lovely recipes that are going to appear in their weekend magazines, and it\u2019s through those platforms that we like to keep on refreshing those recipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And because that\u2019s what it\u2019s about, right? Everyone gets bored with the same old weekday meals or even if someone\u2019s coming round, how do I knock something together quickly and everyone\u2019s happy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We like to solve that problem and make mealtimes exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Competition proves that there is demand in your market<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about what the competitor landscape looks like now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because you were obviously doing something at the beginning of what became quite a big wave of recipe kits and different kinds of kits focusing on different kinds of cuisines, and there\u2019s now quite a lot of curry kits out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you stand out, and has that brought more awareness to the category as a whole? Is that a good thing, or has it sort of stolen some of your customers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe way I see it is that I would rather not be the only product in a category and be carving that out because frankly, we have been carving that category out and it\u2019s hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s difficult when you are having to convince buyer after buyer that you have a consumer group out there that are crying out for this type of product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019m actually really pleased, because it proves our point that there\u2019s a demand for it, and actually, competition\u2019s good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are quite confident, quietly confident with our range and that we can stand up to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you don\u2019t want to waste too much time looking at the competition. You want to just be focusing on the next thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping new product ideas fresh and flowing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about that. How frequently do you bring out new products? Is there a lot of pressure to have this pipeline of NPD constantly going, going?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is the most exciting part. Honestly, it\u2019s just what I live for, NPD and the next thing and coming up with new ideas and making them just come to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the beginning, it literally took 18 months for that first recipe to be perfect. Now, using all of those scientific techniques I talked about, I\u2019ve got a methodology, and that last NPD I put together took me maybe 4 goes. I was so happy, and it was just amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are seeing it in a new professional range. So what we are focusing on now is, we\u2019ve got a new range that has come out, which we launched together with some help with a non-exec director that we employed last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now he comes from a really rich background of food service, and he helped a company called Santa Maria, I don\u2019t know if you know them, but they\u2019re really big in the Mexican spice space now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He helped us as a company to reformulate what we\u2019ve done really well in retail and apply it to the catering industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so we\u2019ve got this bulk range we\u2019ve called BANG! Curry Professional, and that is so exciting. I\u2019ve got some really exciting news I can\u2019t share with you today, but that\u2019s pretty much our next launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that to me is so exciting because that\u2019s feeding literally the masses. We are changing some really big things out there in terms of curry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd are you still the one formulating the recipes? You mentioned they\u2019re the methodology and it taking four goes to get it right, but is it still you sort of there with your hat on, your goggles on, mixing up all the spices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wouldn\u2019t pass that to anyone, because that\u2019s where I find the most joy. No, that\u2019s me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it might not be me in a year\u2019s time, but at the moment, yeah, that\u2019s all down to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019ve got to do what you love. It\u2019s really sad when you interview people, you start businesses and the thing they love doing at the beginning, 5 years on, they\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I can\u2019t do that anymore. I\u2019ve got to delegate that to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s nice to hang on to the bits that you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use paid classes as a way to bootstrap your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou mentioned at the beginning, Shelly, about bootstrapping, and we talk about bootstrapping quite a bit on this show, and I\u2019d love to hear some of the really clever bootstrapping strategies that worked for you and your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the ways that you grew while still cutting costs, saving money, being clever about how you spent on marketing or go to market. So tell me about some of those strategies, 1 or 2 that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe one I would say I felt really gave us a lot of return was the cookery classes that we did. It was quite a lot of effort on our part, but we got so much out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We charged for seats, and I literally did it in our own kitchen, so there was no rent involved, so everything went straight into profit, ingredients don\u2019t really cost very much, and we were ranking at number 1 on Google for Indian cooking lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was pretty much it, I don\u2019t know how I did it, I have to admit, but I built the website, and it ranked us up there, and it was really quite low cost to the company in order to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think we got some really nice wins out of that, and obviously some reviews as well on Google about BANG! Curry and the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the intellectual property we took out of that as well is what people actually wanted out of a product, and what sort of recipes and how much time were they prepared to take with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I was showing them step-by-step, I wasn\u2019t using the kits, and I was showing them from A to Z every single piece that would go into the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was not 1 customer that didn\u2019t go away, take the recipe that I would give them, and cook it from scratch, they all ended up just using the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the end I\u2019d give them a little gift bag with the kits and the recipes, but I don\u2019t know anyone that actually cooked the whole thing from scratch, went out and bought all the different ingredients. And so there was a lot of learning gained from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it helped kickstart, it helped finance things like branding, things like print packaging, all of these things, all to do with cost of goods, which at the beginning that\u2019s all we were paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any marketing, we tried to be very clever about it in terms of guerrilla marketing, digital advertising, which basically I tried to turn my head to and did all that stuff initially myself. I basically worked that bit out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
And how much did you have in the startup pot? What was the budget that you thought, \u201cRight, I can get going with this\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nZero. It was pretty much zero, honestly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I started very much organically, and it was all part of the weekly shop. I would experiment. My poor children and family had to eat curry pretty much more frequently than usual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I incorporated it at first, I would say for about a year, perfecting those recipes, understanding whether there was an appetite for it. So I did do a decent amount of market research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so when I started to raise finance for it, it was through cookery classes. And so that\u2019s when I got a bit of a pot. And so we call that bootstrapping, when you make something and then you reinvest it back in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was like that for a few years until we got our first contract with HelloFresh, and we were spotted after being in farmer\u2019s food markets for about 6 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it all started with the cookery classes, teaching people how to make some basic recipes that I\u2019ve known along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve taught friends and family, the basics, like a dhal, a tarka dhal, a biryani, and madras, and bhajis. These are really well-known favourites that I\u2019ve taught over and over and over again, and took them through the cookery classes to really market test whether it\u2019s something worth pursuing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And yes, we turned it into a product, some basic products, went to markets, farmer\u2019s markets locally, there was Chiswick, Barnes, some in Clapham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We did quite a few, actually. It was fun. It was really fun. And then we stopped when it stopped being fun because it coincided with getting on the shelves at Whole Foods Market and it was just before the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And until we got our contract with HelloFresh, which I\u2019m so proud of, and it really is what launched the brand, we then went out to get a little bit of investment. It wasn\u2019t much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My mum pretty much loaned us \u00a310,000 (CA$17,750.65) in order to scale up the operations, and I was able to buy a piece of machinery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And lucky for me, Mark\u2019s a manufacturing engineer. He\u2019s a whiz with mechanics and electronics and everything of that sort. So between us, we were able to hire an industrial unit out locally to us, which is an ActOn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We took this machine, rewired it. It was pretty industrial and it\u2019s a big blender mixer machine. And that was the start of BANG! where we did some really big-scale production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have to say, since then, that was a long time ago, we don\u2019t produce anything ourselves anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We did it the hard way, but I think there\u2019s a real benefit from doing that because you understand the ins and outs of production. So yeah, so our first injection was the \u00a310,000 (CA$17,750.65).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat sounds so exciting though, buying this enormous machine and standing there in this sort of industrial space staring at this enormous thing for grinding and mixing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How exciting that must\u2019ve been, that moment, because that must\u2019ve felt so real to you then, out of the kitchen and into this business space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt was literally out of my home kitchen and into this stainless-steel machine. It was pretty surreal, I have to admit it. It was a real moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then seeing the recipes getting accolades on the HelloFresh website, having the head chef ring me and ask me for the next recipe, discussing ingredients. Yeah, it was a good time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Filling the product gap for HelloFresh<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDid you have any idea you would go the recipe kit route in terms of finding a partner to launch you in that way? Or was that just a happy accident? How did that conversation with HelloFresh come about?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI kind of sought it out. I could see a real analogy between what we were doing and what the idea behind BANG! was and what Hello HelloFresh were doing out in the marketplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the time, HelloFresh were quite big in the US, but in the UK they\u2019d just started out. And I think they\u2019re a bit of a franchise, aren\u2019t they, they\u2019re all over the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the UK at the time, they weren\u2019t really that hot on curry. They didn\u2019t have many curry recipes or they didn\u2019t have any. And so I stepped in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think it was a bit of luck actually, because obviously I know what I\u2019m talking about when it comes to the curry recipes, and it kind of matched with their needs at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so I gave them a really good solution to something to add to their repertoire. So I wouldn\u2019t say it was an accident, but it was one of many opportunities I\u2019d pursued and it came through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s amazing. You have to think sometimes quite laterally about routes to market. So it\u2019s great to hear your story of finding someone that\u2019s almost a springboard into people\u2019s homes and their pallets. It\u2019s so interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The overlaps between science and business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I\u2019m interested to know, because you were a physics PhD, so what skills do you feel you\u2019ve brought from working in the lab at Imperial College?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is there an overlap, I suppose when you\u2019re putting together spice kits, because it is sort of like a science, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nPhysics is an incredible subject, it\u2019s all about problem solving, it\u2019s highly analytical, it\u2019s very creative, and that\u2019s something I didn\u2019t recognize before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I really see a parallel between the techniques that I used in the lab, whether they\u2019re optics or lenses, mirrors, light, all of those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I guess I swapped out for spice ingredients and herbs and the tolerances behind each measurement and getting to those trials and reducing trials from 200 to 50 rather than 200 to 120.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was an easier route to get there using the techniques that I\u2019ve learned through science. And it was really surprising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo traditionally, you\u2019ve come full circle, and you are disrupting tradition almost by coming all the way around 360.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, that\u2019s right, actually. If we think about the disruption that BANG! is causing in its category, I\u2019m really proud of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I just wanted to blow away the conceptions of what people call curry now. And it sounds so minor, but actually I feel really passionate about it because the cuisine itself and what I grew up with is not what you find in the shops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I find it a little bit almost insulting to the consumer to give them something like this that is not flavoursome, it\u2019s not healthy, it\u2019s not involving the consumer in the whole cooking process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What we do is to help to involve that person in the enjoyment in the kitchen, to evoke the pride and healthiness of this way of cooking. Not to mention all the sustainability that goes along with our range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, we\u2019ll come back to the sustainability, but I\u2019m interested in what you\u2019re saying about giving people part of the experience of cooking and being involved in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there is a magic, isn\u2019t there, when the spices hit the pan and you get the aromas releasing, it\u2019s almost like a heady moment where you\u2019re getting carried away with what you\u2019re about to eat. So it\u2019s like theatre, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is. It\u2019s very much like theatre. And honestly, I\u2019ll never tire of using BANG! at least on a 2 weekly basis and every time think, \u201cYeah, this is good. This happened really quick, and it saved me so much effort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Studying in a 99% male dominated field<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to hear more about your experiences studying physics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You said something really interesting there about being the only woman in the college. Being an outlier like that must\u2019ve been quite challenging at times. Was it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did that teach you to be quite resilient as a person, and have you been able to pull those, I suppose, characteristics that you built within the lab, pull them through into your entrepreneurial journey?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nImperial is well known, when I was there, it was well known for being 99% percent male, and I was the only female, definitely in the Blackett Lab, we called it, which is opposite the Royal Albert Hall. It\u2019s a very nice place to study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I didn\u2019t really focus on being the only female. I understood that I had to perform a lot better, or I was being scrutinized because I was female, but the way I coped with it was just to get on with it and let that be a you problem if you like, and I just carried on and just did what I was there to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I focused on that too much, I think it would\u2019ve detracted me from the enjoyment and the reason I was there, because you can\u2019t do a physics PhD for any other reason apart from your love of the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the only thing that will drive you through because it\u2019s tough. There\u2019s not really much financial reward. It\u2019s all about achievement and seeking what you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your belief in your business will carry you through hard times<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then when you did the pivot into becoming a business owner, a recipe maker, you were in your 40s, you\u2019ve mentioned you\u2019d had kids by that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did that feel like a lot of pressure to make it work, because presumably you had financial responsibilities. You\u2019re not a footloose, fancy-free 20-year-old with nothing to lose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And how did that, I guess, influence your journey? Was that pressure actually quite motivating so that you had to be successful?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think you spot on there, actually. Yeah, there was a lot of pressure involved because I\u2019d come from such a high achieving background, I guess, in terms of the other fields I was involved with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I was well aware of the opinions that maybe some people may have had like \u201cWhat on earth is she doing? What\u2019s that got to do with anything scientific or financial or quantitative?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But again, I just carried on because I knew I had something, so that belief obviously carried me through those hard times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was difficult because I didn\u2019t have a wage to rely on, a constant stream, and I couldn\u2019t ring up IT when I needed help. It is all about solving everything yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019re a one-man band for quite some time, and it was difficult, but then the small wins along the way, that\u2019s what keeps you going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use Amazon reviews to boost sales<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about some of those small wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we talked about HelloFresh and how that parachuted you into the big time, well into the small big time. And then what did you do next? How did you build on that momentum to keep growing the brand, winning new customers? What were the next wins on the list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, it was all about getting the name out there, being seen. Micro influencers is what we used quite heavily. Amazon was a big brand awareness winner for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now I mentioned that we started pretty much the whole scaling of our online business through the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we made a good choice by just coming out of retail and concentrating everything online. So we decided to go online, we created our own website, which I clumsily developed in the first days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We fast evolved from there, but it worked, it was fine, and we launched onto Amazon. We actually even launched into Amazon EU before we couldn\u2019t trade in EU anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s what really helped us, and we escalated our sales there mainly through reviews, and making sure our customers came back and reviewed our products, because reviews are everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s the social media that ties in. It\u2019s all one big marketing loop, if you like. It all tells that story, and one piece doesn\u2019t work without the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it was fast learning how all those different channels work together. It\u2019s quite complicated, but once you get your head around it, I think online was where we really started to establish ourselves in the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to get people to leave reviews<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you get people to leave reviews? Because that\u2019s just like the silver bullet, isn\u2019t it? If you can get people to say that they\u2019re happy, people are so happy to tell you when they\u2019re annoyed or when something hasn\u2019t met expectations, but to get them to take the time to say this was great, that\u2019s hard. How did you do that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, we took the effort of having direct contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019d have people that actually did the customer service. We automated the process of asking for reviews in a clever way, but not in an illegal way, because Amazon\u2019s got some quite stringent rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was time-consuming but worth it, because even just the 1 review makes such a big difference on the stats. And we made sure we looked at customer feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So all of those things really impacted the future NPD of our products. So we listened, and I think we need to listen to make sure we continually improve what we are giving. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become resilient to feedback and use it to improve<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you react to feedback? Because in the world of curry, I can imagine you\u2019ve got this spectrum of people when it comes to spice, some say tiny bit is too much and some are like blow my head off. How on earth do you cater to all of those people at once?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, that\u2019s a great question actually, because I think I developed my resilience to it all when I was on the market stall right at the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I\u2019d have people say to me, \u201cOh, it\u2019s too spicy,\u201d and I didn\u2019t understand because spicy isn\u2019t in my vocabulary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was saying, \u201cWhat does that mean? Too spicy?\u201d But it literally means heat, and I wasn\u2019t aware of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I got accustomed to different ways of describing the flavours. And because we have quite a big range that caters for every taste, if you like, I was always able to direct somebody to a different flavour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know what? Every flavour is not for everyone. And I soon learned to not get offended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, it\u2019s very personal to me because I\u2019ve developed them all from scratch, but you can\u2019t make everyone happy. But I\u2019m happy to say that most people are really delighted when they use what we are doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if they\u2019re not, then I really try and dissect how they use the product because there may be something not quite right in how we\u2019re communicating the use of them. So I\u2019m quite stringent about those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make your product versatile<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how do you get people to buy again and again? Because it seems like when you create a kit like this, you want it to be on the rotation, like when you\u2019re doing your meal prep, as you say, maybe every couple of weeks there it is, BANG! Curry on the rotation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how do you stay in people\u2019s minds? Just refresh them, \u201cRemember we\u2019re here, we\u2019re tasty.\u201d How do you do that? How do you get repeat purchases?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo we try to give inspiration. So we want BANG! to be a way of life, not just a product that you use and get bored with. It\u2019s the versatility that we are giving people and the empowerment to do what they want to do with their meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if you\u2019ve got dietary requirements, if you\u2019ve got ingredient preferences, you don\u2019t like meat or you just love vegan-type ingredients, there\u2019s always something for that person, and we want to inspire with lots of different recipes that they can use with just the 1 kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can vary it up, but you know you\u2019ve got your flavour locked in, and I think that\u2019s why people come back. They don\u2019t get bored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ll buy it once and they know they can change it up a bit and it will go down well when they take that effort to put some time into it and make it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIs that through social media? Are you sharing sort of, \u201cHey, look, you can use this kit for an exciting barbecue dish, or have you tried using paneer, or\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you show them another way to use it and how do you keep refreshing that? Is it like TikTok videos? How are you doing it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWe are doing it pretty much through social media. That\u2019s very instant, and sharing recipes. We\u2019ve got recipes on our website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are with Waitrose, they are also starting to showcase some of our recipes. It\u2019s still early days, but on the horizon, we\u2019ve got some lovely recipes that are going to appear in their weekend magazines, and it\u2019s through those platforms that we like to keep on refreshing those recipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And because that\u2019s what it\u2019s about, right? Everyone gets bored with the same old weekday meals or even if someone\u2019s coming round, how do I knock something together quickly and everyone\u2019s happy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We like to solve that problem and make mealtimes exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Competition proves that there is demand in your market<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about what the competitor landscape looks like now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because you were obviously doing something at the beginning of what became quite a big wave of recipe kits and different kinds of kits focusing on different kinds of cuisines, and there\u2019s now quite a lot of curry kits out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you stand out, and has that brought more awareness to the category as a whole? Is that a good thing, or has it sort of stolen some of your customers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe way I see it is that I would rather not be the only product in a category and be carving that out because frankly, we have been carving that category out and it\u2019s hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s difficult when you are having to convince buyer after buyer that you have a consumer group out there that are crying out for this type of product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019m actually really pleased, because it proves our point that there\u2019s a demand for it, and actually, competition\u2019s good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are quite confident, quietly confident with our range and that we can stand up to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you don\u2019t want to waste too much time looking at the competition. You want to just be focusing on the next thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping new product ideas fresh and flowing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about that. How frequently do you bring out new products? Is there a lot of pressure to have this pipeline of NPD constantly going, going?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is the most exciting part. Honestly, it\u2019s just what I live for, NPD and the next thing and coming up with new ideas and making them just come to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the beginning, it literally took 18 months for that first recipe to be perfect. Now, using all of those scientific techniques I talked about, I\u2019ve got a methodology, and that last NPD I put together took me maybe 4 goes. I was so happy, and it was just amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are seeing it in a new professional range. So what we are focusing on now is, we\u2019ve got a new range that has come out, which we launched together with some help with a non-exec director that we employed last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now he comes from a really rich background of food service, and he helped a company called Santa Maria, I don\u2019t know if you know them, but they\u2019re really big in the Mexican spice space now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He helped us as a company to reformulate what we\u2019ve done really well in retail and apply it to the catering industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so we\u2019ve got this bulk range we\u2019ve called BANG! Curry Professional, and that is so exciting. I\u2019ve got some really exciting news I can\u2019t share with you today, but that\u2019s pretty much our next launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that to me is so exciting because that\u2019s feeding literally the masses. We are changing some really big things out there in terms of curry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd are you still the one formulating the recipes? You mentioned they\u2019re the methodology and it taking four goes to get it right, but is it still you sort of there with your hat on, your goggles on, mixing up all the spices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wouldn\u2019t pass that to anyone, because that\u2019s where I find the most joy. No, that\u2019s me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it might not be me in a year\u2019s time, but at the moment, yeah, that\u2019s all down to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019ve got to do what you love. It\u2019s really sad when you interview people, you start businesses and the thing they love doing at the beginning, 5 years on, they\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I can\u2019t do that anymore. I\u2019ve got to delegate that to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s nice to hang on to the bits that you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use paid classes as a way to bootstrap your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou mentioned at the beginning, Shelly, about bootstrapping, and we talk about bootstrapping quite a bit on this show, and I\u2019d love to hear some of the really clever bootstrapping strategies that worked for you and your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the ways that you grew while still cutting costs, saving money, being clever about how you spent on marketing or go to market. So tell me about some of those strategies, 1 or 2 that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe one I would say I felt really gave us a lot of return was the cookery classes that we did. It was quite a lot of effort on our part, but we got so much out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We charged for seats, and I literally did it in our own kitchen, so there was no rent involved, so everything went straight into profit, ingredients don\u2019t really cost very much, and we were ranking at number 1 on Google for Indian cooking lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was pretty much it, I don\u2019t know how I did it, I have to admit, but I built the website, and it ranked us up there, and it was really quite low cost to the company in order to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think we got some really nice wins out of that, and obviously some reviews as well on Google about BANG! Curry and the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the intellectual property we took out of that as well is what people actually wanted out of a product, and what sort of recipes and how much time were they prepared to take with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I was showing them step-by-step, I wasn\u2019t using the kits, and I was showing them from A to Z every single piece that would go into the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was not 1 customer that didn\u2019t go away, take the recipe that I would give them, and cook it from scratch, they all ended up just using the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the end I\u2019d give them a little gift bag with the kits and the recipes, but I don\u2019t know anyone that actually cooked the whole thing from scratch, went out and bought all the different ingredients. And so there was a lot of learning gained from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it helped kickstart, it helped finance things like branding, things like print packaging, all of these things, all to do with cost of goods, which at the beginning that\u2019s all we were paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any marketing, we tried to be very clever about it in terms of guerrilla marketing, digital advertising, which basically I tried to turn my head to and did all that stuff initially myself. I basically worked that bit out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
That sounds so exciting though, buying this enormous machine and standing there in this sort of industrial space staring at this enormous thing for grinding and mixing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How exciting that must\u2019ve been, that moment, because that must\u2019ve felt so real to you then, out of the kitchen and into this business space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt was literally out of my home kitchen and into this stainless-steel machine. It was pretty surreal, I have to admit it. It was a real moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then seeing the recipes getting accolades on the HelloFresh website, having the head chef ring me and ask me for the next recipe, discussing ingredients. Yeah, it was a good time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Filling the product gap for HelloFresh<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDid you have any idea you would go the recipe kit route in terms of finding a partner to launch you in that way? Or was that just a happy accident? How did that conversation with HelloFresh come about?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI kind of sought it out. I could see a real analogy between what we were doing and what the idea behind BANG! was and what Hello HelloFresh were doing out in the marketplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the time, HelloFresh were quite big in the US, but in the UK they\u2019d just started out. And I think they\u2019re a bit of a franchise, aren\u2019t they, they\u2019re all over the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the UK at the time, they weren\u2019t really that hot on curry. They didn\u2019t have many curry recipes or they didn\u2019t have any. And so I stepped in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think it was a bit of luck actually, because obviously I know what I\u2019m talking about when it comes to the curry recipes, and it kind of matched with their needs at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so I gave them a really good solution to something to add to their repertoire. So I wouldn\u2019t say it was an accident, but it was one of many opportunities I\u2019d pursued and it came through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s amazing. You have to think sometimes quite laterally about routes to market. So it\u2019s great to hear your story of finding someone that\u2019s almost a springboard into people\u2019s homes and their pallets. It\u2019s so interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The overlaps between science and business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I\u2019m interested to know, because you were a physics PhD, so what skills do you feel you\u2019ve brought from working in the lab at Imperial College?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is there an overlap, I suppose when you\u2019re putting together spice kits, because it is sort of like a science, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nPhysics is an incredible subject, it\u2019s all about problem solving, it\u2019s highly analytical, it\u2019s very creative, and that\u2019s something I didn\u2019t recognize before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I really see a parallel between the techniques that I used in the lab, whether they\u2019re optics or lenses, mirrors, light, all of those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I guess I swapped out for spice ingredients and herbs and the tolerances behind each measurement and getting to those trials and reducing trials from 200 to 50 rather than 200 to 120.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was an easier route to get there using the techniques that I\u2019ve learned through science. And it was really surprising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo traditionally, you\u2019ve come full circle, and you are disrupting tradition almost by coming all the way around 360.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, that\u2019s right, actually. If we think about the disruption that BANG! is causing in its category, I\u2019m really proud of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I just wanted to blow away the conceptions of what people call curry now. And it sounds so minor, but actually I feel really passionate about it because the cuisine itself and what I grew up with is not what you find in the shops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I find it a little bit almost insulting to the consumer to give them something like this that is not flavoursome, it\u2019s not healthy, it\u2019s not involving the consumer in the whole cooking process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What we do is to help to involve that person in the enjoyment in the kitchen, to evoke the pride and healthiness of this way of cooking. Not to mention all the sustainability that goes along with our range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, we\u2019ll come back to the sustainability, but I\u2019m interested in what you\u2019re saying about giving people part of the experience of cooking and being involved in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there is a magic, isn\u2019t there, when the spices hit the pan and you get the aromas releasing, it\u2019s almost like a heady moment where you\u2019re getting carried away with what you\u2019re about to eat. So it\u2019s like theatre, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is. It\u2019s very much like theatre. And honestly, I\u2019ll never tire of using BANG! at least on a 2 weekly basis and every time think, \u201cYeah, this is good. This happened really quick, and it saved me so much effort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Studying in a 99% male dominated field<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to hear more about your experiences studying physics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You said something really interesting there about being the only woman in the college. Being an outlier like that must\u2019ve been quite challenging at times. Was it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did that teach you to be quite resilient as a person, and have you been able to pull those, I suppose, characteristics that you built within the lab, pull them through into your entrepreneurial journey?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nImperial is well known, when I was there, it was well known for being 99% percent male, and I was the only female, definitely in the Blackett Lab, we called it, which is opposite the Royal Albert Hall. It\u2019s a very nice place to study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I didn\u2019t really focus on being the only female. I understood that I had to perform a lot better, or I was being scrutinized because I was female, but the way I coped with it was just to get on with it and let that be a you problem if you like, and I just carried on and just did what I was there to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I focused on that too much, I think it would\u2019ve detracted me from the enjoyment and the reason I was there, because you can\u2019t do a physics PhD for any other reason apart from your love of the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the only thing that will drive you through because it\u2019s tough. There\u2019s not really much financial reward. It\u2019s all about achievement and seeking what you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your belief in your business will carry you through hard times<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then when you did the pivot into becoming a business owner, a recipe maker, you were in your 40s, you\u2019ve mentioned you\u2019d had kids by that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did that feel like a lot of pressure to make it work, because presumably you had financial responsibilities. You\u2019re not a footloose, fancy-free 20-year-old with nothing to lose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And how did that, I guess, influence your journey? Was that pressure actually quite motivating so that you had to be successful?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think you spot on there, actually. Yeah, there was a lot of pressure involved because I\u2019d come from such a high achieving background, I guess, in terms of the other fields I was involved with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I was well aware of the opinions that maybe some people may have had like \u201cWhat on earth is she doing? What\u2019s that got to do with anything scientific or financial or quantitative?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But again, I just carried on because I knew I had something, so that belief obviously carried me through those hard times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was difficult because I didn\u2019t have a wage to rely on, a constant stream, and I couldn\u2019t ring up IT when I needed help. It is all about solving everything yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019re a one-man band for quite some time, and it was difficult, but then the small wins along the way, that\u2019s what keeps you going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use Amazon reviews to boost sales<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about some of those small wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we talked about HelloFresh and how that parachuted you into the big time, well into the small big time. And then what did you do next? How did you build on that momentum to keep growing the brand, winning new customers? What were the next wins on the list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, it was all about getting the name out there, being seen. Micro influencers is what we used quite heavily. Amazon was a big brand awareness winner for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now I mentioned that we started pretty much the whole scaling of our online business through the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we made a good choice by just coming out of retail and concentrating everything online. So we decided to go online, we created our own website, which I clumsily developed in the first days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We fast evolved from there, but it worked, it was fine, and we launched onto Amazon. We actually even launched into Amazon EU before we couldn\u2019t trade in EU anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s what really helped us, and we escalated our sales there mainly through reviews, and making sure our customers came back and reviewed our products, because reviews are everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s the social media that ties in. It\u2019s all one big marketing loop, if you like. It all tells that story, and one piece doesn\u2019t work without the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it was fast learning how all those different channels work together. It\u2019s quite complicated, but once you get your head around it, I think online was where we really started to establish ourselves in the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to get people to leave reviews<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you get people to leave reviews? Because that\u2019s just like the silver bullet, isn\u2019t it? If you can get people to say that they\u2019re happy, people are so happy to tell you when they\u2019re annoyed or when something hasn\u2019t met expectations, but to get them to take the time to say this was great, that\u2019s hard. How did you do that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, we took the effort of having direct contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019d have people that actually did the customer service. We automated the process of asking for reviews in a clever way, but not in an illegal way, because Amazon\u2019s got some quite stringent rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was time-consuming but worth it, because even just the 1 review makes such a big difference on the stats. And we made sure we looked at customer feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So all of those things really impacted the future NPD of our products. So we listened, and I think we need to listen to make sure we continually improve what we are giving. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become resilient to feedback and use it to improve<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you react to feedback? Because in the world of curry, I can imagine you\u2019ve got this spectrum of people when it comes to spice, some say tiny bit is too much and some are like blow my head off. How on earth do you cater to all of those people at once?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, that\u2019s a great question actually, because I think I developed my resilience to it all when I was on the market stall right at the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I\u2019d have people say to me, \u201cOh, it\u2019s too spicy,\u201d and I didn\u2019t understand because spicy isn\u2019t in my vocabulary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was saying, \u201cWhat does that mean? Too spicy?\u201d But it literally means heat, and I wasn\u2019t aware of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I got accustomed to different ways of describing the flavours. And because we have quite a big range that caters for every taste, if you like, I was always able to direct somebody to a different flavour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know what? Every flavour is not for everyone. And I soon learned to not get offended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, it\u2019s very personal to me because I\u2019ve developed them all from scratch, but you can\u2019t make everyone happy. But I\u2019m happy to say that most people are really delighted when they use what we are doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if they\u2019re not, then I really try and dissect how they use the product because there may be something not quite right in how we\u2019re communicating the use of them. So I\u2019m quite stringent about those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make your product versatile<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how do you get people to buy again and again? Because it seems like when you create a kit like this, you want it to be on the rotation, like when you\u2019re doing your meal prep, as you say, maybe every couple of weeks there it is, BANG! Curry on the rotation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how do you stay in people\u2019s minds? Just refresh them, \u201cRemember we\u2019re here, we\u2019re tasty.\u201d How do you do that? How do you get repeat purchases?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo we try to give inspiration. So we want BANG! to be a way of life, not just a product that you use and get bored with. It\u2019s the versatility that we are giving people and the empowerment to do what they want to do with their meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if you\u2019ve got dietary requirements, if you\u2019ve got ingredient preferences, you don\u2019t like meat or you just love vegan-type ingredients, there\u2019s always something for that person, and we want to inspire with lots of different recipes that they can use with just the 1 kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can vary it up, but you know you\u2019ve got your flavour locked in, and I think that\u2019s why people come back. They don\u2019t get bored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ll buy it once and they know they can change it up a bit and it will go down well when they take that effort to put some time into it and make it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIs that through social media? Are you sharing sort of, \u201cHey, look, you can use this kit for an exciting barbecue dish, or have you tried using paneer, or\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you show them another way to use it and how do you keep refreshing that? Is it like TikTok videos? How are you doing it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWe are doing it pretty much through social media. That\u2019s very instant, and sharing recipes. We\u2019ve got recipes on our website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are with Waitrose, they are also starting to showcase some of our recipes. It\u2019s still early days, but on the horizon, we\u2019ve got some lovely recipes that are going to appear in their weekend magazines, and it\u2019s through those platforms that we like to keep on refreshing those recipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And because that\u2019s what it\u2019s about, right? Everyone gets bored with the same old weekday meals or even if someone\u2019s coming round, how do I knock something together quickly and everyone\u2019s happy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We like to solve that problem and make mealtimes exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Competition proves that there is demand in your market<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about what the competitor landscape looks like now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because you were obviously doing something at the beginning of what became quite a big wave of recipe kits and different kinds of kits focusing on different kinds of cuisines, and there\u2019s now quite a lot of curry kits out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you stand out, and has that brought more awareness to the category as a whole? Is that a good thing, or has it sort of stolen some of your customers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe way I see it is that I would rather not be the only product in a category and be carving that out because frankly, we have been carving that category out and it\u2019s hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s difficult when you are having to convince buyer after buyer that you have a consumer group out there that are crying out for this type of product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019m actually really pleased, because it proves our point that there\u2019s a demand for it, and actually, competition\u2019s good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are quite confident, quietly confident with our range and that we can stand up to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you don\u2019t want to waste too much time looking at the competition. You want to just be focusing on the next thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping new product ideas fresh and flowing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about that. How frequently do you bring out new products? Is there a lot of pressure to have this pipeline of NPD constantly going, going?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is the most exciting part. Honestly, it\u2019s just what I live for, NPD and the next thing and coming up with new ideas and making them just come to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the beginning, it literally took 18 months for that first recipe to be perfect. Now, using all of those scientific techniques I talked about, I\u2019ve got a methodology, and that last NPD I put together took me maybe 4 goes. I was so happy, and it was just amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are seeing it in a new professional range. So what we are focusing on now is, we\u2019ve got a new range that has come out, which we launched together with some help with a non-exec director that we employed last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now he comes from a really rich background of food service, and he helped a company called Santa Maria, I don\u2019t know if you know them, but they\u2019re really big in the Mexican spice space now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He helped us as a company to reformulate what we\u2019ve done really well in retail and apply it to the catering industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so we\u2019ve got this bulk range we\u2019ve called BANG! Curry Professional, and that is so exciting. I\u2019ve got some really exciting news I can\u2019t share with you today, but that\u2019s pretty much our next launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that to me is so exciting because that\u2019s feeding literally the masses. We are changing some really big things out there in terms of curry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd are you still the one formulating the recipes? You mentioned they\u2019re the methodology and it taking four goes to get it right, but is it still you sort of there with your hat on, your goggles on, mixing up all the spices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wouldn\u2019t pass that to anyone, because that\u2019s where I find the most joy. No, that\u2019s me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it might not be me in a year\u2019s time, but at the moment, yeah, that\u2019s all down to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019ve got to do what you love. It\u2019s really sad when you interview people, you start businesses and the thing they love doing at the beginning, 5 years on, they\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I can\u2019t do that anymore. I\u2019ve got to delegate that to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s nice to hang on to the bits that you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use paid classes as a way to bootstrap your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou mentioned at the beginning, Shelly, about bootstrapping, and we talk about bootstrapping quite a bit on this show, and I\u2019d love to hear some of the really clever bootstrapping strategies that worked for you and your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the ways that you grew while still cutting costs, saving money, being clever about how you spent on marketing or go to market. So tell me about some of those strategies, 1 or 2 that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe one I would say I felt really gave us a lot of return was the cookery classes that we did. It was quite a lot of effort on our part, but we got so much out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We charged for seats, and I literally did it in our own kitchen, so there was no rent involved, so everything went straight into profit, ingredients don\u2019t really cost very much, and we were ranking at number 1 on Google for Indian cooking lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was pretty much it, I don\u2019t know how I did it, I have to admit, but I built the website, and it ranked us up there, and it was really quite low cost to the company in order to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think we got some really nice wins out of that, and obviously some reviews as well on Google about BANG! Curry and the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the intellectual property we took out of that as well is what people actually wanted out of a product, and what sort of recipes and how much time were they prepared to take with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I was showing them step-by-step, I wasn\u2019t using the kits, and I was showing them from A to Z every single piece that would go into the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was not 1 customer that didn\u2019t go away, take the recipe that I would give them, and cook it from scratch, they all ended up just using the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the end I\u2019d give them a little gift bag with the kits and the recipes, but I don\u2019t know anyone that actually cooked the whole thing from scratch, went out and bought all the different ingredients. And so there was a lot of learning gained from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it helped kickstart, it helped finance things like branding, things like print packaging, all of these things, all to do with cost of goods, which at the beginning that\u2019s all we were paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any marketing, we tried to be very clever about it in terms of guerrilla marketing, digital advertising, which basically I tried to turn my head to and did all that stuff initially myself. I basically worked that bit out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nDid you have any idea you would go the recipe kit route in terms of finding a partner to launch you in that way? Or was that just a happy accident? How did that conversation with HelloFresh come about?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI kind of sought it out. I could see a real analogy between what we were doing and what the idea behind BANG! was and what Hello HelloFresh were doing out in the marketplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the time, HelloFresh were quite big in the US, but in the UK they\u2019d just started out. And I think they\u2019re a bit of a franchise, aren\u2019t they, they\u2019re all over the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the UK at the time, they weren\u2019t really that hot on curry. They didn\u2019t have many curry recipes or they didn\u2019t have any. And so I stepped in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think it was a bit of luck actually, because obviously I know what I\u2019m talking about when it comes to the curry recipes, and it kind of matched with their needs at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so I gave them a really good solution to something to add to their repertoire. So I wouldn\u2019t say it was an accident, but it was one of many opportunities I\u2019d pursued and it came through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s amazing. You have to think sometimes quite laterally about routes to market. So it\u2019s great to hear your story of finding someone that\u2019s almost a springboard into people\u2019s homes and their pallets. It\u2019s so interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The overlaps between science and business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I\u2019m interested to know, because you were a physics PhD, so what skills do you feel you\u2019ve brought from working in the lab at Imperial College?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is there an overlap, I suppose when you\u2019re putting together spice kits, because it is sort of like a science, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nPhysics is an incredible subject, it\u2019s all about problem solving, it\u2019s highly analytical, it\u2019s very creative, and that\u2019s something I didn\u2019t recognize before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I really see a parallel between the techniques that I used in the lab, whether they\u2019re optics or lenses, mirrors, light, all of those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I guess I swapped out for spice ingredients and herbs and the tolerances behind each measurement and getting to those trials and reducing trials from 200 to 50 rather than 200 to 120.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was an easier route to get there using the techniques that I\u2019ve learned through science. And it was really surprising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo traditionally, you\u2019ve come full circle, and you are disrupting tradition almost by coming all the way around 360.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, that\u2019s right, actually. If we think about the disruption that BANG! is causing in its category, I\u2019m really proud of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I just wanted to blow away the conceptions of what people call curry now. And it sounds so minor, but actually I feel really passionate about it because the cuisine itself and what I grew up with is not what you find in the shops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I find it a little bit almost insulting to the consumer to give them something like this that is not flavoursome, it\u2019s not healthy, it\u2019s not involving the consumer in the whole cooking process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What we do is to help to involve that person in the enjoyment in the kitchen, to evoke the pride and healthiness of this way of cooking. Not to mention all the sustainability that goes along with our range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, we\u2019ll come back to the sustainability, but I\u2019m interested in what you\u2019re saying about giving people part of the experience of cooking and being involved in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there is a magic, isn\u2019t there, when the spices hit the pan and you get the aromas releasing, it\u2019s almost like a heady moment where you\u2019re getting carried away with what you\u2019re about to eat. So it\u2019s like theatre, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is. It\u2019s very much like theatre. And honestly, I\u2019ll never tire of using BANG! at least on a 2 weekly basis and every time think, \u201cYeah, this is good. This happened really quick, and it saved me so much effort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Studying in a 99% male dominated field<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to hear more about your experiences studying physics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You said something really interesting there about being the only woman in the college. Being an outlier like that must\u2019ve been quite challenging at times. Was it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did that teach you to be quite resilient as a person, and have you been able to pull those, I suppose, characteristics that you built within the lab, pull them through into your entrepreneurial journey?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nImperial is well known, when I was there, it was well known for being 99% percent male, and I was the only female, definitely in the Blackett Lab, we called it, which is opposite the Royal Albert Hall. It\u2019s a very nice place to study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I didn\u2019t really focus on being the only female. I understood that I had to perform a lot better, or I was being scrutinized because I was female, but the way I coped with it was just to get on with it and let that be a you problem if you like, and I just carried on and just did what I was there to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I focused on that too much, I think it would\u2019ve detracted me from the enjoyment and the reason I was there, because you can\u2019t do a physics PhD for any other reason apart from your love of the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the only thing that will drive you through because it\u2019s tough. There\u2019s not really much financial reward. It\u2019s all about achievement and seeking what you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your belief in your business will carry you through hard times<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then when you did the pivot into becoming a business owner, a recipe maker, you were in your 40s, you\u2019ve mentioned you\u2019d had kids by that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did that feel like a lot of pressure to make it work, because presumably you had financial responsibilities. You\u2019re not a footloose, fancy-free 20-year-old with nothing to lose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And how did that, I guess, influence your journey? Was that pressure actually quite motivating so that you had to be successful?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think you spot on there, actually. Yeah, there was a lot of pressure involved because I\u2019d come from such a high achieving background, I guess, in terms of the other fields I was involved with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I was well aware of the opinions that maybe some people may have had like \u201cWhat on earth is she doing? What\u2019s that got to do with anything scientific or financial or quantitative?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But again, I just carried on because I knew I had something, so that belief obviously carried me through those hard times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was difficult because I didn\u2019t have a wage to rely on, a constant stream, and I couldn\u2019t ring up IT when I needed help. It is all about solving everything yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019re a one-man band for quite some time, and it was difficult, but then the small wins along the way, that\u2019s what keeps you going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use Amazon reviews to boost sales<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about some of those small wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we talked about HelloFresh and how that parachuted you into the big time, well into the small big time. And then what did you do next? How did you build on that momentum to keep growing the brand, winning new customers? What were the next wins on the list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, it was all about getting the name out there, being seen. Micro influencers is what we used quite heavily. Amazon was a big brand awareness winner for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now I mentioned that we started pretty much the whole scaling of our online business through the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we made a good choice by just coming out of retail and concentrating everything online. So we decided to go online, we created our own website, which I clumsily developed in the first days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We fast evolved from there, but it worked, it was fine, and we launched onto Amazon. We actually even launched into Amazon EU before we couldn\u2019t trade in EU anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s what really helped us, and we escalated our sales there mainly through reviews, and making sure our customers came back and reviewed our products, because reviews are everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s the social media that ties in. It\u2019s all one big marketing loop, if you like. It all tells that story, and one piece doesn\u2019t work without the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it was fast learning how all those different channels work together. It\u2019s quite complicated, but once you get your head around it, I think online was where we really started to establish ourselves in the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to get people to leave reviews<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you get people to leave reviews? Because that\u2019s just like the silver bullet, isn\u2019t it? If you can get people to say that they\u2019re happy, people are so happy to tell you when they\u2019re annoyed or when something hasn\u2019t met expectations, but to get them to take the time to say this was great, that\u2019s hard. How did you do that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, we took the effort of having direct contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019d have people that actually did the customer service. We automated the process of asking for reviews in a clever way, but not in an illegal way, because Amazon\u2019s got some quite stringent rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was time-consuming but worth it, because even just the 1 review makes such a big difference on the stats. And we made sure we looked at customer feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So all of those things really impacted the future NPD of our products. So we listened, and I think we need to listen to make sure we continually improve what we are giving. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become resilient to feedback and use it to improve<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you react to feedback? Because in the world of curry, I can imagine you\u2019ve got this spectrum of people when it comes to spice, some say tiny bit is too much and some are like blow my head off. How on earth do you cater to all of those people at once?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, that\u2019s a great question actually, because I think I developed my resilience to it all when I was on the market stall right at the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I\u2019d have people say to me, \u201cOh, it\u2019s too spicy,\u201d and I didn\u2019t understand because spicy isn\u2019t in my vocabulary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was saying, \u201cWhat does that mean? Too spicy?\u201d But it literally means heat, and I wasn\u2019t aware of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I got accustomed to different ways of describing the flavours. And because we have quite a big range that caters for every taste, if you like, I was always able to direct somebody to a different flavour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know what? Every flavour is not for everyone. And I soon learned to not get offended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, it\u2019s very personal to me because I\u2019ve developed them all from scratch, but you can\u2019t make everyone happy. But I\u2019m happy to say that most people are really delighted when they use what we are doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if they\u2019re not, then I really try and dissect how they use the product because there may be something not quite right in how we\u2019re communicating the use of them. So I\u2019m quite stringent about those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make your product versatile<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how do you get people to buy again and again? Because it seems like when you create a kit like this, you want it to be on the rotation, like when you\u2019re doing your meal prep, as you say, maybe every couple of weeks there it is, BANG! Curry on the rotation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how do you stay in people\u2019s minds? Just refresh them, \u201cRemember we\u2019re here, we\u2019re tasty.\u201d How do you do that? How do you get repeat purchases?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo we try to give inspiration. So we want BANG! to be a way of life, not just a product that you use and get bored with. It\u2019s the versatility that we are giving people and the empowerment to do what they want to do with their meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if you\u2019ve got dietary requirements, if you\u2019ve got ingredient preferences, you don\u2019t like meat or you just love vegan-type ingredients, there\u2019s always something for that person, and we want to inspire with lots of different recipes that they can use with just the 1 kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can vary it up, but you know you\u2019ve got your flavour locked in, and I think that\u2019s why people come back. They don\u2019t get bored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ll buy it once and they know they can change it up a bit and it will go down well when they take that effort to put some time into it and make it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIs that through social media? Are you sharing sort of, \u201cHey, look, you can use this kit for an exciting barbecue dish, or have you tried using paneer, or\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you show them another way to use it and how do you keep refreshing that? Is it like TikTok videos? How are you doing it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWe are doing it pretty much through social media. That\u2019s very instant, and sharing recipes. We\u2019ve got recipes on our website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are with Waitrose, they are also starting to showcase some of our recipes. It\u2019s still early days, but on the horizon, we\u2019ve got some lovely recipes that are going to appear in their weekend magazines, and it\u2019s through those platforms that we like to keep on refreshing those recipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And because that\u2019s what it\u2019s about, right? Everyone gets bored with the same old weekday meals or even if someone\u2019s coming round, how do I knock something together quickly and everyone\u2019s happy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We like to solve that problem and make mealtimes exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Competition proves that there is demand in your market<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about what the competitor landscape looks like now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because you were obviously doing something at the beginning of what became quite a big wave of recipe kits and different kinds of kits focusing on different kinds of cuisines, and there\u2019s now quite a lot of curry kits out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you stand out, and has that brought more awareness to the category as a whole? Is that a good thing, or has it sort of stolen some of your customers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe way I see it is that I would rather not be the only product in a category and be carving that out because frankly, we have been carving that category out and it\u2019s hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s difficult when you are having to convince buyer after buyer that you have a consumer group out there that are crying out for this type of product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019m actually really pleased, because it proves our point that there\u2019s a demand for it, and actually, competition\u2019s good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are quite confident, quietly confident with our range and that we can stand up to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you don\u2019t want to waste too much time looking at the competition. You want to just be focusing on the next thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping new product ideas fresh and flowing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about that. How frequently do you bring out new products? Is there a lot of pressure to have this pipeline of NPD constantly going, going?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is the most exciting part. Honestly, it\u2019s just what I live for, NPD and the next thing and coming up with new ideas and making them just come to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the beginning, it literally took 18 months for that first recipe to be perfect. Now, using all of those scientific techniques I talked about, I\u2019ve got a methodology, and that last NPD I put together took me maybe 4 goes. I was so happy, and it was just amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are seeing it in a new professional range. So what we are focusing on now is, we\u2019ve got a new range that has come out, which we launched together with some help with a non-exec director that we employed last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now he comes from a really rich background of food service, and he helped a company called Santa Maria, I don\u2019t know if you know them, but they\u2019re really big in the Mexican spice space now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He helped us as a company to reformulate what we\u2019ve done really well in retail and apply it to the catering industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so we\u2019ve got this bulk range we\u2019ve called BANG! Curry Professional, and that is so exciting. I\u2019ve got some really exciting news I can\u2019t share with you today, but that\u2019s pretty much our next launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that to me is so exciting because that\u2019s feeding literally the masses. We are changing some really big things out there in terms of curry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd are you still the one formulating the recipes? You mentioned they\u2019re the methodology and it taking four goes to get it right, but is it still you sort of there with your hat on, your goggles on, mixing up all the spices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wouldn\u2019t pass that to anyone, because that\u2019s where I find the most joy. No, that\u2019s me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it might not be me in a year\u2019s time, but at the moment, yeah, that\u2019s all down to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019ve got to do what you love. It\u2019s really sad when you interview people, you start businesses and the thing they love doing at the beginning, 5 years on, they\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I can\u2019t do that anymore. I\u2019ve got to delegate that to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s nice to hang on to the bits that you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use paid classes as a way to bootstrap your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou mentioned at the beginning, Shelly, about bootstrapping, and we talk about bootstrapping quite a bit on this show, and I\u2019d love to hear some of the really clever bootstrapping strategies that worked for you and your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the ways that you grew while still cutting costs, saving money, being clever about how you spent on marketing or go to market. So tell me about some of those strategies, 1 or 2 that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe one I would say I felt really gave us a lot of return was the cookery classes that we did. It was quite a lot of effort on our part, but we got so much out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We charged for seats, and I literally did it in our own kitchen, so there was no rent involved, so everything went straight into profit, ingredients don\u2019t really cost very much, and we were ranking at number 1 on Google for Indian cooking lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was pretty much it, I don\u2019t know how I did it, I have to admit, but I built the website, and it ranked us up there, and it was really quite low cost to the company in order to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think we got some really nice wins out of that, and obviously some reviews as well on Google about BANG! Curry and the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the intellectual property we took out of that as well is what people actually wanted out of a product, and what sort of recipes and how much time were they prepared to take with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I was showing them step-by-step, I wasn\u2019t using the kits, and I was showing them from A to Z every single piece that would go into the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was not 1 customer that didn\u2019t go away, take the recipe that I would give them, and cook it from scratch, they all ended up just using the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the end I\u2019d give them a little gift bag with the kits and the recipes, but I don\u2019t know anyone that actually cooked the whole thing from scratch, went out and bought all the different ingredients. And so there was a lot of learning gained from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it helped kickstart, it helped finance things like branding, things like print packaging, all of these things, all to do with cost of goods, which at the beginning that\u2019s all we were paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any marketing, we tried to be very clever about it in terms of guerrilla marketing, digital advertising, which basically I tried to turn my head to and did all that stuff initially myself. I basically worked that bit out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
I kind of sought it out. I could see a real analogy between what we were doing and what the idea behind BANG! was and what Hello HelloFresh were doing out in the marketplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the time, HelloFresh were quite big in the US, but in the UK they\u2019d just started out. And I think they\u2019re a bit of a franchise, aren\u2019t they, they\u2019re all over the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the UK at the time, they weren\u2019t really that hot on curry. They didn\u2019t have many curry recipes or they didn\u2019t have any. And so I stepped in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think it was a bit of luck actually, because obviously I know what I\u2019m talking about when it comes to the curry recipes, and it kind of matched with their needs at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so I gave them a really good solution to something to add to their repertoire. So I wouldn\u2019t say it was an accident, but it was one of many opportunities I\u2019d pursued and it came through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s amazing. You have to think sometimes quite laterally about routes to market. So it\u2019s great to hear your story of finding someone that\u2019s almost a springboard into people\u2019s homes and their pallets. It\u2019s so interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The overlaps between science and business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I\u2019m interested to know, because you were a physics PhD, so what skills do you feel you\u2019ve brought from working in the lab at Imperial College?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is there an overlap, I suppose when you\u2019re putting together spice kits, because it is sort of like a science, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nPhysics is an incredible subject, it\u2019s all about problem solving, it\u2019s highly analytical, it\u2019s very creative, and that\u2019s something I didn\u2019t recognize before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I really see a parallel between the techniques that I used in the lab, whether they\u2019re optics or lenses, mirrors, light, all of those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I guess I swapped out for spice ingredients and herbs and the tolerances behind each measurement and getting to those trials and reducing trials from 200 to 50 rather than 200 to 120.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was an easier route to get there using the techniques that I\u2019ve learned through science. And it was really surprising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo traditionally, you\u2019ve come full circle, and you are disrupting tradition almost by coming all the way around 360.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, that\u2019s right, actually. If we think about the disruption that BANG! is causing in its category, I\u2019m really proud of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I just wanted to blow away the conceptions of what people call curry now. And it sounds so minor, but actually I feel really passionate about it because the cuisine itself and what I grew up with is not what you find in the shops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I find it a little bit almost insulting to the consumer to give them something like this that is not flavoursome, it\u2019s not healthy, it\u2019s not involving the consumer in the whole cooking process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What we do is to help to involve that person in the enjoyment in the kitchen, to evoke the pride and healthiness of this way of cooking. Not to mention all the sustainability that goes along with our range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, we\u2019ll come back to the sustainability, but I\u2019m interested in what you\u2019re saying about giving people part of the experience of cooking and being involved in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there is a magic, isn\u2019t there, when the spices hit the pan and you get the aromas releasing, it\u2019s almost like a heady moment where you\u2019re getting carried away with what you\u2019re about to eat. So it\u2019s like theatre, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is. It\u2019s very much like theatre. And honestly, I\u2019ll never tire of using BANG! at least on a 2 weekly basis and every time think, \u201cYeah, this is good. This happened really quick, and it saved me so much effort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Studying in a 99% male dominated field<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to hear more about your experiences studying physics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You said something really interesting there about being the only woman in the college. Being an outlier like that must\u2019ve been quite challenging at times. Was it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did that teach you to be quite resilient as a person, and have you been able to pull those, I suppose, characteristics that you built within the lab, pull them through into your entrepreneurial journey?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nImperial is well known, when I was there, it was well known for being 99% percent male, and I was the only female, definitely in the Blackett Lab, we called it, which is opposite the Royal Albert Hall. It\u2019s a very nice place to study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I didn\u2019t really focus on being the only female. I understood that I had to perform a lot better, or I was being scrutinized because I was female, but the way I coped with it was just to get on with it and let that be a you problem if you like, and I just carried on and just did what I was there to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I focused on that too much, I think it would\u2019ve detracted me from the enjoyment and the reason I was there, because you can\u2019t do a physics PhD for any other reason apart from your love of the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the only thing that will drive you through because it\u2019s tough. There\u2019s not really much financial reward. It\u2019s all about achievement and seeking what you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your belief in your business will carry you through hard times<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then when you did the pivot into becoming a business owner, a recipe maker, you were in your 40s, you\u2019ve mentioned you\u2019d had kids by that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did that feel like a lot of pressure to make it work, because presumably you had financial responsibilities. You\u2019re not a footloose, fancy-free 20-year-old with nothing to lose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And how did that, I guess, influence your journey? Was that pressure actually quite motivating so that you had to be successful?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think you spot on there, actually. Yeah, there was a lot of pressure involved because I\u2019d come from such a high achieving background, I guess, in terms of the other fields I was involved with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I was well aware of the opinions that maybe some people may have had like \u201cWhat on earth is she doing? What\u2019s that got to do with anything scientific or financial or quantitative?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But again, I just carried on because I knew I had something, so that belief obviously carried me through those hard times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was difficult because I didn\u2019t have a wage to rely on, a constant stream, and I couldn\u2019t ring up IT when I needed help. It is all about solving everything yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019re a one-man band for quite some time, and it was difficult, but then the small wins along the way, that\u2019s what keeps you going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use Amazon reviews to boost sales<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about some of those small wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we talked about HelloFresh and how that parachuted you into the big time, well into the small big time. And then what did you do next? How did you build on that momentum to keep growing the brand, winning new customers? What were the next wins on the list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, it was all about getting the name out there, being seen. Micro influencers is what we used quite heavily. Amazon was a big brand awareness winner for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now I mentioned that we started pretty much the whole scaling of our online business through the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we made a good choice by just coming out of retail and concentrating everything online. So we decided to go online, we created our own website, which I clumsily developed in the first days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We fast evolved from there, but it worked, it was fine, and we launched onto Amazon. We actually even launched into Amazon EU before we couldn\u2019t trade in EU anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s what really helped us, and we escalated our sales there mainly through reviews, and making sure our customers came back and reviewed our products, because reviews are everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s the social media that ties in. It\u2019s all one big marketing loop, if you like. It all tells that story, and one piece doesn\u2019t work without the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it was fast learning how all those different channels work together. It\u2019s quite complicated, but once you get your head around it, I think online was where we really started to establish ourselves in the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to get people to leave reviews<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you get people to leave reviews? Because that\u2019s just like the silver bullet, isn\u2019t it? If you can get people to say that they\u2019re happy, people are so happy to tell you when they\u2019re annoyed or when something hasn\u2019t met expectations, but to get them to take the time to say this was great, that\u2019s hard. How did you do that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, we took the effort of having direct contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019d have people that actually did the customer service. We automated the process of asking for reviews in a clever way, but not in an illegal way, because Amazon\u2019s got some quite stringent rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was time-consuming but worth it, because even just the 1 review makes such a big difference on the stats. And we made sure we looked at customer feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So all of those things really impacted the future NPD of our products. So we listened, and I think we need to listen to make sure we continually improve what we are giving. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become resilient to feedback and use it to improve<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you react to feedback? Because in the world of curry, I can imagine you\u2019ve got this spectrum of people when it comes to spice, some say tiny bit is too much and some are like blow my head off. How on earth do you cater to all of those people at once?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, that\u2019s a great question actually, because I think I developed my resilience to it all when I was on the market stall right at the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I\u2019d have people say to me, \u201cOh, it\u2019s too spicy,\u201d and I didn\u2019t understand because spicy isn\u2019t in my vocabulary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was saying, \u201cWhat does that mean? Too spicy?\u201d But it literally means heat, and I wasn\u2019t aware of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I got accustomed to different ways of describing the flavours. And because we have quite a big range that caters for every taste, if you like, I was always able to direct somebody to a different flavour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know what? Every flavour is not for everyone. And I soon learned to not get offended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, it\u2019s very personal to me because I\u2019ve developed them all from scratch, but you can\u2019t make everyone happy. But I\u2019m happy to say that most people are really delighted when they use what we are doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if they\u2019re not, then I really try and dissect how they use the product because there may be something not quite right in how we\u2019re communicating the use of them. So I\u2019m quite stringent about those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make your product versatile<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how do you get people to buy again and again? Because it seems like when you create a kit like this, you want it to be on the rotation, like when you\u2019re doing your meal prep, as you say, maybe every couple of weeks there it is, BANG! Curry on the rotation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how do you stay in people\u2019s minds? Just refresh them, \u201cRemember we\u2019re here, we\u2019re tasty.\u201d How do you do that? How do you get repeat purchases?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo we try to give inspiration. So we want BANG! to be a way of life, not just a product that you use and get bored with. It\u2019s the versatility that we are giving people and the empowerment to do what they want to do with their meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if you\u2019ve got dietary requirements, if you\u2019ve got ingredient preferences, you don\u2019t like meat or you just love vegan-type ingredients, there\u2019s always something for that person, and we want to inspire with lots of different recipes that they can use with just the 1 kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can vary it up, but you know you\u2019ve got your flavour locked in, and I think that\u2019s why people come back. They don\u2019t get bored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ll buy it once and they know they can change it up a bit and it will go down well when they take that effort to put some time into it and make it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIs that through social media? Are you sharing sort of, \u201cHey, look, you can use this kit for an exciting barbecue dish, or have you tried using paneer, or\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you show them another way to use it and how do you keep refreshing that? Is it like TikTok videos? How are you doing it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWe are doing it pretty much through social media. That\u2019s very instant, and sharing recipes. We\u2019ve got recipes on our website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are with Waitrose, they are also starting to showcase some of our recipes. It\u2019s still early days, but on the horizon, we\u2019ve got some lovely recipes that are going to appear in their weekend magazines, and it\u2019s through those platforms that we like to keep on refreshing those recipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And because that\u2019s what it\u2019s about, right? Everyone gets bored with the same old weekday meals or even if someone\u2019s coming round, how do I knock something together quickly and everyone\u2019s happy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We like to solve that problem and make mealtimes exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Competition proves that there is demand in your market<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about what the competitor landscape looks like now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because you were obviously doing something at the beginning of what became quite a big wave of recipe kits and different kinds of kits focusing on different kinds of cuisines, and there\u2019s now quite a lot of curry kits out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you stand out, and has that brought more awareness to the category as a whole? Is that a good thing, or has it sort of stolen some of your customers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe way I see it is that I would rather not be the only product in a category and be carving that out because frankly, we have been carving that category out and it\u2019s hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s difficult when you are having to convince buyer after buyer that you have a consumer group out there that are crying out for this type of product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019m actually really pleased, because it proves our point that there\u2019s a demand for it, and actually, competition\u2019s good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are quite confident, quietly confident with our range and that we can stand up to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you don\u2019t want to waste too much time looking at the competition. You want to just be focusing on the next thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping new product ideas fresh and flowing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about that. How frequently do you bring out new products? Is there a lot of pressure to have this pipeline of NPD constantly going, going?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is the most exciting part. Honestly, it\u2019s just what I live for, NPD and the next thing and coming up with new ideas and making them just come to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the beginning, it literally took 18 months for that first recipe to be perfect. Now, using all of those scientific techniques I talked about, I\u2019ve got a methodology, and that last NPD I put together took me maybe 4 goes. I was so happy, and it was just amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are seeing it in a new professional range. So what we are focusing on now is, we\u2019ve got a new range that has come out, which we launched together with some help with a non-exec director that we employed last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now he comes from a really rich background of food service, and he helped a company called Santa Maria, I don\u2019t know if you know them, but they\u2019re really big in the Mexican spice space now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He helped us as a company to reformulate what we\u2019ve done really well in retail and apply it to the catering industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so we\u2019ve got this bulk range we\u2019ve called BANG! Curry Professional, and that is so exciting. I\u2019ve got some really exciting news I can\u2019t share with you today, but that\u2019s pretty much our next launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that to me is so exciting because that\u2019s feeding literally the masses. We are changing some really big things out there in terms of curry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd are you still the one formulating the recipes? You mentioned they\u2019re the methodology and it taking four goes to get it right, but is it still you sort of there with your hat on, your goggles on, mixing up all the spices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wouldn\u2019t pass that to anyone, because that\u2019s where I find the most joy. No, that\u2019s me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it might not be me in a year\u2019s time, but at the moment, yeah, that\u2019s all down to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019ve got to do what you love. It\u2019s really sad when you interview people, you start businesses and the thing they love doing at the beginning, 5 years on, they\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I can\u2019t do that anymore. I\u2019ve got to delegate that to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s nice to hang on to the bits that you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use paid classes as a way to bootstrap your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou mentioned at the beginning, Shelly, about bootstrapping, and we talk about bootstrapping quite a bit on this show, and I\u2019d love to hear some of the really clever bootstrapping strategies that worked for you and your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the ways that you grew while still cutting costs, saving money, being clever about how you spent on marketing or go to market. So tell me about some of those strategies, 1 or 2 that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe one I would say I felt really gave us a lot of return was the cookery classes that we did. It was quite a lot of effort on our part, but we got so much out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We charged for seats, and I literally did it in our own kitchen, so there was no rent involved, so everything went straight into profit, ingredients don\u2019t really cost very much, and we were ranking at number 1 on Google for Indian cooking lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was pretty much it, I don\u2019t know how I did it, I have to admit, but I built the website, and it ranked us up there, and it was really quite low cost to the company in order to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think we got some really nice wins out of that, and obviously some reviews as well on Google about BANG! Curry and the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the intellectual property we took out of that as well is what people actually wanted out of a product, and what sort of recipes and how much time were they prepared to take with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I was showing them step-by-step, I wasn\u2019t using the kits, and I was showing them from A to Z every single piece that would go into the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was not 1 customer that didn\u2019t go away, take the recipe that I would give them, and cook it from scratch, they all ended up just using the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the end I\u2019d give them a little gift bag with the kits and the recipes, but I don\u2019t know anyone that actually cooked the whole thing from scratch, went out and bought all the different ingredients. And so there was a lot of learning gained from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it helped kickstart, it helped finance things like branding, things like print packaging, all of these things, all to do with cost of goods, which at the beginning that\u2019s all we were paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any marketing, we tried to be very clever about it in terms of guerrilla marketing, digital advertising, which basically I tried to turn my head to and did all that stuff initially myself. I basically worked that bit out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then I\u2019m interested to know, because you were a physics PhD, so what skills do you feel you\u2019ve brought from working in the lab at Imperial College?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is there an overlap, I suppose when you\u2019re putting together spice kits, because it is sort of like a science, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nPhysics is an incredible subject, it\u2019s all about problem solving, it\u2019s highly analytical, it\u2019s very creative, and that\u2019s something I didn\u2019t recognize before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I really see a parallel between the techniques that I used in the lab, whether they\u2019re optics or lenses, mirrors, light, all of those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I guess I swapped out for spice ingredients and herbs and the tolerances behind each measurement and getting to those trials and reducing trials from 200 to 50 rather than 200 to 120.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was an easier route to get there using the techniques that I\u2019ve learned through science. And it was really surprising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo traditionally, you\u2019ve come full circle, and you are disrupting tradition almost by coming all the way around 360.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, that\u2019s right, actually. If we think about the disruption that BANG! is causing in its category, I\u2019m really proud of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I just wanted to blow away the conceptions of what people call curry now. And it sounds so minor, but actually I feel really passionate about it because the cuisine itself and what I grew up with is not what you find in the shops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I find it a little bit almost insulting to the consumer to give them something like this that is not flavoursome, it\u2019s not healthy, it\u2019s not involving the consumer in the whole cooking process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What we do is to help to involve that person in the enjoyment in the kitchen, to evoke the pride and healthiness of this way of cooking. Not to mention all the sustainability that goes along with our range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, we\u2019ll come back to the sustainability, but I\u2019m interested in what you\u2019re saying about giving people part of the experience of cooking and being involved in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there is a magic, isn\u2019t there, when the spices hit the pan and you get the aromas releasing, it\u2019s almost like a heady moment where you\u2019re getting carried away with what you\u2019re about to eat. So it\u2019s like theatre, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is. It\u2019s very much like theatre. And honestly, I\u2019ll never tire of using BANG! at least on a 2 weekly basis and every time think, \u201cYeah, this is good. This happened really quick, and it saved me so much effort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Studying in a 99% male dominated field<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to hear more about your experiences studying physics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You said something really interesting there about being the only woman in the college. Being an outlier like that must\u2019ve been quite challenging at times. Was it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did that teach you to be quite resilient as a person, and have you been able to pull those, I suppose, characteristics that you built within the lab, pull them through into your entrepreneurial journey?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nImperial is well known, when I was there, it was well known for being 99% percent male, and I was the only female, definitely in the Blackett Lab, we called it, which is opposite the Royal Albert Hall. It\u2019s a very nice place to study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I didn\u2019t really focus on being the only female. I understood that I had to perform a lot better, or I was being scrutinized because I was female, but the way I coped with it was just to get on with it and let that be a you problem if you like, and I just carried on and just did what I was there to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I focused on that too much, I think it would\u2019ve detracted me from the enjoyment and the reason I was there, because you can\u2019t do a physics PhD for any other reason apart from your love of the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the only thing that will drive you through because it\u2019s tough. There\u2019s not really much financial reward. It\u2019s all about achievement and seeking what you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your belief in your business will carry you through hard times<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then when you did the pivot into becoming a business owner, a recipe maker, you were in your 40s, you\u2019ve mentioned you\u2019d had kids by that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did that feel like a lot of pressure to make it work, because presumably you had financial responsibilities. You\u2019re not a footloose, fancy-free 20-year-old with nothing to lose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And how did that, I guess, influence your journey? Was that pressure actually quite motivating so that you had to be successful?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think you spot on there, actually. Yeah, there was a lot of pressure involved because I\u2019d come from such a high achieving background, I guess, in terms of the other fields I was involved with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I was well aware of the opinions that maybe some people may have had like \u201cWhat on earth is she doing? What\u2019s that got to do with anything scientific or financial or quantitative?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But again, I just carried on because I knew I had something, so that belief obviously carried me through those hard times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was difficult because I didn\u2019t have a wage to rely on, a constant stream, and I couldn\u2019t ring up IT when I needed help. It is all about solving everything yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019re a one-man band for quite some time, and it was difficult, but then the small wins along the way, that\u2019s what keeps you going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use Amazon reviews to boost sales<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about some of those small wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we talked about HelloFresh and how that parachuted you into the big time, well into the small big time. And then what did you do next? How did you build on that momentum to keep growing the brand, winning new customers? What were the next wins on the list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, it was all about getting the name out there, being seen. Micro influencers is what we used quite heavily. Amazon was a big brand awareness winner for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now I mentioned that we started pretty much the whole scaling of our online business through the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we made a good choice by just coming out of retail and concentrating everything online. So we decided to go online, we created our own website, which I clumsily developed in the first days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We fast evolved from there, but it worked, it was fine, and we launched onto Amazon. We actually even launched into Amazon EU before we couldn\u2019t trade in EU anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s what really helped us, and we escalated our sales there mainly through reviews, and making sure our customers came back and reviewed our products, because reviews are everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s the social media that ties in. It\u2019s all one big marketing loop, if you like. It all tells that story, and one piece doesn\u2019t work without the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it was fast learning how all those different channels work together. It\u2019s quite complicated, but once you get your head around it, I think online was where we really started to establish ourselves in the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to get people to leave reviews<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you get people to leave reviews? Because that\u2019s just like the silver bullet, isn\u2019t it? If you can get people to say that they\u2019re happy, people are so happy to tell you when they\u2019re annoyed or when something hasn\u2019t met expectations, but to get them to take the time to say this was great, that\u2019s hard. How did you do that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, we took the effort of having direct contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019d have people that actually did the customer service. We automated the process of asking for reviews in a clever way, but not in an illegal way, because Amazon\u2019s got some quite stringent rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was time-consuming but worth it, because even just the 1 review makes such a big difference on the stats. And we made sure we looked at customer feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So all of those things really impacted the future NPD of our products. So we listened, and I think we need to listen to make sure we continually improve what we are giving. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become resilient to feedback and use it to improve<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you react to feedback? Because in the world of curry, I can imagine you\u2019ve got this spectrum of people when it comes to spice, some say tiny bit is too much and some are like blow my head off. How on earth do you cater to all of those people at once?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, that\u2019s a great question actually, because I think I developed my resilience to it all when I was on the market stall right at the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I\u2019d have people say to me, \u201cOh, it\u2019s too spicy,\u201d and I didn\u2019t understand because spicy isn\u2019t in my vocabulary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was saying, \u201cWhat does that mean? Too spicy?\u201d But it literally means heat, and I wasn\u2019t aware of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I got accustomed to different ways of describing the flavours. And because we have quite a big range that caters for every taste, if you like, I was always able to direct somebody to a different flavour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know what? Every flavour is not for everyone. And I soon learned to not get offended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, it\u2019s very personal to me because I\u2019ve developed them all from scratch, but you can\u2019t make everyone happy. But I\u2019m happy to say that most people are really delighted when they use what we are doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if they\u2019re not, then I really try and dissect how they use the product because there may be something not quite right in how we\u2019re communicating the use of them. So I\u2019m quite stringent about those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make your product versatile<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how do you get people to buy again and again? Because it seems like when you create a kit like this, you want it to be on the rotation, like when you\u2019re doing your meal prep, as you say, maybe every couple of weeks there it is, BANG! Curry on the rotation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how do you stay in people\u2019s minds? Just refresh them, \u201cRemember we\u2019re here, we\u2019re tasty.\u201d How do you do that? How do you get repeat purchases?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo we try to give inspiration. So we want BANG! to be a way of life, not just a product that you use and get bored with. It\u2019s the versatility that we are giving people and the empowerment to do what they want to do with their meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if you\u2019ve got dietary requirements, if you\u2019ve got ingredient preferences, you don\u2019t like meat or you just love vegan-type ingredients, there\u2019s always something for that person, and we want to inspire with lots of different recipes that they can use with just the 1 kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can vary it up, but you know you\u2019ve got your flavour locked in, and I think that\u2019s why people come back. They don\u2019t get bored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ll buy it once and they know they can change it up a bit and it will go down well when they take that effort to put some time into it and make it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIs that through social media? Are you sharing sort of, \u201cHey, look, you can use this kit for an exciting barbecue dish, or have you tried using paneer, or\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you show them another way to use it and how do you keep refreshing that? Is it like TikTok videos? How are you doing it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWe are doing it pretty much through social media. That\u2019s very instant, and sharing recipes. We\u2019ve got recipes on our website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are with Waitrose, they are also starting to showcase some of our recipes. It\u2019s still early days, but on the horizon, we\u2019ve got some lovely recipes that are going to appear in their weekend magazines, and it\u2019s through those platforms that we like to keep on refreshing those recipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And because that\u2019s what it\u2019s about, right? Everyone gets bored with the same old weekday meals or even if someone\u2019s coming round, how do I knock something together quickly and everyone\u2019s happy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We like to solve that problem and make mealtimes exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Competition proves that there is demand in your market<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about what the competitor landscape looks like now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because you were obviously doing something at the beginning of what became quite a big wave of recipe kits and different kinds of kits focusing on different kinds of cuisines, and there\u2019s now quite a lot of curry kits out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you stand out, and has that brought more awareness to the category as a whole? Is that a good thing, or has it sort of stolen some of your customers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe way I see it is that I would rather not be the only product in a category and be carving that out because frankly, we have been carving that category out and it\u2019s hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s difficult when you are having to convince buyer after buyer that you have a consumer group out there that are crying out for this type of product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019m actually really pleased, because it proves our point that there\u2019s a demand for it, and actually, competition\u2019s good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are quite confident, quietly confident with our range and that we can stand up to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you don\u2019t want to waste too much time looking at the competition. You want to just be focusing on the next thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping new product ideas fresh and flowing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about that. How frequently do you bring out new products? Is there a lot of pressure to have this pipeline of NPD constantly going, going?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is the most exciting part. Honestly, it\u2019s just what I live for, NPD and the next thing and coming up with new ideas and making them just come to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the beginning, it literally took 18 months for that first recipe to be perfect. Now, using all of those scientific techniques I talked about, I\u2019ve got a methodology, and that last NPD I put together took me maybe 4 goes. I was so happy, and it was just amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are seeing it in a new professional range. So what we are focusing on now is, we\u2019ve got a new range that has come out, which we launched together with some help with a non-exec director that we employed last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now he comes from a really rich background of food service, and he helped a company called Santa Maria, I don\u2019t know if you know them, but they\u2019re really big in the Mexican spice space now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He helped us as a company to reformulate what we\u2019ve done really well in retail and apply it to the catering industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so we\u2019ve got this bulk range we\u2019ve called BANG! Curry Professional, and that is so exciting. I\u2019ve got some really exciting news I can\u2019t share with you today, but that\u2019s pretty much our next launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that to me is so exciting because that\u2019s feeding literally the masses. We are changing some really big things out there in terms of curry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd are you still the one formulating the recipes? You mentioned they\u2019re the methodology and it taking four goes to get it right, but is it still you sort of there with your hat on, your goggles on, mixing up all the spices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wouldn\u2019t pass that to anyone, because that\u2019s where I find the most joy. No, that\u2019s me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it might not be me in a year\u2019s time, but at the moment, yeah, that\u2019s all down to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019ve got to do what you love. It\u2019s really sad when you interview people, you start businesses and the thing they love doing at the beginning, 5 years on, they\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I can\u2019t do that anymore. I\u2019ve got to delegate that to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s nice to hang on to the bits that you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use paid classes as a way to bootstrap your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou mentioned at the beginning, Shelly, about bootstrapping, and we talk about bootstrapping quite a bit on this show, and I\u2019d love to hear some of the really clever bootstrapping strategies that worked for you and your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the ways that you grew while still cutting costs, saving money, being clever about how you spent on marketing or go to market. So tell me about some of those strategies, 1 or 2 that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe one I would say I felt really gave us a lot of return was the cookery classes that we did. It was quite a lot of effort on our part, but we got so much out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We charged for seats, and I literally did it in our own kitchen, so there was no rent involved, so everything went straight into profit, ingredients don\u2019t really cost very much, and we were ranking at number 1 on Google for Indian cooking lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was pretty much it, I don\u2019t know how I did it, I have to admit, but I built the website, and it ranked us up there, and it was really quite low cost to the company in order to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think we got some really nice wins out of that, and obviously some reviews as well on Google about BANG! Curry and the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the intellectual property we took out of that as well is what people actually wanted out of a product, and what sort of recipes and how much time were they prepared to take with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I was showing them step-by-step, I wasn\u2019t using the kits, and I was showing them from A to Z every single piece that would go into the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was not 1 customer that didn\u2019t go away, take the recipe that I would give them, and cook it from scratch, they all ended up just using the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the end I\u2019d give them a little gift bag with the kits and the recipes, but I don\u2019t know anyone that actually cooked the whole thing from scratch, went out and bought all the different ingredients. And so there was a lot of learning gained from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it helped kickstart, it helped finance things like branding, things like print packaging, all of these things, all to do with cost of goods, which at the beginning that\u2019s all we were paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any marketing, we tried to be very clever about it in terms of guerrilla marketing, digital advertising, which basically I tried to turn my head to and did all that stuff initially myself. I basically worked that bit out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Physics is an incredible subject, it\u2019s all about problem solving, it\u2019s highly analytical, it\u2019s very creative, and that\u2019s something I didn\u2019t recognize before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I really see a parallel between the techniques that I used in the lab, whether they\u2019re optics or lenses, mirrors, light, all of those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I guess I swapped out for spice ingredients and herbs and the tolerances behind each measurement and getting to those trials and reducing trials from 200 to 50 rather than 200 to 120.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was an easier route to get there using the techniques that I\u2019ve learned through science. And it was really surprising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo traditionally, you\u2019ve come full circle, and you are disrupting tradition almost by coming all the way around 360.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, that\u2019s right, actually. If we think about the disruption that BANG! is causing in its category, I\u2019m really proud of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I just wanted to blow away the conceptions of what people call curry now. And it sounds so minor, but actually I feel really passionate about it because the cuisine itself and what I grew up with is not what you find in the shops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I find it a little bit almost insulting to the consumer to give them something like this that is not flavoursome, it\u2019s not healthy, it\u2019s not involving the consumer in the whole cooking process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What we do is to help to involve that person in the enjoyment in the kitchen, to evoke the pride and healthiness of this way of cooking. Not to mention all the sustainability that goes along with our range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, we\u2019ll come back to the sustainability, but I\u2019m interested in what you\u2019re saying about giving people part of the experience of cooking and being involved in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there is a magic, isn\u2019t there, when the spices hit the pan and you get the aromas releasing, it\u2019s almost like a heady moment where you\u2019re getting carried away with what you\u2019re about to eat. So it\u2019s like theatre, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is. It\u2019s very much like theatre. And honestly, I\u2019ll never tire of using BANG! at least on a 2 weekly basis and every time think, \u201cYeah, this is good. This happened really quick, and it saved me so much effort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Studying in a 99% male dominated field<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to hear more about your experiences studying physics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You said something really interesting there about being the only woman in the college. Being an outlier like that must\u2019ve been quite challenging at times. Was it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did that teach you to be quite resilient as a person, and have you been able to pull those, I suppose, characteristics that you built within the lab, pull them through into your entrepreneurial journey?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nImperial is well known, when I was there, it was well known for being 99% percent male, and I was the only female, definitely in the Blackett Lab, we called it, which is opposite the Royal Albert Hall. It\u2019s a very nice place to study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I didn\u2019t really focus on being the only female. I understood that I had to perform a lot better, or I was being scrutinized because I was female, but the way I coped with it was just to get on with it and let that be a you problem if you like, and I just carried on and just did what I was there to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I focused on that too much, I think it would\u2019ve detracted me from the enjoyment and the reason I was there, because you can\u2019t do a physics PhD for any other reason apart from your love of the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the only thing that will drive you through because it\u2019s tough. There\u2019s not really much financial reward. It\u2019s all about achievement and seeking what you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your belief in your business will carry you through hard times<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then when you did the pivot into becoming a business owner, a recipe maker, you were in your 40s, you\u2019ve mentioned you\u2019d had kids by that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did that feel like a lot of pressure to make it work, because presumably you had financial responsibilities. You\u2019re not a footloose, fancy-free 20-year-old with nothing to lose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And how did that, I guess, influence your journey? Was that pressure actually quite motivating so that you had to be successful?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think you spot on there, actually. Yeah, there was a lot of pressure involved because I\u2019d come from such a high achieving background, I guess, in terms of the other fields I was involved with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I was well aware of the opinions that maybe some people may have had like \u201cWhat on earth is she doing? What\u2019s that got to do with anything scientific or financial or quantitative?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But again, I just carried on because I knew I had something, so that belief obviously carried me through those hard times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was difficult because I didn\u2019t have a wage to rely on, a constant stream, and I couldn\u2019t ring up IT when I needed help. It is all about solving everything yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019re a one-man band for quite some time, and it was difficult, but then the small wins along the way, that\u2019s what keeps you going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use Amazon reviews to boost sales<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about some of those small wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we talked about HelloFresh and how that parachuted you into the big time, well into the small big time. And then what did you do next? How did you build on that momentum to keep growing the brand, winning new customers? What were the next wins on the list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, it was all about getting the name out there, being seen. Micro influencers is what we used quite heavily. Amazon was a big brand awareness winner for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now I mentioned that we started pretty much the whole scaling of our online business through the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we made a good choice by just coming out of retail and concentrating everything online. So we decided to go online, we created our own website, which I clumsily developed in the first days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We fast evolved from there, but it worked, it was fine, and we launched onto Amazon. We actually even launched into Amazon EU before we couldn\u2019t trade in EU anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s what really helped us, and we escalated our sales there mainly through reviews, and making sure our customers came back and reviewed our products, because reviews are everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s the social media that ties in. It\u2019s all one big marketing loop, if you like. It all tells that story, and one piece doesn\u2019t work without the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it was fast learning how all those different channels work together. It\u2019s quite complicated, but once you get your head around it, I think online was where we really started to establish ourselves in the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to get people to leave reviews<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you get people to leave reviews? Because that\u2019s just like the silver bullet, isn\u2019t it? If you can get people to say that they\u2019re happy, people are so happy to tell you when they\u2019re annoyed or when something hasn\u2019t met expectations, but to get them to take the time to say this was great, that\u2019s hard. How did you do that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, we took the effort of having direct contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019d have people that actually did the customer service. We automated the process of asking for reviews in a clever way, but not in an illegal way, because Amazon\u2019s got some quite stringent rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was time-consuming but worth it, because even just the 1 review makes such a big difference on the stats. And we made sure we looked at customer feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So all of those things really impacted the future NPD of our products. So we listened, and I think we need to listen to make sure we continually improve what we are giving. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become resilient to feedback and use it to improve<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you react to feedback? Because in the world of curry, I can imagine you\u2019ve got this spectrum of people when it comes to spice, some say tiny bit is too much and some are like blow my head off. How on earth do you cater to all of those people at once?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, that\u2019s a great question actually, because I think I developed my resilience to it all when I was on the market stall right at the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I\u2019d have people say to me, \u201cOh, it\u2019s too spicy,\u201d and I didn\u2019t understand because spicy isn\u2019t in my vocabulary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was saying, \u201cWhat does that mean? Too spicy?\u201d But it literally means heat, and I wasn\u2019t aware of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I got accustomed to different ways of describing the flavours. And because we have quite a big range that caters for every taste, if you like, I was always able to direct somebody to a different flavour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know what? Every flavour is not for everyone. And I soon learned to not get offended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, it\u2019s very personal to me because I\u2019ve developed them all from scratch, but you can\u2019t make everyone happy. But I\u2019m happy to say that most people are really delighted when they use what we are doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if they\u2019re not, then I really try and dissect how they use the product because there may be something not quite right in how we\u2019re communicating the use of them. So I\u2019m quite stringent about those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make your product versatile<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how do you get people to buy again and again? Because it seems like when you create a kit like this, you want it to be on the rotation, like when you\u2019re doing your meal prep, as you say, maybe every couple of weeks there it is, BANG! Curry on the rotation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how do you stay in people\u2019s minds? Just refresh them, \u201cRemember we\u2019re here, we\u2019re tasty.\u201d How do you do that? How do you get repeat purchases?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo we try to give inspiration. So we want BANG! to be a way of life, not just a product that you use and get bored with. It\u2019s the versatility that we are giving people and the empowerment to do what they want to do with their meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if you\u2019ve got dietary requirements, if you\u2019ve got ingredient preferences, you don\u2019t like meat or you just love vegan-type ingredients, there\u2019s always something for that person, and we want to inspire with lots of different recipes that they can use with just the 1 kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can vary it up, but you know you\u2019ve got your flavour locked in, and I think that\u2019s why people come back. They don\u2019t get bored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ll buy it once and they know they can change it up a bit and it will go down well when they take that effort to put some time into it and make it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIs that through social media? Are you sharing sort of, \u201cHey, look, you can use this kit for an exciting barbecue dish, or have you tried using paneer, or\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you show them another way to use it and how do you keep refreshing that? Is it like TikTok videos? How are you doing it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWe are doing it pretty much through social media. That\u2019s very instant, and sharing recipes. We\u2019ve got recipes on our website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are with Waitrose, they are also starting to showcase some of our recipes. It\u2019s still early days, but on the horizon, we\u2019ve got some lovely recipes that are going to appear in their weekend magazines, and it\u2019s through those platforms that we like to keep on refreshing those recipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And because that\u2019s what it\u2019s about, right? Everyone gets bored with the same old weekday meals or even if someone\u2019s coming round, how do I knock something together quickly and everyone\u2019s happy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We like to solve that problem and make mealtimes exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Competition proves that there is demand in your market<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about what the competitor landscape looks like now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because you were obviously doing something at the beginning of what became quite a big wave of recipe kits and different kinds of kits focusing on different kinds of cuisines, and there\u2019s now quite a lot of curry kits out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you stand out, and has that brought more awareness to the category as a whole? Is that a good thing, or has it sort of stolen some of your customers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe way I see it is that I would rather not be the only product in a category and be carving that out because frankly, we have been carving that category out and it\u2019s hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s difficult when you are having to convince buyer after buyer that you have a consumer group out there that are crying out for this type of product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019m actually really pleased, because it proves our point that there\u2019s a demand for it, and actually, competition\u2019s good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are quite confident, quietly confident with our range and that we can stand up to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you don\u2019t want to waste too much time looking at the competition. You want to just be focusing on the next thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping new product ideas fresh and flowing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about that. How frequently do you bring out new products? Is there a lot of pressure to have this pipeline of NPD constantly going, going?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is the most exciting part. Honestly, it\u2019s just what I live for, NPD and the next thing and coming up with new ideas and making them just come to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the beginning, it literally took 18 months for that first recipe to be perfect. Now, using all of those scientific techniques I talked about, I\u2019ve got a methodology, and that last NPD I put together took me maybe 4 goes. I was so happy, and it was just amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are seeing it in a new professional range. So what we are focusing on now is, we\u2019ve got a new range that has come out, which we launched together with some help with a non-exec director that we employed last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now he comes from a really rich background of food service, and he helped a company called Santa Maria, I don\u2019t know if you know them, but they\u2019re really big in the Mexican spice space now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He helped us as a company to reformulate what we\u2019ve done really well in retail and apply it to the catering industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so we\u2019ve got this bulk range we\u2019ve called BANG! Curry Professional, and that is so exciting. I\u2019ve got some really exciting news I can\u2019t share with you today, but that\u2019s pretty much our next launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that to me is so exciting because that\u2019s feeding literally the masses. We are changing some really big things out there in terms of curry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd are you still the one formulating the recipes? You mentioned they\u2019re the methodology and it taking four goes to get it right, but is it still you sort of there with your hat on, your goggles on, mixing up all the spices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wouldn\u2019t pass that to anyone, because that\u2019s where I find the most joy. No, that\u2019s me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it might not be me in a year\u2019s time, but at the moment, yeah, that\u2019s all down to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019ve got to do what you love. It\u2019s really sad when you interview people, you start businesses and the thing they love doing at the beginning, 5 years on, they\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I can\u2019t do that anymore. I\u2019ve got to delegate that to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s nice to hang on to the bits that you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use paid classes as a way to bootstrap your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou mentioned at the beginning, Shelly, about bootstrapping, and we talk about bootstrapping quite a bit on this show, and I\u2019d love to hear some of the really clever bootstrapping strategies that worked for you and your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the ways that you grew while still cutting costs, saving money, being clever about how you spent on marketing or go to market. So tell me about some of those strategies, 1 or 2 that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe one I would say I felt really gave us a lot of return was the cookery classes that we did. It was quite a lot of effort on our part, but we got so much out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We charged for seats, and I literally did it in our own kitchen, so there was no rent involved, so everything went straight into profit, ingredients don\u2019t really cost very much, and we were ranking at number 1 on Google for Indian cooking lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was pretty much it, I don\u2019t know how I did it, I have to admit, but I built the website, and it ranked us up there, and it was really quite low cost to the company in order to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think we got some really nice wins out of that, and obviously some reviews as well on Google about BANG! Curry and the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the intellectual property we took out of that as well is what people actually wanted out of a product, and what sort of recipes and how much time were they prepared to take with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I was showing them step-by-step, I wasn\u2019t using the kits, and I was showing them from A to Z every single piece that would go into the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was not 1 customer that didn\u2019t go away, take the recipe that I would give them, and cook it from scratch, they all ended up just using the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the end I\u2019d give them a little gift bag with the kits and the recipes, but I don\u2019t know anyone that actually cooked the whole thing from scratch, went out and bought all the different ingredients. And so there was a lot of learning gained from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it helped kickstart, it helped finance things like branding, things like print packaging, all of these things, all to do with cost of goods, which at the beginning that\u2019s all we were paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any marketing, we tried to be very clever about it in terms of guerrilla marketing, digital advertising, which basically I tried to turn my head to and did all that stuff initially myself. I basically worked that bit out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Yeah, that\u2019s right, actually. If we think about the disruption that BANG! is causing in its category, I\u2019m really proud of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I just wanted to blow away the conceptions of what people call curry now. And it sounds so minor, but actually I feel really passionate about it because the cuisine itself and what I grew up with is not what you find in the shops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I find it a little bit almost insulting to the consumer to give them something like this that is not flavoursome, it\u2019s not healthy, it\u2019s not involving the consumer in the whole cooking process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What we do is to help to involve that person in the enjoyment in the kitchen, to evoke the pride and healthiness of this way of cooking. Not to mention all the sustainability that goes along with our range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, we\u2019ll come back to the sustainability, but I\u2019m interested in what you\u2019re saying about giving people part of the experience of cooking and being involved in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because there is a magic, isn\u2019t there, when the spices hit the pan and you get the aromas releasing, it\u2019s almost like a heady moment where you\u2019re getting carried away with what you\u2019re about to eat. So it\u2019s like theatre, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is. It\u2019s very much like theatre. And honestly, I\u2019ll never tire of using BANG! at least on a 2 weekly basis and every time think, \u201cYeah, this is good. This happened really quick, and it saved me so much effort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Studying in a 99% male dominated field<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to hear more about your experiences studying physics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You said something really interesting there about being the only woman in the college. Being an outlier like that must\u2019ve been quite challenging at times. Was it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did that teach you to be quite resilient as a person, and have you been able to pull those, I suppose, characteristics that you built within the lab, pull them through into your entrepreneurial journey?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nImperial is well known, when I was there, it was well known for being 99% percent male, and I was the only female, definitely in the Blackett Lab, we called it, which is opposite the Royal Albert Hall. It\u2019s a very nice place to study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I didn\u2019t really focus on being the only female. I understood that I had to perform a lot better, or I was being scrutinized because I was female, but the way I coped with it was just to get on with it and let that be a you problem if you like, and I just carried on and just did what I was there to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I focused on that too much, I think it would\u2019ve detracted me from the enjoyment and the reason I was there, because you can\u2019t do a physics PhD for any other reason apart from your love of the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the only thing that will drive you through because it\u2019s tough. There\u2019s not really much financial reward. It\u2019s all about achievement and seeking what you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your belief in your business will carry you through hard times<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then when you did the pivot into becoming a business owner, a recipe maker, you were in your 40s, you\u2019ve mentioned you\u2019d had kids by that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did that feel like a lot of pressure to make it work, because presumably you had financial responsibilities. You\u2019re not a footloose, fancy-free 20-year-old with nothing to lose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And how did that, I guess, influence your journey? Was that pressure actually quite motivating so that you had to be successful?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think you spot on there, actually. Yeah, there was a lot of pressure involved because I\u2019d come from such a high achieving background, I guess, in terms of the other fields I was involved with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I was well aware of the opinions that maybe some people may have had like \u201cWhat on earth is she doing? What\u2019s that got to do with anything scientific or financial or quantitative?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But again, I just carried on because I knew I had something, so that belief obviously carried me through those hard times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was difficult because I didn\u2019t have a wage to rely on, a constant stream, and I couldn\u2019t ring up IT when I needed help. It is all about solving everything yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019re a one-man band for quite some time, and it was difficult, but then the small wins along the way, that\u2019s what keeps you going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use Amazon reviews to boost sales<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about some of those small wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we talked about HelloFresh and how that parachuted you into the big time, well into the small big time. And then what did you do next? How did you build on that momentum to keep growing the brand, winning new customers? What were the next wins on the list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, it was all about getting the name out there, being seen. Micro influencers is what we used quite heavily. Amazon was a big brand awareness winner for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now I mentioned that we started pretty much the whole scaling of our online business through the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we made a good choice by just coming out of retail and concentrating everything online. So we decided to go online, we created our own website, which I clumsily developed in the first days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We fast evolved from there, but it worked, it was fine, and we launched onto Amazon. We actually even launched into Amazon EU before we couldn\u2019t trade in EU anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s what really helped us, and we escalated our sales there mainly through reviews, and making sure our customers came back and reviewed our products, because reviews are everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s the social media that ties in. It\u2019s all one big marketing loop, if you like. It all tells that story, and one piece doesn\u2019t work without the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it was fast learning how all those different channels work together. It\u2019s quite complicated, but once you get your head around it, I think online was where we really started to establish ourselves in the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to get people to leave reviews<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you get people to leave reviews? Because that\u2019s just like the silver bullet, isn\u2019t it? If you can get people to say that they\u2019re happy, people are so happy to tell you when they\u2019re annoyed or when something hasn\u2019t met expectations, but to get them to take the time to say this was great, that\u2019s hard. How did you do that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, we took the effort of having direct contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019d have people that actually did the customer service. We automated the process of asking for reviews in a clever way, but not in an illegal way, because Amazon\u2019s got some quite stringent rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was time-consuming but worth it, because even just the 1 review makes such a big difference on the stats. And we made sure we looked at customer feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So all of those things really impacted the future NPD of our products. So we listened, and I think we need to listen to make sure we continually improve what we are giving. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become resilient to feedback and use it to improve<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you react to feedback? Because in the world of curry, I can imagine you\u2019ve got this spectrum of people when it comes to spice, some say tiny bit is too much and some are like blow my head off. How on earth do you cater to all of those people at once?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, that\u2019s a great question actually, because I think I developed my resilience to it all when I was on the market stall right at the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I\u2019d have people say to me, \u201cOh, it\u2019s too spicy,\u201d and I didn\u2019t understand because spicy isn\u2019t in my vocabulary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was saying, \u201cWhat does that mean? Too spicy?\u201d But it literally means heat, and I wasn\u2019t aware of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I got accustomed to different ways of describing the flavours. And because we have quite a big range that caters for every taste, if you like, I was always able to direct somebody to a different flavour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know what? Every flavour is not for everyone. And I soon learned to not get offended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, it\u2019s very personal to me because I\u2019ve developed them all from scratch, but you can\u2019t make everyone happy. But I\u2019m happy to say that most people are really delighted when they use what we are doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if they\u2019re not, then I really try and dissect how they use the product because there may be something not quite right in how we\u2019re communicating the use of them. So I\u2019m quite stringent about those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make your product versatile<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how do you get people to buy again and again? Because it seems like when you create a kit like this, you want it to be on the rotation, like when you\u2019re doing your meal prep, as you say, maybe every couple of weeks there it is, BANG! Curry on the rotation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how do you stay in people\u2019s minds? Just refresh them, \u201cRemember we\u2019re here, we\u2019re tasty.\u201d How do you do that? How do you get repeat purchases?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo we try to give inspiration. So we want BANG! to be a way of life, not just a product that you use and get bored with. It\u2019s the versatility that we are giving people and the empowerment to do what they want to do with their meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if you\u2019ve got dietary requirements, if you\u2019ve got ingredient preferences, you don\u2019t like meat or you just love vegan-type ingredients, there\u2019s always something for that person, and we want to inspire with lots of different recipes that they can use with just the 1 kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can vary it up, but you know you\u2019ve got your flavour locked in, and I think that\u2019s why people come back. They don\u2019t get bored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ll buy it once and they know they can change it up a bit and it will go down well when they take that effort to put some time into it and make it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIs that through social media? Are you sharing sort of, \u201cHey, look, you can use this kit for an exciting barbecue dish, or have you tried using paneer, or\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you show them another way to use it and how do you keep refreshing that? Is it like TikTok videos? How are you doing it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWe are doing it pretty much through social media. That\u2019s very instant, and sharing recipes. We\u2019ve got recipes on our website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are with Waitrose, they are also starting to showcase some of our recipes. It\u2019s still early days, but on the horizon, we\u2019ve got some lovely recipes that are going to appear in their weekend magazines, and it\u2019s through those platforms that we like to keep on refreshing those recipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And because that\u2019s what it\u2019s about, right? Everyone gets bored with the same old weekday meals or even if someone\u2019s coming round, how do I knock something together quickly and everyone\u2019s happy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We like to solve that problem and make mealtimes exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Competition proves that there is demand in your market<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about what the competitor landscape looks like now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because you were obviously doing something at the beginning of what became quite a big wave of recipe kits and different kinds of kits focusing on different kinds of cuisines, and there\u2019s now quite a lot of curry kits out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you stand out, and has that brought more awareness to the category as a whole? Is that a good thing, or has it sort of stolen some of your customers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe way I see it is that I would rather not be the only product in a category and be carving that out because frankly, we have been carving that category out and it\u2019s hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s difficult when you are having to convince buyer after buyer that you have a consumer group out there that are crying out for this type of product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019m actually really pleased, because it proves our point that there\u2019s a demand for it, and actually, competition\u2019s good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are quite confident, quietly confident with our range and that we can stand up to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you don\u2019t want to waste too much time looking at the competition. You want to just be focusing on the next thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping new product ideas fresh and flowing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about that. How frequently do you bring out new products? Is there a lot of pressure to have this pipeline of NPD constantly going, going?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is the most exciting part. Honestly, it\u2019s just what I live for, NPD and the next thing and coming up with new ideas and making them just come to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the beginning, it literally took 18 months for that first recipe to be perfect. Now, using all of those scientific techniques I talked about, I\u2019ve got a methodology, and that last NPD I put together took me maybe 4 goes. I was so happy, and it was just amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are seeing it in a new professional range. So what we are focusing on now is, we\u2019ve got a new range that has come out, which we launched together with some help with a non-exec director that we employed last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now he comes from a really rich background of food service, and he helped a company called Santa Maria, I don\u2019t know if you know them, but they\u2019re really big in the Mexican spice space now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He helped us as a company to reformulate what we\u2019ve done really well in retail and apply it to the catering industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so we\u2019ve got this bulk range we\u2019ve called BANG! Curry Professional, and that is so exciting. I\u2019ve got some really exciting news I can\u2019t share with you today, but that\u2019s pretty much our next launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that to me is so exciting because that\u2019s feeding literally the masses. We are changing some really big things out there in terms of curry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd are you still the one formulating the recipes? You mentioned they\u2019re the methodology and it taking four goes to get it right, but is it still you sort of there with your hat on, your goggles on, mixing up all the spices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wouldn\u2019t pass that to anyone, because that\u2019s where I find the most joy. No, that\u2019s me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it might not be me in a year\u2019s time, but at the moment, yeah, that\u2019s all down to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019ve got to do what you love. It\u2019s really sad when you interview people, you start businesses and the thing they love doing at the beginning, 5 years on, they\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I can\u2019t do that anymore. I\u2019ve got to delegate that to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s nice to hang on to the bits that you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use paid classes as a way to bootstrap your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou mentioned at the beginning, Shelly, about bootstrapping, and we talk about bootstrapping quite a bit on this show, and I\u2019d love to hear some of the really clever bootstrapping strategies that worked for you and your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the ways that you grew while still cutting costs, saving money, being clever about how you spent on marketing or go to market. So tell me about some of those strategies, 1 or 2 that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe one I would say I felt really gave us a lot of return was the cookery classes that we did. It was quite a lot of effort on our part, but we got so much out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We charged for seats, and I literally did it in our own kitchen, so there was no rent involved, so everything went straight into profit, ingredients don\u2019t really cost very much, and we were ranking at number 1 on Google for Indian cooking lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was pretty much it, I don\u2019t know how I did it, I have to admit, but I built the website, and it ranked us up there, and it was really quite low cost to the company in order to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think we got some really nice wins out of that, and obviously some reviews as well on Google about BANG! Curry and the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the intellectual property we took out of that as well is what people actually wanted out of a product, and what sort of recipes and how much time were they prepared to take with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I was showing them step-by-step, I wasn\u2019t using the kits, and I was showing them from A to Z every single piece that would go into the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was not 1 customer that didn\u2019t go away, take the recipe that I would give them, and cook it from scratch, they all ended up just using the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the end I\u2019d give them a little gift bag with the kits and the recipes, but I don\u2019t know anyone that actually cooked the whole thing from scratch, went out and bought all the different ingredients. And so there was a lot of learning gained from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it helped kickstart, it helped finance things like branding, things like print packaging, all of these things, all to do with cost of goods, which at the beginning that\u2019s all we were paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any marketing, we tried to be very clever about it in terms of guerrilla marketing, digital advertising, which basically I tried to turn my head to and did all that stuff initially myself. I basically worked that bit out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
It is. It\u2019s very much like theatre. And honestly, I\u2019ll never tire of using BANG! at least on a 2 weekly basis and every time think, \u201cYeah, this is good. This happened really quick, and it saved me so much effort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Studying in a 99% male dominated field<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to hear more about your experiences studying physics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You said something really interesting there about being the only woman in the college. Being an outlier like that must\u2019ve been quite challenging at times. Was it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did that teach you to be quite resilient as a person, and have you been able to pull those, I suppose, characteristics that you built within the lab, pull them through into your entrepreneurial journey?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nImperial is well known, when I was there, it was well known for being 99% percent male, and I was the only female, definitely in the Blackett Lab, we called it, which is opposite the Royal Albert Hall. It\u2019s a very nice place to study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I didn\u2019t really focus on being the only female. I understood that I had to perform a lot better, or I was being scrutinized because I was female, but the way I coped with it was just to get on with it and let that be a you problem if you like, and I just carried on and just did what I was there to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I focused on that too much, I think it would\u2019ve detracted me from the enjoyment and the reason I was there, because you can\u2019t do a physics PhD for any other reason apart from your love of the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the only thing that will drive you through because it\u2019s tough. There\u2019s not really much financial reward. It\u2019s all about achievement and seeking what you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your belief in your business will carry you through hard times<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then when you did the pivot into becoming a business owner, a recipe maker, you were in your 40s, you\u2019ve mentioned you\u2019d had kids by that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did that feel like a lot of pressure to make it work, because presumably you had financial responsibilities. You\u2019re not a footloose, fancy-free 20-year-old with nothing to lose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And how did that, I guess, influence your journey? Was that pressure actually quite motivating so that you had to be successful?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think you spot on there, actually. Yeah, there was a lot of pressure involved because I\u2019d come from such a high achieving background, I guess, in terms of the other fields I was involved with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I was well aware of the opinions that maybe some people may have had like \u201cWhat on earth is she doing? What\u2019s that got to do with anything scientific or financial or quantitative?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But again, I just carried on because I knew I had something, so that belief obviously carried me through those hard times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was difficult because I didn\u2019t have a wage to rely on, a constant stream, and I couldn\u2019t ring up IT when I needed help. It is all about solving everything yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019re a one-man band for quite some time, and it was difficult, but then the small wins along the way, that\u2019s what keeps you going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use Amazon reviews to boost sales<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about some of those small wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we talked about HelloFresh and how that parachuted you into the big time, well into the small big time. And then what did you do next? How did you build on that momentum to keep growing the brand, winning new customers? What were the next wins on the list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, it was all about getting the name out there, being seen. Micro influencers is what we used quite heavily. Amazon was a big brand awareness winner for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now I mentioned that we started pretty much the whole scaling of our online business through the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we made a good choice by just coming out of retail and concentrating everything online. So we decided to go online, we created our own website, which I clumsily developed in the first days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We fast evolved from there, but it worked, it was fine, and we launched onto Amazon. We actually even launched into Amazon EU before we couldn\u2019t trade in EU anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s what really helped us, and we escalated our sales there mainly through reviews, and making sure our customers came back and reviewed our products, because reviews are everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s the social media that ties in. It\u2019s all one big marketing loop, if you like. It all tells that story, and one piece doesn\u2019t work without the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it was fast learning how all those different channels work together. It\u2019s quite complicated, but once you get your head around it, I think online was where we really started to establish ourselves in the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to get people to leave reviews<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you get people to leave reviews? Because that\u2019s just like the silver bullet, isn\u2019t it? If you can get people to say that they\u2019re happy, people are so happy to tell you when they\u2019re annoyed or when something hasn\u2019t met expectations, but to get them to take the time to say this was great, that\u2019s hard. How did you do that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, we took the effort of having direct contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019d have people that actually did the customer service. We automated the process of asking for reviews in a clever way, but not in an illegal way, because Amazon\u2019s got some quite stringent rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was time-consuming but worth it, because even just the 1 review makes such a big difference on the stats. And we made sure we looked at customer feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So all of those things really impacted the future NPD of our products. So we listened, and I think we need to listen to make sure we continually improve what we are giving. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become resilient to feedback and use it to improve<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you react to feedback? Because in the world of curry, I can imagine you\u2019ve got this spectrum of people when it comes to spice, some say tiny bit is too much and some are like blow my head off. How on earth do you cater to all of those people at once?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, that\u2019s a great question actually, because I think I developed my resilience to it all when I was on the market stall right at the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I\u2019d have people say to me, \u201cOh, it\u2019s too spicy,\u201d and I didn\u2019t understand because spicy isn\u2019t in my vocabulary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was saying, \u201cWhat does that mean? Too spicy?\u201d But it literally means heat, and I wasn\u2019t aware of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I got accustomed to different ways of describing the flavours. And because we have quite a big range that caters for every taste, if you like, I was always able to direct somebody to a different flavour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know what? Every flavour is not for everyone. And I soon learned to not get offended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, it\u2019s very personal to me because I\u2019ve developed them all from scratch, but you can\u2019t make everyone happy. But I\u2019m happy to say that most people are really delighted when they use what we are doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if they\u2019re not, then I really try and dissect how they use the product because there may be something not quite right in how we\u2019re communicating the use of them. So I\u2019m quite stringent about those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make your product versatile<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how do you get people to buy again and again? Because it seems like when you create a kit like this, you want it to be on the rotation, like when you\u2019re doing your meal prep, as you say, maybe every couple of weeks there it is, BANG! Curry on the rotation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how do you stay in people\u2019s minds? Just refresh them, \u201cRemember we\u2019re here, we\u2019re tasty.\u201d How do you do that? How do you get repeat purchases?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo we try to give inspiration. So we want BANG! to be a way of life, not just a product that you use and get bored with. It\u2019s the versatility that we are giving people and the empowerment to do what they want to do with their meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if you\u2019ve got dietary requirements, if you\u2019ve got ingredient preferences, you don\u2019t like meat or you just love vegan-type ingredients, there\u2019s always something for that person, and we want to inspire with lots of different recipes that they can use with just the 1 kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can vary it up, but you know you\u2019ve got your flavour locked in, and I think that\u2019s why people come back. They don\u2019t get bored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ll buy it once and they know they can change it up a bit and it will go down well when they take that effort to put some time into it and make it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIs that through social media? Are you sharing sort of, \u201cHey, look, you can use this kit for an exciting barbecue dish, or have you tried using paneer, or\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you show them another way to use it and how do you keep refreshing that? Is it like TikTok videos? How are you doing it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWe are doing it pretty much through social media. That\u2019s very instant, and sharing recipes. We\u2019ve got recipes on our website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are with Waitrose, they are also starting to showcase some of our recipes. It\u2019s still early days, but on the horizon, we\u2019ve got some lovely recipes that are going to appear in their weekend magazines, and it\u2019s through those platforms that we like to keep on refreshing those recipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And because that\u2019s what it\u2019s about, right? Everyone gets bored with the same old weekday meals or even if someone\u2019s coming round, how do I knock something together quickly and everyone\u2019s happy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We like to solve that problem and make mealtimes exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Competition proves that there is demand in your market<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about what the competitor landscape looks like now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because you were obviously doing something at the beginning of what became quite a big wave of recipe kits and different kinds of kits focusing on different kinds of cuisines, and there\u2019s now quite a lot of curry kits out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you stand out, and has that brought more awareness to the category as a whole? Is that a good thing, or has it sort of stolen some of your customers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe way I see it is that I would rather not be the only product in a category and be carving that out because frankly, we have been carving that category out and it\u2019s hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s difficult when you are having to convince buyer after buyer that you have a consumer group out there that are crying out for this type of product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019m actually really pleased, because it proves our point that there\u2019s a demand for it, and actually, competition\u2019s good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are quite confident, quietly confident with our range and that we can stand up to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you don\u2019t want to waste too much time looking at the competition. You want to just be focusing on the next thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping new product ideas fresh and flowing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about that. How frequently do you bring out new products? Is there a lot of pressure to have this pipeline of NPD constantly going, going?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is the most exciting part. Honestly, it\u2019s just what I live for, NPD and the next thing and coming up with new ideas and making them just come to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the beginning, it literally took 18 months for that first recipe to be perfect. Now, using all of those scientific techniques I talked about, I\u2019ve got a methodology, and that last NPD I put together took me maybe 4 goes. I was so happy, and it was just amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are seeing it in a new professional range. So what we are focusing on now is, we\u2019ve got a new range that has come out, which we launched together with some help with a non-exec director that we employed last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now he comes from a really rich background of food service, and he helped a company called Santa Maria, I don\u2019t know if you know them, but they\u2019re really big in the Mexican spice space now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He helped us as a company to reformulate what we\u2019ve done really well in retail and apply it to the catering industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so we\u2019ve got this bulk range we\u2019ve called BANG! Curry Professional, and that is so exciting. I\u2019ve got some really exciting news I can\u2019t share with you today, but that\u2019s pretty much our next launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that to me is so exciting because that\u2019s feeding literally the masses. We are changing some really big things out there in terms of curry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd are you still the one formulating the recipes? You mentioned they\u2019re the methodology and it taking four goes to get it right, but is it still you sort of there with your hat on, your goggles on, mixing up all the spices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wouldn\u2019t pass that to anyone, because that\u2019s where I find the most joy. No, that\u2019s me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it might not be me in a year\u2019s time, but at the moment, yeah, that\u2019s all down to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019ve got to do what you love. It\u2019s really sad when you interview people, you start businesses and the thing they love doing at the beginning, 5 years on, they\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I can\u2019t do that anymore. I\u2019ve got to delegate that to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s nice to hang on to the bits that you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use paid classes as a way to bootstrap your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou mentioned at the beginning, Shelly, about bootstrapping, and we talk about bootstrapping quite a bit on this show, and I\u2019d love to hear some of the really clever bootstrapping strategies that worked for you and your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the ways that you grew while still cutting costs, saving money, being clever about how you spent on marketing or go to market. So tell me about some of those strategies, 1 or 2 that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe one I would say I felt really gave us a lot of return was the cookery classes that we did. It was quite a lot of effort on our part, but we got so much out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We charged for seats, and I literally did it in our own kitchen, so there was no rent involved, so everything went straight into profit, ingredients don\u2019t really cost very much, and we were ranking at number 1 on Google for Indian cooking lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was pretty much it, I don\u2019t know how I did it, I have to admit, but I built the website, and it ranked us up there, and it was really quite low cost to the company in order to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think we got some really nice wins out of that, and obviously some reviews as well on Google about BANG! Curry and the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the intellectual property we took out of that as well is what people actually wanted out of a product, and what sort of recipes and how much time were they prepared to take with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I was showing them step-by-step, I wasn\u2019t using the kits, and I was showing them from A to Z every single piece that would go into the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was not 1 customer that didn\u2019t go away, take the recipe that I would give them, and cook it from scratch, they all ended up just using the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the end I\u2019d give them a little gift bag with the kits and the recipes, but I don\u2019t know anyone that actually cooked the whole thing from scratch, went out and bought all the different ingredients. And so there was a lot of learning gained from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it helped kickstart, it helped finance things like branding, things like print packaging, all of these things, all to do with cost of goods, which at the beginning that\u2019s all we were paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any marketing, we tried to be very clever about it in terms of guerrilla marketing, digital advertising, which basically I tried to turn my head to and did all that stuff initially myself. I basically worked that bit out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
I wanted to hear more about your experiences studying physics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You said something really interesting there about being the only woman in the college. Being an outlier like that must\u2019ve been quite challenging at times. Was it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did that teach you to be quite resilient as a person, and have you been able to pull those, I suppose, characteristics that you built within the lab, pull them through into your entrepreneurial journey?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nImperial is well known, when I was there, it was well known for being 99% percent male, and I was the only female, definitely in the Blackett Lab, we called it, which is opposite the Royal Albert Hall. It\u2019s a very nice place to study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I didn\u2019t really focus on being the only female. I understood that I had to perform a lot better, or I was being scrutinized because I was female, but the way I coped with it was just to get on with it and let that be a you problem if you like, and I just carried on and just did what I was there to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I focused on that too much, I think it would\u2019ve detracted me from the enjoyment and the reason I was there, because you can\u2019t do a physics PhD for any other reason apart from your love of the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the only thing that will drive you through because it\u2019s tough. There\u2019s not really much financial reward. It\u2019s all about achievement and seeking what you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your belief in your business will carry you through hard times<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then when you did the pivot into becoming a business owner, a recipe maker, you were in your 40s, you\u2019ve mentioned you\u2019d had kids by that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did that feel like a lot of pressure to make it work, because presumably you had financial responsibilities. You\u2019re not a footloose, fancy-free 20-year-old with nothing to lose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And how did that, I guess, influence your journey? Was that pressure actually quite motivating so that you had to be successful?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think you spot on there, actually. Yeah, there was a lot of pressure involved because I\u2019d come from such a high achieving background, I guess, in terms of the other fields I was involved with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I was well aware of the opinions that maybe some people may have had like \u201cWhat on earth is she doing? What\u2019s that got to do with anything scientific or financial or quantitative?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But again, I just carried on because I knew I had something, so that belief obviously carried me through those hard times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was difficult because I didn\u2019t have a wage to rely on, a constant stream, and I couldn\u2019t ring up IT when I needed help. It is all about solving everything yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019re a one-man band for quite some time, and it was difficult, but then the small wins along the way, that\u2019s what keeps you going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use Amazon reviews to boost sales<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about some of those small wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we talked about HelloFresh and how that parachuted you into the big time, well into the small big time. And then what did you do next? How did you build on that momentum to keep growing the brand, winning new customers? What were the next wins on the list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, it was all about getting the name out there, being seen. Micro influencers is what we used quite heavily. Amazon was a big brand awareness winner for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now I mentioned that we started pretty much the whole scaling of our online business through the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we made a good choice by just coming out of retail and concentrating everything online. So we decided to go online, we created our own website, which I clumsily developed in the first days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We fast evolved from there, but it worked, it was fine, and we launched onto Amazon. We actually even launched into Amazon EU before we couldn\u2019t trade in EU anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s what really helped us, and we escalated our sales there mainly through reviews, and making sure our customers came back and reviewed our products, because reviews are everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s the social media that ties in. It\u2019s all one big marketing loop, if you like. It all tells that story, and one piece doesn\u2019t work without the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it was fast learning how all those different channels work together. It\u2019s quite complicated, but once you get your head around it, I think online was where we really started to establish ourselves in the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to get people to leave reviews<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you get people to leave reviews? Because that\u2019s just like the silver bullet, isn\u2019t it? If you can get people to say that they\u2019re happy, people are so happy to tell you when they\u2019re annoyed or when something hasn\u2019t met expectations, but to get them to take the time to say this was great, that\u2019s hard. How did you do that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, we took the effort of having direct contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019d have people that actually did the customer service. We automated the process of asking for reviews in a clever way, but not in an illegal way, because Amazon\u2019s got some quite stringent rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was time-consuming but worth it, because even just the 1 review makes such a big difference on the stats. And we made sure we looked at customer feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So all of those things really impacted the future NPD of our products. So we listened, and I think we need to listen to make sure we continually improve what we are giving. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become resilient to feedback and use it to improve<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you react to feedback? Because in the world of curry, I can imagine you\u2019ve got this spectrum of people when it comes to spice, some say tiny bit is too much and some are like blow my head off. How on earth do you cater to all of those people at once?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, that\u2019s a great question actually, because I think I developed my resilience to it all when I was on the market stall right at the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I\u2019d have people say to me, \u201cOh, it\u2019s too spicy,\u201d and I didn\u2019t understand because spicy isn\u2019t in my vocabulary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was saying, \u201cWhat does that mean? Too spicy?\u201d But it literally means heat, and I wasn\u2019t aware of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I got accustomed to different ways of describing the flavours. And because we have quite a big range that caters for every taste, if you like, I was always able to direct somebody to a different flavour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know what? Every flavour is not for everyone. And I soon learned to not get offended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, it\u2019s very personal to me because I\u2019ve developed them all from scratch, but you can\u2019t make everyone happy. But I\u2019m happy to say that most people are really delighted when they use what we are doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if they\u2019re not, then I really try and dissect how they use the product because there may be something not quite right in how we\u2019re communicating the use of them. So I\u2019m quite stringent about those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make your product versatile<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how do you get people to buy again and again? Because it seems like when you create a kit like this, you want it to be on the rotation, like when you\u2019re doing your meal prep, as you say, maybe every couple of weeks there it is, BANG! Curry on the rotation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how do you stay in people\u2019s minds? Just refresh them, \u201cRemember we\u2019re here, we\u2019re tasty.\u201d How do you do that? How do you get repeat purchases?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo we try to give inspiration. So we want BANG! to be a way of life, not just a product that you use and get bored with. It\u2019s the versatility that we are giving people and the empowerment to do what they want to do with their meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if you\u2019ve got dietary requirements, if you\u2019ve got ingredient preferences, you don\u2019t like meat or you just love vegan-type ingredients, there\u2019s always something for that person, and we want to inspire with lots of different recipes that they can use with just the 1 kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can vary it up, but you know you\u2019ve got your flavour locked in, and I think that\u2019s why people come back. They don\u2019t get bored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ll buy it once and they know they can change it up a bit and it will go down well when they take that effort to put some time into it and make it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIs that through social media? Are you sharing sort of, \u201cHey, look, you can use this kit for an exciting barbecue dish, or have you tried using paneer, or\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you show them another way to use it and how do you keep refreshing that? Is it like TikTok videos? How are you doing it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWe are doing it pretty much through social media. That\u2019s very instant, and sharing recipes. We\u2019ve got recipes on our website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are with Waitrose, they are also starting to showcase some of our recipes. It\u2019s still early days, but on the horizon, we\u2019ve got some lovely recipes that are going to appear in their weekend magazines, and it\u2019s through those platforms that we like to keep on refreshing those recipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And because that\u2019s what it\u2019s about, right? Everyone gets bored with the same old weekday meals or even if someone\u2019s coming round, how do I knock something together quickly and everyone\u2019s happy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We like to solve that problem and make mealtimes exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Competition proves that there is demand in your market<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about what the competitor landscape looks like now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because you were obviously doing something at the beginning of what became quite a big wave of recipe kits and different kinds of kits focusing on different kinds of cuisines, and there\u2019s now quite a lot of curry kits out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you stand out, and has that brought more awareness to the category as a whole? Is that a good thing, or has it sort of stolen some of your customers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe way I see it is that I would rather not be the only product in a category and be carving that out because frankly, we have been carving that category out and it\u2019s hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s difficult when you are having to convince buyer after buyer that you have a consumer group out there that are crying out for this type of product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019m actually really pleased, because it proves our point that there\u2019s a demand for it, and actually, competition\u2019s good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are quite confident, quietly confident with our range and that we can stand up to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you don\u2019t want to waste too much time looking at the competition. You want to just be focusing on the next thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping new product ideas fresh and flowing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about that. How frequently do you bring out new products? Is there a lot of pressure to have this pipeline of NPD constantly going, going?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is the most exciting part. Honestly, it\u2019s just what I live for, NPD and the next thing and coming up with new ideas and making them just come to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the beginning, it literally took 18 months for that first recipe to be perfect. Now, using all of those scientific techniques I talked about, I\u2019ve got a methodology, and that last NPD I put together took me maybe 4 goes. I was so happy, and it was just amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are seeing it in a new professional range. So what we are focusing on now is, we\u2019ve got a new range that has come out, which we launched together with some help with a non-exec director that we employed last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now he comes from a really rich background of food service, and he helped a company called Santa Maria, I don\u2019t know if you know them, but they\u2019re really big in the Mexican spice space now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He helped us as a company to reformulate what we\u2019ve done really well in retail and apply it to the catering industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so we\u2019ve got this bulk range we\u2019ve called BANG! Curry Professional, and that is so exciting. I\u2019ve got some really exciting news I can\u2019t share with you today, but that\u2019s pretty much our next launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that to me is so exciting because that\u2019s feeding literally the masses. We are changing some really big things out there in terms of curry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd are you still the one formulating the recipes? You mentioned they\u2019re the methodology and it taking four goes to get it right, but is it still you sort of there with your hat on, your goggles on, mixing up all the spices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wouldn\u2019t pass that to anyone, because that\u2019s where I find the most joy. No, that\u2019s me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it might not be me in a year\u2019s time, but at the moment, yeah, that\u2019s all down to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019ve got to do what you love. It\u2019s really sad when you interview people, you start businesses and the thing they love doing at the beginning, 5 years on, they\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I can\u2019t do that anymore. I\u2019ve got to delegate that to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s nice to hang on to the bits that you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use paid classes as a way to bootstrap your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou mentioned at the beginning, Shelly, about bootstrapping, and we talk about bootstrapping quite a bit on this show, and I\u2019d love to hear some of the really clever bootstrapping strategies that worked for you and your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the ways that you grew while still cutting costs, saving money, being clever about how you spent on marketing or go to market. So tell me about some of those strategies, 1 or 2 that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe one I would say I felt really gave us a lot of return was the cookery classes that we did. It was quite a lot of effort on our part, but we got so much out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We charged for seats, and I literally did it in our own kitchen, so there was no rent involved, so everything went straight into profit, ingredients don\u2019t really cost very much, and we were ranking at number 1 on Google for Indian cooking lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was pretty much it, I don\u2019t know how I did it, I have to admit, but I built the website, and it ranked us up there, and it was really quite low cost to the company in order to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think we got some really nice wins out of that, and obviously some reviews as well on Google about BANG! Curry and the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the intellectual property we took out of that as well is what people actually wanted out of a product, and what sort of recipes and how much time were they prepared to take with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I was showing them step-by-step, I wasn\u2019t using the kits, and I was showing them from A to Z every single piece that would go into the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was not 1 customer that didn\u2019t go away, take the recipe that I would give them, and cook it from scratch, they all ended up just using the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the end I\u2019d give them a little gift bag with the kits and the recipes, but I don\u2019t know anyone that actually cooked the whole thing from scratch, went out and bought all the different ingredients. And so there was a lot of learning gained from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it helped kickstart, it helped finance things like branding, things like print packaging, all of these things, all to do with cost of goods, which at the beginning that\u2019s all we were paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any marketing, we tried to be very clever about it in terms of guerrilla marketing, digital advertising, which basically I tried to turn my head to and did all that stuff initially myself. I basically worked that bit out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then when you did the pivot into becoming a business owner, a recipe maker, you were in your 40s, you\u2019ve mentioned you\u2019d had kids by that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did that feel like a lot of pressure to make it work, because presumably you had financial responsibilities. You\u2019re not a footloose, fancy-free 20-year-old with nothing to lose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And how did that, I guess, influence your journey? Was that pressure actually quite motivating so that you had to be successful?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI think you spot on there, actually. Yeah, there was a lot of pressure involved because I\u2019d come from such a high achieving background, I guess, in terms of the other fields I was involved with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I was well aware of the opinions that maybe some people may have had like \u201cWhat on earth is she doing? What\u2019s that got to do with anything scientific or financial or quantitative?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But again, I just carried on because I knew I had something, so that belief obviously carried me through those hard times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was difficult because I didn\u2019t have a wage to rely on, a constant stream, and I couldn\u2019t ring up IT when I needed help. It is all about solving everything yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019re a one-man band for quite some time, and it was difficult, but then the small wins along the way, that\u2019s what keeps you going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use Amazon reviews to boost sales<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about some of those small wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we talked about HelloFresh and how that parachuted you into the big time, well into the small big time. And then what did you do next? How did you build on that momentum to keep growing the brand, winning new customers? What were the next wins on the list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, it was all about getting the name out there, being seen. Micro influencers is what we used quite heavily. Amazon was a big brand awareness winner for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now I mentioned that we started pretty much the whole scaling of our online business through the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we made a good choice by just coming out of retail and concentrating everything online. So we decided to go online, we created our own website, which I clumsily developed in the first days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We fast evolved from there, but it worked, it was fine, and we launched onto Amazon. We actually even launched into Amazon EU before we couldn\u2019t trade in EU anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s what really helped us, and we escalated our sales there mainly through reviews, and making sure our customers came back and reviewed our products, because reviews are everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s the social media that ties in. It\u2019s all one big marketing loop, if you like. It all tells that story, and one piece doesn\u2019t work without the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it was fast learning how all those different channels work together. It\u2019s quite complicated, but once you get your head around it, I think online was where we really started to establish ourselves in the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to get people to leave reviews<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you get people to leave reviews? Because that\u2019s just like the silver bullet, isn\u2019t it? If you can get people to say that they\u2019re happy, people are so happy to tell you when they\u2019re annoyed or when something hasn\u2019t met expectations, but to get them to take the time to say this was great, that\u2019s hard. How did you do that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, we took the effort of having direct contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019d have people that actually did the customer service. We automated the process of asking for reviews in a clever way, but not in an illegal way, because Amazon\u2019s got some quite stringent rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was time-consuming but worth it, because even just the 1 review makes such a big difference on the stats. And we made sure we looked at customer feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So all of those things really impacted the future NPD of our products. So we listened, and I think we need to listen to make sure we continually improve what we are giving. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become resilient to feedback and use it to improve<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you react to feedback? Because in the world of curry, I can imagine you\u2019ve got this spectrum of people when it comes to spice, some say tiny bit is too much and some are like blow my head off. How on earth do you cater to all of those people at once?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, that\u2019s a great question actually, because I think I developed my resilience to it all when I was on the market stall right at the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I\u2019d have people say to me, \u201cOh, it\u2019s too spicy,\u201d and I didn\u2019t understand because spicy isn\u2019t in my vocabulary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was saying, \u201cWhat does that mean? Too spicy?\u201d But it literally means heat, and I wasn\u2019t aware of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I got accustomed to different ways of describing the flavours. And because we have quite a big range that caters for every taste, if you like, I was always able to direct somebody to a different flavour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know what? Every flavour is not for everyone. And I soon learned to not get offended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, it\u2019s very personal to me because I\u2019ve developed them all from scratch, but you can\u2019t make everyone happy. But I\u2019m happy to say that most people are really delighted when they use what we are doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if they\u2019re not, then I really try and dissect how they use the product because there may be something not quite right in how we\u2019re communicating the use of them. So I\u2019m quite stringent about those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make your product versatile<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how do you get people to buy again and again? Because it seems like when you create a kit like this, you want it to be on the rotation, like when you\u2019re doing your meal prep, as you say, maybe every couple of weeks there it is, BANG! Curry on the rotation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how do you stay in people\u2019s minds? Just refresh them, \u201cRemember we\u2019re here, we\u2019re tasty.\u201d How do you do that? How do you get repeat purchases?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo we try to give inspiration. So we want BANG! to be a way of life, not just a product that you use and get bored with. It\u2019s the versatility that we are giving people and the empowerment to do what they want to do with their meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if you\u2019ve got dietary requirements, if you\u2019ve got ingredient preferences, you don\u2019t like meat or you just love vegan-type ingredients, there\u2019s always something for that person, and we want to inspire with lots of different recipes that they can use with just the 1 kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can vary it up, but you know you\u2019ve got your flavour locked in, and I think that\u2019s why people come back. They don\u2019t get bored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ll buy it once and they know they can change it up a bit and it will go down well when they take that effort to put some time into it and make it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIs that through social media? Are you sharing sort of, \u201cHey, look, you can use this kit for an exciting barbecue dish, or have you tried using paneer, or\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you show them another way to use it and how do you keep refreshing that? Is it like TikTok videos? How are you doing it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWe are doing it pretty much through social media. That\u2019s very instant, and sharing recipes. We\u2019ve got recipes on our website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are with Waitrose, they are also starting to showcase some of our recipes. It\u2019s still early days, but on the horizon, we\u2019ve got some lovely recipes that are going to appear in their weekend magazines, and it\u2019s through those platforms that we like to keep on refreshing those recipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And because that\u2019s what it\u2019s about, right? Everyone gets bored with the same old weekday meals or even if someone\u2019s coming round, how do I knock something together quickly and everyone\u2019s happy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We like to solve that problem and make mealtimes exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Competition proves that there is demand in your market<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about what the competitor landscape looks like now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because you were obviously doing something at the beginning of what became quite a big wave of recipe kits and different kinds of kits focusing on different kinds of cuisines, and there\u2019s now quite a lot of curry kits out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you stand out, and has that brought more awareness to the category as a whole? Is that a good thing, or has it sort of stolen some of your customers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe way I see it is that I would rather not be the only product in a category and be carving that out because frankly, we have been carving that category out and it\u2019s hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s difficult when you are having to convince buyer after buyer that you have a consumer group out there that are crying out for this type of product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019m actually really pleased, because it proves our point that there\u2019s a demand for it, and actually, competition\u2019s good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are quite confident, quietly confident with our range and that we can stand up to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you don\u2019t want to waste too much time looking at the competition. You want to just be focusing on the next thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping new product ideas fresh and flowing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about that. How frequently do you bring out new products? Is there a lot of pressure to have this pipeline of NPD constantly going, going?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is the most exciting part. Honestly, it\u2019s just what I live for, NPD and the next thing and coming up with new ideas and making them just come to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the beginning, it literally took 18 months for that first recipe to be perfect. Now, using all of those scientific techniques I talked about, I\u2019ve got a methodology, and that last NPD I put together took me maybe 4 goes. I was so happy, and it was just amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are seeing it in a new professional range. So what we are focusing on now is, we\u2019ve got a new range that has come out, which we launched together with some help with a non-exec director that we employed last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now he comes from a really rich background of food service, and he helped a company called Santa Maria, I don\u2019t know if you know them, but they\u2019re really big in the Mexican spice space now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He helped us as a company to reformulate what we\u2019ve done really well in retail and apply it to the catering industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so we\u2019ve got this bulk range we\u2019ve called BANG! Curry Professional, and that is so exciting. I\u2019ve got some really exciting news I can\u2019t share with you today, but that\u2019s pretty much our next launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that to me is so exciting because that\u2019s feeding literally the masses. We are changing some really big things out there in terms of curry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd are you still the one formulating the recipes? You mentioned they\u2019re the methodology and it taking four goes to get it right, but is it still you sort of there with your hat on, your goggles on, mixing up all the spices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wouldn\u2019t pass that to anyone, because that\u2019s where I find the most joy. No, that\u2019s me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it might not be me in a year\u2019s time, but at the moment, yeah, that\u2019s all down to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019ve got to do what you love. It\u2019s really sad when you interview people, you start businesses and the thing they love doing at the beginning, 5 years on, they\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I can\u2019t do that anymore. I\u2019ve got to delegate that to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s nice to hang on to the bits that you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use paid classes as a way to bootstrap your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou mentioned at the beginning, Shelly, about bootstrapping, and we talk about bootstrapping quite a bit on this show, and I\u2019d love to hear some of the really clever bootstrapping strategies that worked for you and your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the ways that you grew while still cutting costs, saving money, being clever about how you spent on marketing or go to market. So tell me about some of those strategies, 1 or 2 that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe one I would say I felt really gave us a lot of return was the cookery classes that we did. It was quite a lot of effort on our part, but we got so much out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We charged for seats, and I literally did it in our own kitchen, so there was no rent involved, so everything went straight into profit, ingredients don\u2019t really cost very much, and we were ranking at number 1 on Google for Indian cooking lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was pretty much it, I don\u2019t know how I did it, I have to admit, but I built the website, and it ranked us up there, and it was really quite low cost to the company in order to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think we got some really nice wins out of that, and obviously some reviews as well on Google about BANG! Curry and the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the intellectual property we took out of that as well is what people actually wanted out of a product, and what sort of recipes and how much time were they prepared to take with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I was showing them step-by-step, I wasn\u2019t using the kits, and I was showing them from A to Z every single piece that would go into the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was not 1 customer that didn\u2019t go away, take the recipe that I would give them, and cook it from scratch, they all ended up just using the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the end I\u2019d give them a little gift bag with the kits and the recipes, but I don\u2019t know anyone that actually cooked the whole thing from scratch, went out and bought all the different ingredients. And so there was a lot of learning gained from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it helped kickstart, it helped finance things like branding, things like print packaging, all of these things, all to do with cost of goods, which at the beginning that\u2019s all we were paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any marketing, we tried to be very clever about it in terms of guerrilla marketing, digital advertising, which basically I tried to turn my head to and did all that stuff initially myself. I basically worked that bit out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
I think you spot on there, actually. Yeah, there was a lot of pressure involved because I\u2019d come from such a high achieving background, I guess, in terms of the other fields I was involved with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I was well aware of the opinions that maybe some people may have had like \u201cWhat on earth is she doing? What\u2019s that got to do with anything scientific or financial or quantitative?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But again, I just carried on because I knew I had something, so that belief obviously carried me through those hard times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it was difficult because I didn\u2019t have a wage to rely on, a constant stream, and I couldn\u2019t ring up IT when I needed help. It is all about solving everything yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019re a one-man band for quite some time, and it was difficult, but then the small wins along the way, that\u2019s what keeps you going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use Amazon reviews to boost sales<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about some of those small wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we talked about HelloFresh and how that parachuted you into the big time, well into the small big time. And then what did you do next? How did you build on that momentum to keep growing the brand, winning new customers? What were the next wins on the list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, it was all about getting the name out there, being seen. Micro influencers is what we used quite heavily. Amazon was a big brand awareness winner for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now I mentioned that we started pretty much the whole scaling of our online business through the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we made a good choice by just coming out of retail and concentrating everything online. So we decided to go online, we created our own website, which I clumsily developed in the first days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We fast evolved from there, but it worked, it was fine, and we launched onto Amazon. We actually even launched into Amazon EU before we couldn\u2019t trade in EU anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s what really helped us, and we escalated our sales there mainly through reviews, and making sure our customers came back and reviewed our products, because reviews are everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s the social media that ties in. It\u2019s all one big marketing loop, if you like. It all tells that story, and one piece doesn\u2019t work without the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it was fast learning how all those different channels work together. It\u2019s quite complicated, but once you get your head around it, I think online was where we really started to establish ourselves in the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to get people to leave reviews<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you get people to leave reviews? Because that\u2019s just like the silver bullet, isn\u2019t it? If you can get people to say that they\u2019re happy, people are so happy to tell you when they\u2019re annoyed or when something hasn\u2019t met expectations, but to get them to take the time to say this was great, that\u2019s hard. How did you do that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, we took the effort of having direct contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019d have people that actually did the customer service. We automated the process of asking for reviews in a clever way, but not in an illegal way, because Amazon\u2019s got some quite stringent rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was time-consuming but worth it, because even just the 1 review makes such a big difference on the stats. And we made sure we looked at customer feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So all of those things really impacted the future NPD of our products. So we listened, and I think we need to listen to make sure we continually improve what we are giving. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become resilient to feedback and use it to improve<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you react to feedback? Because in the world of curry, I can imagine you\u2019ve got this spectrum of people when it comes to spice, some say tiny bit is too much and some are like blow my head off. How on earth do you cater to all of those people at once?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, that\u2019s a great question actually, because I think I developed my resilience to it all when I was on the market stall right at the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I\u2019d have people say to me, \u201cOh, it\u2019s too spicy,\u201d and I didn\u2019t understand because spicy isn\u2019t in my vocabulary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was saying, \u201cWhat does that mean? Too spicy?\u201d But it literally means heat, and I wasn\u2019t aware of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I got accustomed to different ways of describing the flavours. And because we have quite a big range that caters for every taste, if you like, I was always able to direct somebody to a different flavour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know what? Every flavour is not for everyone. And I soon learned to not get offended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, it\u2019s very personal to me because I\u2019ve developed them all from scratch, but you can\u2019t make everyone happy. But I\u2019m happy to say that most people are really delighted when they use what we are doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if they\u2019re not, then I really try and dissect how they use the product because there may be something not quite right in how we\u2019re communicating the use of them. So I\u2019m quite stringent about those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make your product versatile<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how do you get people to buy again and again? Because it seems like when you create a kit like this, you want it to be on the rotation, like when you\u2019re doing your meal prep, as you say, maybe every couple of weeks there it is, BANG! Curry on the rotation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how do you stay in people\u2019s minds? Just refresh them, \u201cRemember we\u2019re here, we\u2019re tasty.\u201d How do you do that? How do you get repeat purchases?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo we try to give inspiration. So we want BANG! to be a way of life, not just a product that you use and get bored with. It\u2019s the versatility that we are giving people and the empowerment to do what they want to do with their meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if you\u2019ve got dietary requirements, if you\u2019ve got ingredient preferences, you don\u2019t like meat or you just love vegan-type ingredients, there\u2019s always something for that person, and we want to inspire with lots of different recipes that they can use with just the 1 kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can vary it up, but you know you\u2019ve got your flavour locked in, and I think that\u2019s why people come back. They don\u2019t get bored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ll buy it once and they know they can change it up a bit and it will go down well when they take that effort to put some time into it and make it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIs that through social media? Are you sharing sort of, \u201cHey, look, you can use this kit for an exciting barbecue dish, or have you tried using paneer, or\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you show them another way to use it and how do you keep refreshing that? Is it like TikTok videos? How are you doing it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWe are doing it pretty much through social media. That\u2019s very instant, and sharing recipes. We\u2019ve got recipes on our website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are with Waitrose, they are also starting to showcase some of our recipes. It\u2019s still early days, but on the horizon, we\u2019ve got some lovely recipes that are going to appear in their weekend magazines, and it\u2019s through those platforms that we like to keep on refreshing those recipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And because that\u2019s what it\u2019s about, right? Everyone gets bored with the same old weekday meals or even if someone\u2019s coming round, how do I knock something together quickly and everyone\u2019s happy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We like to solve that problem and make mealtimes exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Competition proves that there is demand in your market<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about what the competitor landscape looks like now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because you were obviously doing something at the beginning of what became quite a big wave of recipe kits and different kinds of kits focusing on different kinds of cuisines, and there\u2019s now quite a lot of curry kits out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you stand out, and has that brought more awareness to the category as a whole? Is that a good thing, or has it sort of stolen some of your customers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe way I see it is that I would rather not be the only product in a category and be carving that out because frankly, we have been carving that category out and it\u2019s hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s difficult when you are having to convince buyer after buyer that you have a consumer group out there that are crying out for this type of product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019m actually really pleased, because it proves our point that there\u2019s a demand for it, and actually, competition\u2019s good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are quite confident, quietly confident with our range and that we can stand up to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you don\u2019t want to waste too much time looking at the competition. You want to just be focusing on the next thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping new product ideas fresh and flowing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about that. How frequently do you bring out new products? Is there a lot of pressure to have this pipeline of NPD constantly going, going?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is the most exciting part. Honestly, it\u2019s just what I live for, NPD and the next thing and coming up with new ideas and making them just come to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the beginning, it literally took 18 months for that first recipe to be perfect. Now, using all of those scientific techniques I talked about, I\u2019ve got a methodology, and that last NPD I put together took me maybe 4 goes. I was so happy, and it was just amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are seeing it in a new professional range. So what we are focusing on now is, we\u2019ve got a new range that has come out, which we launched together with some help with a non-exec director that we employed last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now he comes from a really rich background of food service, and he helped a company called Santa Maria, I don\u2019t know if you know them, but they\u2019re really big in the Mexican spice space now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He helped us as a company to reformulate what we\u2019ve done really well in retail and apply it to the catering industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so we\u2019ve got this bulk range we\u2019ve called BANG! Curry Professional, and that is so exciting. I\u2019ve got some really exciting news I can\u2019t share with you today, but that\u2019s pretty much our next launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that to me is so exciting because that\u2019s feeding literally the masses. We are changing some really big things out there in terms of curry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd are you still the one formulating the recipes? You mentioned they\u2019re the methodology and it taking four goes to get it right, but is it still you sort of there with your hat on, your goggles on, mixing up all the spices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wouldn\u2019t pass that to anyone, because that\u2019s where I find the most joy. No, that\u2019s me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it might not be me in a year\u2019s time, but at the moment, yeah, that\u2019s all down to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019ve got to do what you love. It\u2019s really sad when you interview people, you start businesses and the thing they love doing at the beginning, 5 years on, they\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I can\u2019t do that anymore. I\u2019ve got to delegate that to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s nice to hang on to the bits that you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use paid classes as a way to bootstrap your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou mentioned at the beginning, Shelly, about bootstrapping, and we talk about bootstrapping quite a bit on this show, and I\u2019d love to hear some of the really clever bootstrapping strategies that worked for you and your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the ways that you grew while still cutting costs, saving money, being clever about how you spent on marketing or go to market. So tell me about some of those strategies, 1 or 2 that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe one I would say I felt really gave us a lot of return was the cookery classes that we did. It was quite a lot of effort on our part, but we got so much out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We charged for seats, and I literally did it in our own kitchen, so there was no rent involved, so everything went straight into profit, ingredients don\u2019t really cost very much, and we were ranking at number 1 on Google for Indian cooking lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was pretty much it, I don\u2019t know how I did it, I have to admit, but I built the website, and it ranked us up there, and it was really quite low cost to the company in order to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think we got some really nice wins out of that, and obviously some reviews as well on Google about BANG! Curry and the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the intellectual property we took out of that as well is what people actually wanted out of a product, and what sort of recipes and how much time were they prepared to take with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I was showing them step-by-step, I wasn\u2019t using the kits, and I was showing them from A to Z every single piece that would go into the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was not 1 customer that didn\u2019t go away, take the recipe that I would give them, and cook it from scratch, they all ended up just using the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the end I\u2019d give them a little gift bag with the kits and the recipes, but I don\u2019t know anyone that actually cooked the whole thing from scratch, went out and bought all the different ingredients. And so there was a lot of learning gained from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it helped kickstart, it helped finance things like branding, things like print packaging, all of these things, all to do with cost of goods, which at the beginning that\u2019s all we were paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any marketing, we tried to be very clever about it in terms of guerrilla marketing, digital advertising, which basically I tried to turn my head to and did all that stuff initially myself. I basically worked that bit out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
And tell me about some of those small wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we talked about HelloFresh and how that parachuted you into the big time, well into the small big time. And then what did you do next? How did you build on that momentum to keep growing the brand, winning new customers? What were the next wins on the list?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, it was all about getting the name out there, being seen. Micro influencers is what we used quite heavily. Amazon was a big brand awareness winner for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now I mentioned that we started pretty much the whole scaling of our online business through the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we made a good choice by just coming out of retail and concentrating everything online. So we decided to go online, we created our own website, which I clumsily developed in the first days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We fast evolved from there, but it worked, it was fine, and we launched onto Amazon. We actually even launched into Amazon EU before we couldn\u2019t trade in EU anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that\u2019s what really helped us, and we escalated our sales there mainly through reviews, and making sure our customers came back and reviewed our products, because reviews are everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s the social media that ties in. It\u2019s all one big marketing loop, if you like. It all tells that story, and one piece doesn\u2019t work without the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it was fast learning how all those different channels work together. It\u2019s quite complicated, but once you get your head around it, I think online was where we really started to establish ourselves in the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to get people to leave reviews<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you get people to leave reviews? Because that\u2019s just like the silver bullet, isn\u2019t it? If you can get people to say that they\u2019re happy, people are so happy to tell you when they\u2019re annoyed or when something hasn\u2019t met expectations, but to get them to take the time to say this was great, that\u2019s hard. How did you do that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, we took the effort of having direct contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019d have people that actually did the customer service. We automated the process of asking for reviews in a clever way, but not in an illegal way, because Amazon\u2019s got some quite stringent rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was time-consuming but worth it, because even just the 1 review makes such a big difference on the stats. And we made sure we looked at customer feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So all of those things really impacted the future NPD of our products. So we listened, and I think we need to listen to make sure we continually improve what we are giving. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become resilient to feedback and use it to improve<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you react to feedback? Because in the world of curry, I can imagine you\u2019ve got this spectrum of people when it comes to spice, some say tiny bit is too much and some are like blow my head off. How on earth do you cater to all of those people at once?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, that\u2019s a great question actually, because I think I developed my resilience to it all when I was on the market stall right at the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I\u2019d have people say to me, \u201cOh, it\u2019s too spicy,\u201d and I didn\u2019t understand because spicy isn\u2019t in my vocabulary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was saying, \u201cWhat does that mean? Too spicy?\u201d But it literally means heat, and I wasn\u2019t aware of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I got accustomed to different ways of describing the flavours. And because we have quite a big range that caters for every taste, if you like, I was always able to direct somebody to a different flavour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know what? Every flavour is not for everyone. And I soon learned to not get offended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, it\u2019s very personal to me because I\u2019ve developed them all from scratch, but you can\u2019t make everyone happy. But I\u2019m happy to say that most people are really delighted when they use what we are doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if they\u2019re not, then I really try and dissect how they use the product because there may be something not quite right in how we\u2019re communicating the use of them. So I\u2019m quite stringent about those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make your product versatile<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how do you get people to buy again and again? Because it seems like when you create a kit like this, you want it to be on the rotation, like when you\u2019re doing your meal prep, as you say, maybe every couple of weeks there it is, BANG! Curry on the rotation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how do you stay in people\u2019s minds? Just refresh them, \u201cRemember we\u2019re here, we\u2019re tasty.\u201d How do you do that? How do you get repeat purchases?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo we try to give inspiration. So we want BANG! to be a way of life, not just a product that you use and get bored with. It\u2019s the versatility that we are giving people and the empowerment to do what they want to do with their meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if you\u2019ve got dietary requirements, if you\u2019ve got ingredient preferences, you don\u2019t like meat or you just love vegan-type ingredients, there\u2019s always something for that person, and we want to inspire with lots of different recipes that they can use with just the 1 kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can vary it up, but you know you\u2019ve got your flavour locked in, and I think that\u2019s why people come back. They don\u2019t get bored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ll buy it once and they know they can change it up a bit and it will go down well when they take that effort to put some time into it and make it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIs that through social media? Are you sharing sort of, \u201cHey, look, you can use this kit for an exciting barbecue dish, or have you tried using paneer, or\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you show them another way to use it and how do you keep refreshing that? Is it like TikTok videos? How are you doing it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWe are doing it pretty much through social media. That\u2019s very instant, and sharing recipes. We\u2019ve got recipes on our website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are with Waitrose, they are also starting to showcase some of our recipes. It\u2019s still early days, but on the horizon, we\u2019ve got some lovely recipes that are going to appear in their weekend magazines, and it\u2019s through those platforms that we like to keep on refreshing those recipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And because that\u2019s what it\u2019s about, right? Everyone gets bored with the same old weekday meals or even if someone\u2019s coming round, how do I knock something together quickly and everyone\u2019s happy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We like to solve that problem and make mealtimes exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Competition proves that there is demand in your market<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about what the competitor landscape looks like now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because you were obviously doing something at the beginning of what became quite a big wave of recipe kits and different kinds of kits focusing on different kinds of cuisines, and there\u2019s now quite a lot of curry kits out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you stand out, and has that brought more awareness to the category as a whole? Is that a good thing, or has it sort of stolen some of your customers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe way I see it is that I would rather not be the only product in a category and be carving that out because frankly, we have been carving that category out and it\u2019s hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s difficult when you are having to convince buyer after buyer that you have a consumer group out there that are crying out for this type of product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019m actually really pleased, because it proves our point that there\u2019s a demand for it, and actually, competition\u2019s good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are quite confident, quietly confident with our range and that we can stand up to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you don\u2019t want to waste too much time looking at the competition. You want to just be focusing on the next thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping new product ideas fresh and flowing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about that. How frequently do you bring out new products? Is there a lot of pressure to have this pipeline of NPD constantly going, going?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is the most exciting part. Honestly, it\u2019s just what I live for, NPD and the next thing and coming up with new ideas and making them just come to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the beginning, it literally took 18 months for that first recipe to be perfect. Now, using all of those scientific techniques I talked about, I\u2019ve got a methodology, and that last NPD I put together took me maybe 4 goes. I was so happy, and it was just amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are seeing it in a new professional range. So what we are focusing on now is, we\u2019ve got a new range that has come out, which we launched together with some help with a non-exec director that we employed last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now he comes from a really rich background of food service, and he helped a company called Santa Maria, I don\u2019t know if you know them, but they\u2019re really big in the Mexican spice space now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He helped us as a company to reformulate what we\u2019ve done really well in retail and apply it to the catering industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so we\u2019ve got this bulk range we\u2019ve called BANG! Curry Professional, and that is so exciting. I\u2019ve got some really exciting news I can\u2019t share with you today, but that\u2019s pretty much our next launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that to me is so exciting because that\u2019s feeding literally the masses. We are changing some really big things out there in terms of curry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd are you still the one formulating the recipes? You mentioned they\u2019re the methodology and it taking four goes to get it right, but is it still you sort of there with your hat on, your goggles on, mixing up all the spices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wouldn\u2019t pass that to anyone, because that\u2019s where I find the most joy. No, that\u2019s me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it might not be me in a year\u2019s time, but at the moment, yeah, that\u2019s all down to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019ve got to do what you love. It\u2019s really sad when you interview people, you start businesses and the thing they love doing at the beginning, 5 years on, they\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I can\u2019t do that anymore. I\u2019ve got to delegate that to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s nice to hang on to the bits that you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use paid classes as a way to bootstrap your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou mentioned at the beginning, Shelly, about bootstrapping, and we talk about bootstrapping quite a bit on this show, and I\u2019d love to hear some of the really clever bootstrapping strategies that worked for you and your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the ways that you grew while still cutting costs, saving money, being clever about how you spent on marketing or go to market. So tell me about some of those strategies, 1 or 2 that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe one I would say I felt really gave us a lot of return was the cookery classes that we did. It was quite a lot of effort on our part, but we got so much out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We charged for seats, and I literally did it in our own kitchen, so there was no rent involved, so everything went straight into profit, ingredients don\u2019t really cost very much, and we were ranking at number 1 on Google for Indian cooking lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was pretty much it, I don\u2019t know how I did it, I have to admit, but I built the website, and it ranked us up there, and it was really quite low cost to the company in order to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think we got some really nice wins out of that, and obviously some reviews as well on Google about BANG! Curry and the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the intellectual property we took out of that as well is what people actually wanted out of a product, and what sort of recipes and how much time were they prepared to take with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I was showing them step-by-step, I wasn\u2019t using the kits, and I was showing them from A to Z every single piece that would go into the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was not 1 customer that didn\u2019t go away, take the recipe that I would give them, and cook it from scratch, they all ended up just using the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the end I\u2019d give them a little gift bag with the kits and the recipes, but I don\u2019t know anyone that actually cooked the whole thing from scratch, went out and bought all the different ingredients. And so there was a lot of learning gained from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it helped kickstart, it helped finance things like branding, things like print packaging, all of these things, all to do with cost of goods, which at the beginning that\u2019s all we were paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any marketing, we tried to be very clever about it in terms of guerrilla marketing, digital advertising, which basically I tried to turn my head to and did all that stuff initially myself. I basically worked that bit out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you get people to leave reviews? Because that\u2019s just like the silver bullet, isn\u2019t it? If you can get people to say that they\u2019re happy, people are so happy to tell you when they\u2019re annoyed or when something hasn\u2019t met expectations, but to get them to take the time to say this was great, that\u2019s hard. How did you do that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWell, we took the effort of having direct contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019d have people that actually did the customer service. We automated the process of asking for reviews in a clever way, but not in an illegal way, because Amazon\u2019s got some quite stringent rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was time-consuming but worth it, because even just the 1 review makes such a big difference on the stats. And we made sure we looked at customer feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So all of those things really impacted the future NPD of our products. So we listened, and I think we need to listen to make sure we continually improve what we are giving. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become resilient to feedback and use it to improve<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you react to feedback? Because in the world of curry, I can imagine you\u2019ve got this spectrum of people when it comes to spice, some say tiny bit is too much and some are like blow my head off. How on earth do you cater to all of those people at once?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, that\u2019s a great question actually, because I think I developed my resilience to it all when I was on the market stall right at the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I\u2019d have people say to me, \u201cOh, it\u2019s too spicy,\u201d and I didn\u2019t understand because spicy isn\u2019t in my vocabulary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was saying, \u201cWhat does that mean? Too spicy?\u201d But it literally means heat, and I wasn\u2019t aware of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I got accustomed to different ways of describing the flavours. And because we have quite a big range that caters for every taste, if you like, I was always able to direct somebody to a different flavour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know what? Every flavour is not for everyone. And I soon learned to not get offended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, it\u2019s very personal to me because I\u2019ve developed them all from scratch, but you can\u2019t make everyone happy. But I\u2019m happy to say that most people are really delighted when they use what we are doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if they\u2019re not, then I really try and dissect how they use the product because there may be something not quite right in how we\u2019re communicating the use of them. So I\u2019m quite stringent about those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make your product versatile<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how do you get people to buy again and again? Because it seems like when you create a kit like this, you want it to be on the rotation, like when you\u2019re doing your meal prep, as you say, maybe every couple of weeks there it is, BANG! Curry on the rotation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how do you stay in people\u2019s minds? Just refresh them, \u201cRemember we\u2019re here, we\u2019re tasty.\u201d How do you do that? How do you get repeat purchases?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo we try to give inspiration. So we want BANG! to be a way of life, not just a product that you use and get bored with. It\u2019s the versatility that we are giving people and the empowerment to do what they want to do with their meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if you\u2019ve got dietary requirements, if you\u2019ve got ingredient preferences, you don\u2019t like meat or you just love vegan-type ingredients, there\u2019s always something for that person, and we want to inspire with lots of different recipes that they can use with just the 1 kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can vary it up, but you know you\u2019ve got your flavour locked in, and I think that\u2019s why people come back. They don\u2019t get bored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ll buy it once and they know they can change it up a bit and it will go down well when they take that effort to put some time into it and make it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIs that through social media? Are you sharing sort of, \u201cHey, look, you can use this kit for an exciting barbecue dish, or have you tried using paneer, or\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you show them another way to use it and how do you keep refreshing that? Is it like TikTok videos? How are you doing it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWe are doing it pretty much through social media. That\u2019s very instant, and sharing recipes. We\u2019ve got recipes on our website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are with Waitrose, they are also starting to showcase some of our recipes. It\u2019s still early days, but on the horizon, we\u2019ve got some lovely recipes that are going to appear in their weekend magazines, and it\u2019s through those platforms that we like to keep on refreshing those recipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And because that\u2019s what it\u2019s about, right? Everyone gets bored with the same old weekday meals or even if someone\u2019s coming round, how do I knock something together quickly and everyone\u2019s happy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We like to solve that problem and make mealtimes exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Competition proves that there is demand in your market<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about what the competitor landscape looks like now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because you were obviously doing something at the beginning of what became quite a big wave of recipe kits and different kinds of kits focusing on different kinds of cuisines, and there\u2019s now quite a lot of curry kits out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you stand out, and has that brought more awareness to the category as a whole? Is that a good thing, or has it sort of stolen some of your customers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe way I see it is that I would rather not be the only product in a category and be carving that out because frankly, we have been carving that category out and it\u2019s hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s difficult when you are having to convince buyer after buyer that you have a consumer group out there that are crying out for this type of product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019m actually really pleased, because it proves our point that there\u2019s a demand for it, and actually, competition\u2019s good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are quite confident, quietly confident with our range and that we can stand up to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you don\u2019t want to waste too much time looking at the competition. You want to just be focusing on the next thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping new product ideas fresh and flowing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about that. How frequently do you bring out new products? Is there a lot of pressure to have this pipeline of NPD constantly going, going?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is the most exciting part. Honestly, it\u2019s just what I live for, NPD and the next thing and coming up with new ideas and making them just come to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the beginning, it literally took 18 months for that first recipe to be perfect. Now, using all of those scientific techniques I talked about, I\u2019ve got a methodology, and that last NPD I put together took me maybe 4 goes. I was so happy, and it was just amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are seeing it in a new professional range. So what we are focusing on now is, we\u2019ve got a new range that has come out, which we launched together with some help with a non-exec director that we employed last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now he comes from a really rich background of food service, and he helped a company called Santa Maria, I don\u2019t know if you know them, but they\u2019re really big in the Mexican spice space now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He helped us as a company to reformulate what we\u2019ve done really well in retail and apply it to the catering industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so we\u2019ve got this bulk range we\u2019ve called BANG! Curry Professional, and that is so exciting. I\u2019ve got some really exciting news I can\u2019t share with you today, but that\u2019s pretty much our next launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that to me is so exciting because that\u2019s feeding literally the masses. We are changing some really big things out there in terms of curry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd are you still the one formulating the recipes? You mentioned they\u2019re the methodology and it taking four goes to get it right, but is it still you sort of there with your hat on, your goggles on, mixing up all the spices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wouldn\u2019t pass that to anyone, because that\u2019s where I find the most joy. No, that\u2019s me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it might not be me in a year\u2019s time, but at the moment, yeah, that\u2019s all down to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019ve got to do what you love. It\u2019s really sad when you interview people, you start businesses and the thing they love doing at the beginning, 5 years on, they\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I can\u2019t do that anymore. I\u2019ve got to delegate that to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s nice to hang on to the bits that you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use paid classes as a way to bootstrap your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou mentioned at the beginning, Shelly, about bootstrapping, and we talk about bootstrapping quite a bit on this show, and I\u2019d love to hear some of the really clever bootstrapping strategies that worked for you and your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the ways that you grew while still cutting costs, saving money, being clever about how you spent on marketing or go to market. So tell me about some of those strategies, 1 or 2 that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe one I would say I felt really gave us a lot of return was the cookery classes that we did. It was quite a lot of effort on our part, but we got so much out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We charged for seats, and I literally did it in our own kitchen, so there was no rent involved, so everything went straight into profit, ingredients don\u2019t really cost very much, and we were ranking at number 1 on Google for Indian cooking lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was pretty much it, I don\u2019t know how I did it, I have to admit, but I built the website, and it ranked us up there, and it was really quite low cost to the company in order to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think we got some really nice wins out of that, and obviously some reviews as well on Google about BANG! Curry and the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the intellectual property we took out of that as well is what people actually wanted out of a product, and what sort of recipes and how much time were they prepared to take with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I was showing them step-by-step, I wasn\u2019t using the kits, and I was showing them from A to Z every single piece that would go into the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was not 1 customer that didn\u2019t go away, take the recipe that I would give them, and cook it from scratch, they all ended up just using the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the end I\u2019d give them a little gift bag with the kits and the recipes, but I don\u2019t know anyone that actually cooked the whole thing from scratch, went out and bought all the different ingredients. And so there was a lot of learning gained from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it helped kickstart, it helped finance things like branding, things like print packaging, all of these things, all to do with cost of goods, which at the beginning that\u2019s all we were paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any marketing, we tried to be very clever about it in terms of guerrilla marketing, digital advertising, which basically I tried to turn my head to and did all that stuff initially myself. I basically worked that bit out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Well, we took the effort of having direct contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019d have people that actually did the customer service. We automated the process of asking for reviews in a clever way, but not in an illegal way, because Amazon\u2019s got some quite stringent rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was time-consuming but worth it, because even just the 1 review makes such a big difference on the stats. And we made sure we looked at customer feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So all of those things really impacted the future NPD of our products. So we listened, and I think we need to listen to make sure we continually improve what we are giving. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Become resilient to feedback and use it to improve<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nAnd how did you react to feedback? Because in the world of curry, I can imagine you\u2019ve got this spectrum of people when it comes to spice, some say tiny bit is too much and some are like blow my head off. How on earth do you cater to all of those people at once?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, that\u2019s a great question actually, because I think I developed my resilience to it all when I was on the market stall right at the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I\u2019d have people say to me, \u201cOh, it\u2019s too spicy,\u201d and I didn\u2019t understand because spicy isn\u2019t in my vocabulary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was saying, \u201cWhat does that mean? Too spicy?\u201d But it literally means heat, and I wasn\u2019t aware of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I got accustomed to different ways of describing the flavours. And because we have quite a big range that caters for every taste, if you like, I was always able to direct somebody to a different flavour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know what? Every flavour is not for everyone. And I soon learned to not get offended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, it\u2019s very personal to me because I\u2019ve developed them all from scratch, but you can\u2019t make everyone happy. But I\u2019m happy to say that most people are really delighted when they use what we are doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if they\u2019re not, then I really try and dissect how they use the product because there may be something not quite right in how we\u2019re communicating the use of them. So I\u2019m quite stringent about those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make your product versatile<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how do you get people to buy again and again? Because it seems like when you create a kit like this, you want it to be on the rotation, like when you\u2019re doing your meal prep, as you say, maybe every couple of weeks there it is, BANG! Curry on the rotation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how do you stay in people\u2019s minds? Just refresh them, \u201cRemember we\u2019re here, we\u2019re tasty.\u201d How do you do that? How do you get repeat purchases?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo we try to give inspiration. So we want BANG! to be a way of life, not just a product that you use and get bored with. It\u2019s the versatility that we are giving people and the empowerment to do what they want to do with their meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if you\u2019ve got dietary requirements, if you\u2019ve got ingredient preferences, you don\u2019t like meat or you just love vegan-type ingredients, there\u2019s always something for that person, and we want to inspire with lots of different recipes that they can use with just the 1 kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can vary it up, but you know you\u2019ve got your flavour locked in, and I think that\u2019s why people come back. They don\u2019t get bored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ll buy it once and they know they can change it up a bit and it will go down well when they take that effort to put some time into it and make it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIs that through social media? Are you sharing sort of, \u201cHey, look, you can use this kit for an exciting barbecue dish, or have you tried using paneer, or\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you show them another way to use it and how do you keep refreshing that? Is it like TikTok videos? How are you doing it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWe are doing it pretty much through social media. That\u2019s very instant, and sharing recipes. We\u2019ve got recipes on our website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are with Waitrose, they are also starting to showcase some of our recipes. It\u2019s still early days, but on the horizon, we\u2019ve got some lovely recipes that are going to appear in their weekend magazines, and it\u2019s through those platforms that we like to keep on refreshing those recipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And because that\u2019s what it\u2019s about, right? Everyone gets bored with the same old weekday meals or even if someone\u2019s coming round, how do I knock something together quickly and everyone\u2019s happy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We like to solve that problem and make mealtimes exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Competition proves that there is demand in your market<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about what the competitor landscape looks like now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because you were obviously doing something at the beginning of what became quite a big wave of recipe kits and different kinds of kits focusing on different kinds of cuisines, and there\u2019s now quite a lot of curry kits out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you stand out, and has that brought more awareness to the category as a whole? Is that a good thing, or has it sort of stolen some of your customers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe way I see it is that I would rather not be the only product in a category and be carving that out because frankly, we have been carving that category out and it\u2019s hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s difficult when you are having to convince buyer after buyer that you have a consumer group out there that are crying out for this type of product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019m actually really pleased, because it proves our point that there\u2019s a demand for it, and actually, competition\u2019s good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are quite confident, quietly confident with our range and that we can stand up to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you don\u2019t want to waste too much time looking at the competition. You want to just be focusing on the next thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping new product ideas fresh and flowing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about that. How frequently do you bring out new products? Is there a lot of pressure to have this pipeline of NPD constantly going, going?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is the most exciting part. Honestly, it\u2019s just what I live for, NPD and the next thing and coming up with new ideas and making them just come to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the beginning, it literally took 18 months for that first recipe to be perfect. Now, using all of those scientific techniques I talked about, I\u2019ve got a methodology, and that last NPD I put together took me maybe 4 goes. I was so happy, and it was just amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are seeing it in a new professional range. So what we are focusing on now is, we\u2019ve got a new range that has come out, which we launched together with some help with a non-exec director that we employed last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now he comes from a really rich background of food service, and he helped a company called Santa Maria, I don\u2019t know if you know them, but they\u2019re really big in the Mexican spice space now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He helped us as a company to reformulate what we\u2019ve done really well in retail and apply it to the catering industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so we\u2019ve got this bulk range we\u2019ve called BANG! Curry Professional, and that is so exciting. I\u2019ve got some really exciting news I can\u2019t share with you today, but that\u2019s pretty much our next launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that to me is so exciting because that\u2019s feeding literally the masses. We are changing some really big things out there in terms of curry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd are you still the one formulating the recipes? You mentioned they\u2019re the methodology and it taking four goes to get it right, but is it still you sort of there with your hat on, your goggles on, mixing up all the spices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wouldn\u2019t pass that to anyone, because that\u2019s where I find the most joy. No, that\u2019s me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it might not be me in a year\u2019s time, but at the moment, yeah, that\u2019s all down to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019ve got to do what you love. It\u2019s really sad when you interview people, you start businesses and the thing they love doing at the beginning, 5 years on, they\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I can\u2019t do that anymore. I\u2019ve got to delegate that to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s nice to hang on to the bits that you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use paid classes as a way to bootstrap your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou mentioned at the beginning, Shelly, about bootstrapping, and we talk about bootstrapping quite a bit on this show, and I\u2019d love to hear some of the really clever bootstrapping strategies that worked for you and your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the ways that you grew while still cutting costs, saving money, being clever about how you spent on marketing or go to market. So tell me about some of those strategies, 1 or 2 that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe one I would say I felt really gave us a lot of return was the cookery classes that we did. It was quite a lot of effort on our part, but we got so much out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We charged for seats, and I literally did it in our own kitchen, so there was no rent involved, so everything went straight into profit, ingredients don\u2019t really cost very much, and we were ranking at number 1 on Google for Indian cooking lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was pretty much it, I don\u2019t know how I did it, I have to admit, but I built the website, and it ranked us up there, and it was really quite low cost to the company in order to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think we got some really nice wins out of that, and obviously some reviews as well on Google about BANG! Curry and the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the intellectual property we took out of that as well is what people actually wanted out of a product, and what sort of recipes and how much time were they prepared to take with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I was showing them step-by-step, I wasn\u2019t using the kits, and I was showing them from A to Z every single piece that would go into the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was not 1 customer that didn\u2019t go away, take the recipe that I would give them, and cook it from scratch, they all ended up just using the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the end I\u2019d give them a little gift bag with the kits and the recipes, but I don\u2019t know anyone that actually cooked the whole thing from scratch, went out and bought all the different ingredients. And so there was a lot of learning gained from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it helped kickstart, it helped finance things like branding, things like print packaging, all of these things, all to do with cost of goods, which at the beginning that\u2019s all we were paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any marketing, we tried to be very clever about it in terms of guerrilla marketing, digital advertising, which basically I tried to turn my head to and did all that stuff initially myself. I basically worked that bit out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
And how did you react to feedback? Because in the world of curry, I can imagine you\u2019ve got this spectrum of people when it comes to spice, some say tiny bit is too much and some are like blow my head off. How on earth do you cater to all of those people at once?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou know what, that\u2019s a great question actually, because I think I developed my resilience to it all when I was on the market stall right at the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I\u2019d have people say to me, \u201cOh, it\u2019s too spicy,\u201d and I didn\u2019t understand because spicy isn\u2019t in my vocabulary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was saying, \u201cWhat does that mean? Too spicy?\u201d But it literally means heat, and I wasn\u2019t aware of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I got accustomed to different ways of describing the flavours. And because we have quite a big range that caters for every taste, if you like, I was always able to direct somebody to a different flavour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you know what? Every flavour is not for everyone. And I soon learned to not get offended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, it\u2019s very personal to me because I\u2019ve developed them all from scratch, but you can\u2019t make everyone happy. But I\u2019m happy to say that most people are really delighted when they use what we are doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if they\u2019re not, then I really try and dissect how they use the product because there may be something not quite right in how we\u2019re communicating the use of them. So I\u2019m quite stringent about those things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make your product versatile<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how do you get people to buy again and again? Because it seems like when you create a kit like this, you want it to be on the rotation, like when you\u2019re doing your meal prep, as you say, maybe every couple of weeks there it is, BANG! Curry on the rotation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how do you stay in people\u2019s minds? Just refresh them, \u201cRemember we\u2019re here, we\u2019re tasty.\u201d How do you do that? How do you get repeat purchases?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo we try to give inspiration. So we want BANG! to be a way of life, not just a product that you use and get bored with. It\u2019s the versatility that we are giving people and the empowerment to do what they want to do with their meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if you\u2019ve got dietary requirements, if you\u2019ve got ingredient preferences, you don\u2019t like meat or you just love vegan-type ingredients, there\u2019s always something for that person, and we want to inspire with lots of different recipes that they can use with just the 1 kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can vary it up, but you know you\u2019ve got your flavour locked in, and I think that\u2019s why people come back. They don\u2019t get bored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ll buy it once and they know they can change it up a bit and it will go down well when they take that effort to put some time into it and make it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIs that through social media? Are you sharing sort of, \u201cHey, look, you can use this kit for an exciting barbecue dish, or have you tried using paneer, or\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you show them another way to use it and how do you keep refreshing that? Is it like TikTok videos? How are you doing it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWe are doing it pretty much through social media. That\u2019s very instant, and sharing recipes. We\u2019ve got recipes on our website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are with Waitrose, they are also starting to showcase some of our recipes. It\u2019s still early days, but on the horizon, we\u2019ve got some lovely recipes that are going to appear in their weekend magazines, and it\u2019s through those platforms that we like to keep on refreshing those recipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And because that\u2019s what it\u2019s about, right? Everyone gets bored with the same old weekday meals or even if someone\u2019s coming round, how do I knock something together quickly and everyone\u2019s happy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We like to solve that problem and make mealtimes exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Competition proves that there is demand in your market<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about what the competitor landscape looks like now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because you were obviously doing something at the beginning of what became quite a big wave of recipe kits and different kinds of kits focusing on different kinds of cuisines, and there\u2019s now quite a lot of curry kits out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you stand out, and has that brought more awareness to the category as a whole? Is that a good thing, or has it sort of stolen some of your customers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe way I see it is that I would rather not be the only product in a category and be carving that out because frankly, we have been carving that category out and it\u2019s hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s difficult when you are having to convince buyer after buyer that you have a consumer group out there that are crying out for this type of product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019m actually really pleased, because it proves our point that there\u2019s a demand for it, and actually, competition\u2019s good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are quite confident, quietly confident with our range and that we can stand up to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you don\u2019t want to waste too much time looking at the competition. You want to just be focusing on the next thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping new product ideas fresh and flowing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about that. How frequently do you bring out new products? Is there a lot of pressure to have this pipeline of NPD constantly going, going?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is the most exciting part. Honestly, it\u2019s just what I live for, NPD and the next thing and coming up with new ideas and making them just come to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the beginning, it literally took 18 months for that first recipe to be perfect. Now, using all of those scientific techniques I talked about, I\u2019ve got a methodology, and that last NPD I put together took me maybe 4 goes. I was so happy, and it was just amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are seeing it in a new professional range. So what we are focusing on now is, we\u2019ve got a new range that has come out, which we launched together with some help with a non-exec director that we employed last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now he comes from a really rich background of food service, and he helped a company called Santa Maria, I don\u2019t know if you know them, but they\u2019re really big in the Mexican spice space now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He helped us as a company to reformulate what we\u2019ve done really well in retail and apply it to the catering industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so we\u2019ve got this bulk range we\u2019ve called BANG! Curry Professional, and that is so exciting. I\u2019ve got some really exciting news I can\u2019t share with you today, but that\u2019s pretty much our next launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that to me is so exciting because that\u2019s feeding literally the masses. We are changing some really big things out there in terms of curry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd are you still the one formulating the recipes? You mentioned they\u2019re the methodology and it taking four goes to get it right, but is it still you sort of there with your hat on, your goggles on, mixing up all the spices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wouldn\u2019t pass that to anyone, because that\u2019s where I find the most joy. No, that\u2019s me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it might not be me in a year\u2019s time, but at the moment, yeah, that\u2019s all down to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019ve got to do what you love. It\u2019s really sad when you interview people, you start businesses and the thing they love doing at the beginning, 5 years on, they\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I can\u2019t do that anymore. I\u2019ve got to delegate that to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s nice to hang on to the bits that you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use paid classes as a way to bootstrap your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou mentioned at the beginning, Shelly, about bootstrapping, and we talk about bootstrapping quite a bit on this show, and I\u2019d love to hear some of the really clever bootstrapping strategies that worked for you and your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the ways that you grew while still cutting costs, saving money, being clever about how you spent on marketing or go to market. So tell me about some of those strategies, 1 or 2 that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe one I would say I felt really gave us a lot of return was the cookery classes that we did. It was quite a lot of effort on our part, but we got so much out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We charged for seats, and I literally did it in our own kitchen, so there was no rent involved, so everything went straight into profit, ingredients don\u2019t really cost very much, and we were ranking at number 1 on Google for Indian cooking lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was pretty much it, I don\u2019t know how I did it, I have to admit, but I built the website, and it ranked us up there, and it was really quite low cost to the company in order to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think we got some really nice wins out of that, and obviously some reviews as well on Google about BANG! Curry and the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the intellectual property we took out of that as well is what people actually wanted out of a product, and what sort of recipes and how much time were they prepared to take with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I was showing them step-by-step, I wasn\u2019t using the kits, and I was showing them from A to Z every single piece that would go into the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was not 1 customer that didn\u2019t go away, take the recipe that I would give them, and cook it from scratch, they all ended up just using the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the end I\u2019d give them a little gift bag with the kits and the recipes, but I don\u2019t know anyone that actually cooked the whole thing from scratch, went out and bought all the different ingredients. And so there was a lot of learning gained from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it helped kickstart, it helped finance things like branding, things like print packaging, all of these things, all to do with cost of goods, which at the beginning that\u2019s all we were paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any marketing, we tried to be very clever about it in terms of guerrilla marketing, digital advertising, which basically I tried to turn my head to and did all that stuff initially myself. I basically worked that bit out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd how do you get people to buy again and again? Because it seems like when you create a kit like this, you want it to be on the rotation, like when you\u2019re doing your meal prep, as you say, maybe every couple of weeks there it is, BANG! Curry on the rotation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how do you stay in people\u2019s minds? Just refresh them, \u201cRemember we\u2019re here, we\u2019re tasty.\u201d How do you do that? How do you get repeat purchases?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo we try to give inspiration. So we want BANG! to be a way of life, not just a product that you use and get bored with. It\u2019s the versatility that we are giving people and the empowerment to do what they want to do with their meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if you\u2019ve got dietary requirements, if you\u2019ve got ingredient preferences, you don\u2019t like meat or you just love vegan-type ingredients, there\u2019s always something for that person, and we want to inspire with lots of different recipes that they can use with just the 1 kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can vary it up, but you know you\u2019ve got your flavour locked in, and I think that\u2019s why people come back. They don\u2019t get bored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ll buy it once and they know they can change it up a bit and it will go down well when they take that effort to put some time into it and make it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIs that through social media? Are you sharing sort of, \u201cHey, look, you can use this kit for an exciting barbecue dish, or have you tried using paneer, or\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you show them another way to use it and how do you keep refreshing that? Is it like TikTok videos? How are you doing it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWe are doing it pretty much through social media. That\u2019s very instant, and sharing recipes. We\u2019ve got recipes on our website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are with Waitrose, they are also starting to showcase some of our recipes. It\u2019s still early days, but on the horizon, we\u2019ve got some lovely recipes that are going to appear in their weekend magazines, and it\u2019s through those platforms that we like to keep on refreshing those recipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And because that\u2019s what it\u2019s about, right? Everyone gets bored with the same old weekday meals or even if someone\u2019s coming round, how do I knock something together quickly and everyone\u2019s happy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We like to solve that problem and make mealtimes exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Competition proves that there is demand in your market<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about what the competitor landscape looks like now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because you were obviously doing something at the beginning of what became quite a big wave of recipe kits and different kinds of kits focusing on different kinds of cuisines, and there\u2019s now quite a lot of curry kits out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you stand out, and has that brought more awareness to the category as a whole? Is that a good thing, or has it sort of stolen some of your customers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe way I see it is that I would rather not be the only product in a category and be carving that out because frankly, we have been carving that category out and it\u2019s hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s difficult when you are having to convince buyer after buyer that you have a consumer group out there that are crying out for this type of product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019m actually really pleased, because it proves our point that there\u2019s a demand for it, and actually, competition\u2019s good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are quite confident, quietly confident with our range and that we can stand up to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you don\u2019t want to waste too much time looking at the competition. You want to just be focusing on the next thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping new product ideas fresh and flowing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about that. How frequently do you bring out new products? Is there a lot of pressure to have this pipeline of NPD constantly going, going?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is the most exciting part. Honestly, it\u2019s just what I live for, NPD and the next thing and coming up with new ideas and making them just come to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the beginning, it literally took 18 months for that first recipe to be perfect. Now, using all of those scientific techniques I talked about, I\u2019ve got a methodology, and that last NPD I put together took me maybe 4 goes. I was so happy, and it was just amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are seeing it in a new professional range. So what we are focusing on now is, we\u2019ve got a new range that has come out, which we launched together with some help with a non-exec director that we employed last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now he comes from a really rich background of food service, and he helped a company called Santa Maria, I don\u2019t know if you know them, but they\u2019re really big in the Mexican spice space now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He helped us as a company to reformulate what we\u2019ve done really well in retail and apply it to the catering industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so we\u2019ve got this bulk range we\u2019ve called BANG! Curry Professional, and that is so exciting. I\u2019ve got some really exciting news I can\u2019t share with you today, but that\u2019s pretty much our next launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that to me is so exciting because that\u2019s feeding literally the masses. We are changing some really big things out there in terms of curry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd are you still the one formulating the recipes? You mentioned they\u2019re the methodology and it taking four goes to get it right, but is it still you sort of there with your hat on, your goggles on, mixing up all the spices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wouldn\u2019t pass that to anyone, because that\u2019s where I find the most joy. No, that\u2019s me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it might not be me in a year\u2019s time, but at the moment, yeah, that\u2019s all down to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019ve got to do what you love. It\u2019s really sad when you interview people, you start businesses and the thing they love doing at the beginning, 5 years on, they\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I can\u2019t do that anymore. I\u2019ve got to delegate that to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s nice to hang on to the bits that you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use paid classes as a way to bootstrap your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou mentioned at the beginning, Shelly, about bootstrapping, and we talk about bootstrapping quite a bit on this show, and I\u2019d love to hear some of the really clever bootstrapping strategies that worked for you and your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the ways that you grew while still cutting costs, saving money, being clever about how you spent on marketing or go to market. So tell me about some of those strategies, 1 or 2 that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe one I would say I felt really gave us a lot of return was the cookery classes that we did. It was quite a lot of effort on our part, but we got so much out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We charged for seats, and I literally did it in our own kitchen, so there was no rent involved, so everything went straight into profit, ingredients don\u2019t really cost very much, and we were ranking at number 1 on Google for Indian cooking lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was pretty much it, I don\u2019t know how I did it, I have to admit, but I built the website, and it ranked us up there, and it was really quite low cost to the company in order to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think we got some really nice wins out of that, and obviously some reviews as well on Google about BANG! Curry and the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the intellectual property we took out of that as well is what people actually wanted out of a product, and what sort of recipes and how much time were they prepared to take with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I was showing them step-by-step, I wasn\u2019t using the kits, and I was showing them from A to Z every single piece that would go into the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was not 1 customer that didn\u2019t go away, take the recipe that I would give them, and cook it from scratch, they all ended up just using the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the end I\u2019d give them a little gift bag with the kits and the recipes, but I don\u2019t know anyone that actually cooked the whole thing from scratch, went out and bought all the different ingredients. And so there was a lot of learning gained from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it helped kickstart, it helped finance things like branding, things like print packaging, all of these things, all to do with cost of goods, which at the beginning that\u2019s all we were paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any marketing, we tried to be very clever about it in terms of guerrilla marketing, digital advertising, which basically I tried to turn my head to and did all that stuff initially myself. I basically worked that bit out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
So we try to give inspiration. So we want BANG! to be a way of life, not just a product that you use and get bored with. It\u2019s the versatility that we are giving people and the empowerment to do what they want to do with their meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if you\u2019ve got dietary requirements, if you\u2019ve got ingredient preferences, you don\u2019t like meat or you just love vegan-type ingredients, there\u2019s always something for that person, and we want to inspire with lots of different recipes that they can use with just the 1 kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can vary it up, but you know you\u2019ve got your flavour locked in, and I think that\u2019s why people come back. They don\u2019t get bored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ll buy it once and they know they can change it up a bit and it will go down well when they take that effort to put some time into it and make it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIs that through social media? Are you sharing sort of, \u201cHey, look, you can use this kit for an exciting barbecue dish, or have you tried using paneer, or\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you show them another way to use it and how do you keep refreshing that? Is it like TikTok videos? How are you doing it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWe are doing it pretty much through social media. That\u2019s very instant, and sharing recipes. We\u2019ve got recipes on our website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are with Waitrose, they are also starting to showcase some of our recipes. It\u2019s still early days, but on the horizon, we\u2019ve got some lovely recipes that are going to appear in their weekend magazines, and it\u2019s through those platforms that we like to keep on refreshing those recipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And because that\u2019s what it\u2019s about, right? Everyone gets bored with the same old weekday meals or even if someone\u2019s coming round, how do I knock something together quickly and everyone\u2019s happy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We like to solve that problem and make mealtimes exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Competition proves that there is demand in your market<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about what the competitor landscape looks like now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because you were obviously doing something at the beginning of what became quite a big wave of recipe kits and different kinds of kits focusing on different kinds of cuisines, and there\u2019s now quite a lot of curry kits out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you stand out, and has that brought more awareness to the category as a whole? Is that a good thing, or has it sort of stolen some of your customers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe way I see it is that I would rather not be the only product in a category and be carving that out because frankly, we have been carving that category out and it\u2019s hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s difficult when you are having to convince buyer after buyer that you have a consumer group out there that are crying out for this type of product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019m actually really pleased, because it proves our point that there\u2019s a demand for it, and actually, competition\u2019s good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are quite confident, quietly confident with our range and that we can stand up to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you don\u2019t want to waste too much time looking at the competition. You want to just be focusing on the next thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping new product ideas fresh and flowing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about that. How frequently do you bring out new products? Is there a lot of pressure to have this pipeline of NPD constantly going, going?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is the most exciting part. Honestly, it\u2019s just what I live for, NPD and the next thing and coming up with new ideas and making them just come to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the beginning, it literally took 18 months for that first recipe to be perfect. Now, using all of those scientific techniques I talked about, I\u2019ve got a methodology, and that last NPD I put together took me maybe 4 goes. I was so happy, and it was just amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are seeing it in a new professional range. So what we are focusing on now is, we\u2019ve got a new range that has come out, which we launched together with some help with a non-exec director that we employed last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now he comes from a really rich background of food service, and he helped a company called Santa Maria, I don\u2019t know if you know them, but they\u2019re really big in the Mexican spice space now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He helped us as a company to reformulate what we\u2019ve done really well in retail and apply it to the catering industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so we\u2019ve got this bulk range we\u2019ve called BANG! Curry Professional, and that is so exciting. I\u2019ve got some really exciting news I can\u2019t share with you today, but that\u2019s pretty much our next launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that to me is so exciting because that\u2019s feeding literally the masses. We are changing some really big things out there in terms of curry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd are you still the one formulating the recipes? You mentioned they\u2019re the methodology and it taking four goes to get it right, but is it still you sort of there with your hat on, your goggles on, mixing up all the spices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wouldn\u2019t pass that to anyone, because that\u2019s where I find the most joy. No, that\u2019s me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it might not be me in a year\u2019s time, but at the moment, yeah, that\u2019s all down to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019ve got to do what you love. It\u2019s really sad when you interview people, you start businesses and the thing they love doing at the beginning, 5 years on, they\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I can\u2019t do that anymore. I\u2019ve got to delegate that to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s nice to hang on to the bits that you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use paid classes as a way to bootstrap your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou mentioned at the beginning, Shelly, about bootstrapping, and we talk about bootstrapping quite a bit on this show, and I\u2019d love to hear some of the really clever bootstrapping strategies that worked for you and your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the ways that you grew while still cutting costs, saving money, being clever about how you spent on marketing or go to market. So tell me about some of those strategies, 1 or 2 that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe one I would say I felt really gave us a lot of return was the cookery classes that we did. It was quite a lot of effort on our part, but we got so much out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We charged for seats, and I literally did it in our own kitchen, so there was no rent involved, so everything went straight into profit, ingredients don\u2019t really cost very much, and we were ranking at number 1 on Google for Indian cooking lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was pretty much it, I don\u2019t know how I did it, I have to admit, but I built the website, and it ranked us up there, and it was really quite low cost to the company in order to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think we got some really nice wins out of that, and obviously some reviews as well on Google about BANG! Curry and the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the intellectual property we took out of that as well is what people actually wanted out of a product, and what sort of recipes and how much time were they prepared to take with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I was showing them step-by-step, I wasn\u2019t using the kits, and I was showing them from A to Z every single piece that would go into the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was not 1 customer that didn\u2019t go away, take the recipe that I would give them, and cook it from scratch, they all ended up just using the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the end I\u2019d give them a little gift bag with the kits and the recipes, but I don\u2019t know anyone that actually cooked the whole thing from scratch, went out and bought all the different ingredients. And so there was a lot of learning gained from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it helped kickstart, it helped finance things like branding, things like print packaging, all of these things, all to do with cost of goods, which at the beginning that\u2019s all we were paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any marketing, we tried to be very clever about it in terms of guerrilla marketing, digital advertising, which basically I tried to turn my head to and did all that stuff initially myself. I basically worked that bit out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
We are doing it pretty much through social media. That\u2019s very instant, and sharing recipes. We\u2019ve got recipes on our website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are with Waitrose, they are also starting to showcase some of our recipes. It\u2019s still early days, but on the horizon, we\u2019ve got some lovely recipes that are going to appear in their weekend magazines, and it\u2019s through those platforms that we like to keep on refreshing those recipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And because that\u2019s what it\u2019s about, right? Everyone gets bored with the same old weekday meals or even if someone\u2019s coming round, how do I knock something together quickly and everyone\u2019s happy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We like to solve that problem and make mealtimes exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Competition proves that there is demand in your market<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about what the competitor landscape looks like now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because you were obviously doing something at the beginning of what became quite a big wave of recipe kits and different kinds of kits focusing on different kinds of cuisines, and there\u2019s now quite a lot of curry kits out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you stand out, and has that brought more awareness to the category as a whole? Is that a good thing, or has it sort of stolen some of your customers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe way I see it is that I would rather not be the only product in a category and be carving that out because frankly, we have been carving that category out and it\u2019s hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s difficult when you are having to convince buyer after buyer that you have a consumer group out there that are crying out for this type of product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019m actually really pleased, because it proves our point that there\u2019s a demand for it, and actually, competition\u2019s good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are quite confident, quietly confident with our range and that we can stand up to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you don\u2019t want to waste too much time looking at the competition. You want to just be focusing on the next thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping new product ideas fresh and flowing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about that. How frequently do you bring out new products? Is there a lot of pressure to have this pipeline of NPD constantly going, going?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is the most exciting part. Honestly, it\u2019s just what I live for, NPD and the next thing and coming up with new ideas and making them just come to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the beginning, it literally took 18 months for that first recipe to be perfect. Now, using all of those scientific techniques I talked about, I\u2019ve got a methodology, and that last NPD I put together took me maybe 4 goes. I was so happy, and it was just amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are seeing it in a new professional range. So what we are focusing on now is, we\u2019ve got a new range that has come out, which we launched together with some help with a non-exec director that we employed last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now he comes from a really rich background of food service, and he helped a company called Santa Maria, I don\u2019t know if you know them, but they\u2019re really big in the Mexican spice space now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He helped us as a company to reformulate what we\u2019ve done really well in retail and apply it to the catering industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so we\u2019ve got this bulk range we\u2019ve called BANG! Curry Professional, and that is so exciting. I\u2019ve got some really exciting news I can\u2019t share with you today, but that\u2019s pretty much our next launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that to me is so exciting because that\u2019s feeding literally the masses. We are changing some really big things out there in terms of curry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd are you still the one formulating the recipes? You mentioned they\u2019re the methodology and it taking four goes to get it right, but is it still you sort of there with your hat on, your goggles on, mixing up all the spices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wouldn\u2019t pass that to anyone, because that\u2019s where I find the most joy. No, that\u2019s me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it might not be me in a year\u2019s time, but at the moment, yeah, that\u2019s all down to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019ve got to do what you love. It\u2019s really sad when you interview people, you start businesses and the thing they love doing at the beginning, 5 years on, they\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I can\u2019t do that anymore. I\u2019ve got to delegate that to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s nice to hang on to the bits that you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use paid classes as a way to bootstrap your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou mentioned at the beginning, Shelly, about bootstrapping, and we talk about bootstrapping quite a bit on this show, and I\u2019d love to hear some of the really clever bootstrapping strategies that worked for you and your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the ways that you grew while still cutting costs, saving money, being clever about how you spent on marketing or go to market. So tell me about some of those strategies, 1 or 2 that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe one I would say I felt really gave us a lot of return was the cookery classes that we did. It was quite a lot of effort on our part, but we got so much out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We charged for seats, and I literally did it in our own kitchen, so there was no rent involved, so everything went straight into profit, ingredients don\u2019t really cost very much, and we were ranking at number 1 on Google for Indian cooking lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was pretty much it, I don\u2019t know how I did it, I have to admit, but I built the website, and it ranked us up there, and it was really quite low cost to the company in order to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think we got some really nice wins out of that, and obviously some reviews as well on Google about BANG! Curry and the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the intellectual property we took out of that as well is what people actually wanted out of a product, and what sort of recipes and how much time were they prepared to take with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I was showing them step-by-step, I wasn\u2019t using the kits, and I was showing them from A to Z every single piece that would go into the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was not 1 customer that didn\u2019t go away, take the recipe that I would give them, and cook it from scratch, they all ended up just using the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the end I\u2019d give them a little gift bag with the kits and the recipes, but I don\u2019t know anyone that actually cooked the whole thing from scratch, went out and bought all the different ingredients. And so there was a lot of learning gained from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it helped kickstart, it helped finance things like branding, things like print packaging, all of these things, all to do with cost of goods, which at the beginning that\u2019s all we were paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any marketing, we tried to be very clever about it in terms of guerrilla marketing, digital advertising, which basically I tried to turn my head to and did all that stuff initially myself. I basically worked that bit out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
And tell me about what the competitor landscape looks like now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because you were obviously doing something at the beginning of what became quite a big wave of recipe kits and different kinds of kits focusing on different kinds of cuisines, and there\u2019s now quite a lot of curry kits out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do you stand out, and has that brought more awareness to the category as a whole? Is that a good thing, or has it sort of stolen some of your customers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe way I see it is that I would rather not be the only product in a category and be carving that out because frankly, we have been carving that category out and it\u2019s hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s difficult when you are having to convince buyer after buyer that you have a consumer group out there that are crying out for this type of product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019m actually really pleased, because it proves our point that there\u2019s a demand for it, and actually, competition\u2019s good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are quite confident, quietly confident with our range and that we can stand up to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd you don\u2019t want to waste too much time looking at the competition. You want to just be focusing on the next thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping new product ideas fresh and flowing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about that. How frequently do you bring out new products? Is there a lot of pressure to have this pipeline of NPD constantly going, going?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is the most exciting part. Honestly, it\u2019s just what I live for, NPD and the next thing and coming up with new ideas and making them just come to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the beginning, it literally took 18 months for that first recipe to be perfect. Now, using all of those scientific techniques I talked about, I\u2019ve got a methodology, and that last NPD I put together took me maybe 4 goes. I was so happy, and it was just amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are seeing it in a new professional range. So what we are focusing on now is, we\u2019ve got a new range that has come out, which we launched together with some help with a non-exec director that we employed last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now he comes from a really rich background of food service, and he helped a company called Santa Maria, I don\u2019t know if you know them, but they\u2019re really big in the Mexican spice space now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He helped us as a company to reformulate what we\u2019ve done really well in retail and apply it to the catering industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so we\u2019ve got this bulk range we\u2019ve called BANG! Curry Professional, and that is so exciting. I\u2019ve got some really exciting news I can\u2019t share with you today, but that\u2019s pretty much our next launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that to me is so exciting because that\u2019s feeding literally the masses. We are changing some really big things out there in terms of curry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd are you still the one formulating the recipes? You mentioned they\u2019re the methodology and it taking four goes to get it right, but is it still you sort of there with your hat on, your goggles on, mixing up all the spices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wouldn\u2019t pass that to anyone, because that\u2019s where I find the most joy. No, that\u2019s me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it might not be me in a year\u2019s time, but at the moment, yeah, that\u2019s all down to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019ve got to do what you love. It\u2019s really sad when you interview people, you start businesses and the thing they love doing at the beginning, 5 years on, they\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I can\u2019t do that anymore. I\u2019ve got to delegate that to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s nice to hang on to the bits that you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use paid classes as a way to bootstrap your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou mentioned at the beginning, Shelly, about bootstrapping, and we talk about bootstrapping quite a bit on this show, and I\u2019d love to hear some of the really clever bootstrapping strategies that worked for you and your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the ways that you grew while still cutting costs, saving money, being clever about how you spent on marketing or go to market. So tell me about some of those strategies, 1 or 2 that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe one I would say I felt really gave us a lot of return was the cookery classes that we did. It was quite a lot of effort on our part, but we got so much out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We charged for seats, and I literally did it in our own kitchen, so there was no rent involved, so everything went straight into profit, ingredients don\u2019t really cost very much, and we were ranking at number 1 on Google for Indian cooking lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was pretty much it, I don\u2019t know how I did it, I have to admit, but I built the website, and it ranked us up there, and it was really quite low cost to the company in order to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think we got some really nice wins out of that, and obviously some reviews as well on Google about BANG! Curry and the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the intellectual property we took out of that as well is what people actually wanted out of a product, and what sort of recipes and how much time were they prepared to take with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I was showing them step-by-step, I wasn\u2019t using the kits, and I was showing them from A to Z every single piece that would go into the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was not 1 customer that didn\u2019t go away, take the recipe that I would give them, and cook it from scratch, they all ended up just using the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the end I\u2019d give them a little gift bag with the kits and the recipes, but I don\u2019t know anyone that actually cooked the whole thing from scratch, went out and bought all the different ingredients. And so there was a lot of learning gained from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it helped kickstart, it helped finance things like branding, things like print packaging, all of these things, all to do with cost of goods, which at the beginning that\u2019s all we were paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any marketing, we tried to be very clever about it in terms of guerrilla marketing, digital advertising, which basically I tried to turn my head to and did all that stuff initially myself. I basically worked that bit out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
And you don\u2019t want to waste too much time looking at the competition. You want to just be focusing on the next thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping new product ideas fresh and flowing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd tell me about that. How frequently do you bring out new products? Is there a lot of pressure to have this pipeline of NPD constantly going, going?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is the most exciting part. Honestly, it\u2019s just what I live for, NPD and the next thing and coming up with new ideas and making them just come to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the beginning, it literally took 18 months for that first recipe to be perfect. Now, using all of those scientific techniques I talked about, I\u2019ve got a methodology, and that last NPD I put together took me maybe 4 goes. I was so happy, and it was just amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are seeing it in a new professional range. So what we are focusing on now is, we\u2019ve got a new range that has come out, which we launched together with some help with a non-exec director that we employed last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now he comes from a really rich background of food service, and he helped a company called Santa Maria, I don\u2019t know if you know them, but they\u2019re really big in the Mexican spice space now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He helped us as a company to reformulate what we\u2019ve done really well in retail and apply it to the catering industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so we\u2019ve got this bulk range we\u2019ve called BANG! Curry Professional, and that is so exciting. I\u2019ve got some really exciting news I can\u2019t share with you today, but that\u2019s pretty much our next launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that to me is so exciting because that\u2019s feeding literally the masses. We are changing some really big things out there in terms of curry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd are you still the one formulating the recipes? You mentioned they\u2019re the methodology and it taking four goes to get it right, but is it still you sort of there with your hat on, your goggles on, mixing up all the spices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wouldn\u2019t pass that to anyone, because that\u2019s where I find the most joy. No, that\u2019s me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it might not be me in a year\u2019s time, but at the moment, yeah, that\u2019s all down to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019ve got to do what you love. It\u2019s really sad when you interview people, you start businesses and the thing they love doing at the beginning, 5 years on, they\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I can\u2019t do that anymore. I\u2019ve got to delegate that to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s nice to hang on to the bits that you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use paid classes as a way to bootstrap your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou mentioned at the beginning, Shelly, about bootstrapping, and we talk about bootstrapping quite a bit on this show, and I\u2019d love to hear some of the really clever bootstrapping strategies that worked for you and your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the ways that you grew while still cutting costs, saving money, being clever about how you spent on marketing or go to market. So tell me about some of those strategies, 1 or 2 that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe one I would say I felt really gave us a lot of return was the cookery classes that we did. It was quite a lot of effort on our part, but we got so much out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We charged for seats, and I literally did it in our own kitchen, so there was no rent involved, so everything went straight into profit, ingredients don\u2019t really cost very much, and we were ranking at number 1 on Google for Indian cooking lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was pretty much it, I don\u2019t know how I did it, I have to admit, but I built the website, and it ranked us up there, and it was really quite low cost to the company in order to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think we got some really nice wins out of that, and obviously some reviews as well on Google about BANG! Curry and the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the intellectual property we took out of that as well is what people actually wanted out of a product, and what sort of recipes and how much time were they prepared to take with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I was showing them step-by-step, I wasn\u2019t using the kits, and I was showing them from A to Z every single piece that would go into the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was not 1 customer that didn\u2019t go away, take the recipe that I would give them, and cook it from scratch, they all ended up just using the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the end I\u2019d give them a little gift bag with the kits and the recipes, but I don\u2019t know anyone that actually cooked the whole thing from scratch, went out and bought all the different ingredients. And so there was a lot of learning gained from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it helped kickstart, it helped finance things like branding, things like print packaging, all of these things, all to do with cost of goods, which at the beginning that\u2019s all we were paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any marketing, we tried to be very clever about it in terms of guerrilla marketing, digital advertising, which basically I tried to turn my head to and did all that stuff initially myself. I basically worked that bit out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
And tell me about that. How frequently do you bring out new products? Is there a lot of pressure to have this pipeline of NPD constantly going, going?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat is the most exciting part. Honestly, it\u2019s just what I live for, NPD and the next thing and coming up with new ideas and making them just come to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the beginning, it literally took 18 months for that first recipe to be perfect. Now, using all of those scientific techniques I talked about, I\u2019ve got a methodology, and that last NPD I put together took me maybe 4 goes. I was so happy, and it was just amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now we are seeing it in a new professional range. So what we are focusing on now is, we\u2019ve got a new range that has come out, which we launched together with some help with a non-exec director that we employed last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now he comes from a really rich background of food service, and he helped a company called Santa Maria, I don\u2019t know if you know them, but they\u2019re really big in the Mexican spice space now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He helped us as a company to reformulate what we\u2019ve done really well in retail and apply it to the catering industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so we\u2019ve got this bulk range we\u2019ve called BANG! Curry Professional, and that is so exciting. I\u2019ve got some really exciting news I can\u2019t share with you today, but that\u2019s pretty much our next launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that to me is so exciting because that\u2019s feeding literally the masses. We are changing some really big things out there in terms of curry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd are you still the one formulating the recipes? You mentioned they\u2019re the methodology and it taking four goes to get it right, but is it still you sort of there with your hat on, your goggles on, mixing up all the spices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wouldn\u2019t pass that to anyone, because that\u2019s where I find the most joy. No, that\u2019s me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it might not be me in a year\u2019s time, but at the moment, yeah, that\u2019s all down to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019ve got to do what you love. It\u2019s really sad when you interview people, you start businesses and the thing they love doing at the beginning, 5 years on, they\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I can\u2019t do that anymore. I\u2019ve got to delegate that to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s nice to hang on to the bits that you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use paid classes as a way to bootstrap your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou mentioned at the beginning, Shelly, about bootstrapping, and we talk about bootstrapping quite a bit on this show, and I\u2019d love to hear some of the really clever bootstrapping strategies that worked for you and your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the ways that you grew while still cutting costs, saving money, being clever about how you spent on marketing or go to market. So tell me about some of those strategies, 1 or 2 that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe one I would say I felt really gave us a lot of return was the cookery classes that we did. It was quite a lot of effort on our part, but we got so much out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We charged for seats, and I literally did it in our own kitchen, so there was no rent involved, so everything went straight into profit, ingredients don\u2019t really cost very much, and we were ranking at number 1 on Google for Indian cooking lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was pretty much it, I don\u2019t know how I did it, I have to admit, but I built the website, and it ranked us up there, and it was really quite low cost to the company in order to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think we got some really nice wins out of that, and obviously some reviews as well on Google about BANG! Curry and the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the intellectual property we took out of that as well is what people actually wanted out of a product, and what sort of recipes and how much time were they prepared to take with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I was showing them step-by-step, I wasn\u2019t using the kits, and I was showing them from A to Z every single piece that would go into the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was not 1 customer that didn\u2019t go away, take the recipe that I would give them, and cook it from scratch, they all ended up just using the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the end I\u2019d give them a little gift bag with the kits and the recipes, but I don\u2019t know anyone that actually cooked the whole thing from scratch, went out and bought all the different ingredients. And so there was a lot of learning gained from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it helped kickstart, it helped finance things like branding, things like print packaging, all of these things, all to do with cost of goods, which at the beginning that\u2019s all we were paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any marketing, we tried to be very clever about it in terms of guerrilla marketing, digital advertising, which basically I tried to turn my head to and did all that stuff initially myself. I basically worked that bit out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
And are you still the one formulating the recipes? You mentioned they\u2019re the methodology and it taking four goes to get it right, but is it still you sort of there with your hat on, your goggles on, mixing up all the spices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wouldn\u2019t pass that to anyone, because that\u2019s where I find the most joy. No, that\u2019s me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it might not be me in a year\u2019s time, but at the moment, yeah, that\u2019s all down to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019ve got to do what you love. It\u2019s really sad when you interview people, you start businesses and the thing they love doing at the beginning, 5 years on, they\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I can\u2019t do that anymore. I\u2019ve got to delegate that to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s nice to hang on to the bits that you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use paid classes as a way to bootstrap your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou mentioned at the beginning, Shelly, about bootstrapping, and we talk about bootstrapping quite a bit on this show, and I\u2019d love to hear some of the really clever bootstrapping strategies that worked for you and your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the ways that you grew while still cutting costs, saving money, being clever about how you spent on marketing or go to market. So tell me about some of those strategies, 1 or 2 that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe one I would say I felt really gave us a lot of return was the cookery classes that we did. It was quite a lot of effort on our part, but we got so much out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We charged for seats, and I literally did it in our own kitchen, so there was no rent involved, so everything went straight into profit, ingredients don\u2019t really cost very much, and we were ranking at number 1 on Google for Indian cooking lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was pretty much it, I don\u2019t know how I did it, I have to admit, but I built the website, and it ranked us up there, and it was really quite low cost to the company in order to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think we got some really nice wins out of that, and obviously some reviews as well on Google about BANG! Curry and the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the intellectual property we took out of that as well is what people actually wanted out of a product, and what sort of recipes and how much time were they prepared to take with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I was showing them step-by-step, I wasn\u2019t using the kits, and I was showing them from A to Z every single piece that would go into the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was not 1 customer that didn\u2019t go away, take the recipe that I would give them, and cook it from scratch, they all ended up just using the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the end I\u2019d give them a little gift bag with the kits and the recipes, but I don\u2019t know anyone that actually cooked the whole thing from scratch, went out and bought all the different ingredients. And so there was a lot of learning gained from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it helped kickstart, it helped finance things like branding, things like print packaging, all of these things, all to do with cost of goods, which at the beginning that\u2019s all we were paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any marketing, we tried to be very clever about it in terms of guerrilla marketing, digital advertising, which basically I tried to turn my head to and did all that stuff initially myself. I basically worked that bit out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
You\u2019ve got to do what you love. It\u2019s really sad when you interview people, you start businesses and the thing they love doing at the beginning, 5 years on, they\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I can\u2019t do that anymore. I\u2019ve got to delegate that to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s nice to hang on to the bits that you love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use paid classes as a way to bootstrap your business<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYou mentioned at the beginning, Shelly, about bootstrapping, and we talk about bootstrapping quite a bit on this show, and I\u2019d love to hear some of the really clever bootstrapping strategies that worked for you and your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the ways that you grew while still cutting costs, saving money, being clever about how you spent on marketing or go to market. So tell me about some of those strategies, 1 or 2 that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe one I would say I felt really gave us a lot of return was the cookery classes that we did. It was quite a lot of effort on our part, but we got so much out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We charged for seats, and I literally did it in our own kitchen, so there was no rent involved, so everything went straight into profit, ingredients don\u2019t really cost very much, and we were ranking at number 1 on Google for Indian cooking lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was pretty much it, I don\u2019t know how I did it, I have to admit, but I built the website, and it ranked us up there, and it was really quite low cost to the company in order to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think we got some really nice wins out of that, and obviously some reviews as well on Google about BANG! Curry and the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the intellectual property we took out of that as well is what people actually wanted out of a product, and what sort of recipes and how much time were they prepared to take with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I was showing them step-by-step, I wasn\u2019t using the kits, and I was showing them from A to Z every single piece that would go into the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was not 1 customer that didn\u2019t go away, take the recipe that I would give them, and cook it from scratch, they all ended up just using the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the end I\u2019d give them a little gift bag with the kits and the recipes, but I don\u2019t know anyone that actually cooked the whole thing from scratch, went out and bought all the different ingredients. And so there was a lot of learning gained from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it helped kickstart, it helped finance things like branding, things like print packaging, all of these things, all to do with cost of goods, which at the beginning that\u2019s all we were paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any marketing, we tried to be very clever about it in terms of guerrilla marketing, digital advertising, which basically I tried to turn my head to and did all that stuff initially myself. I basically worked that bit out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
You mentioned at the beginning, Shelly, about bootstrapping, and we talk about bootstrapping quite a bit on this show, and I\u2019d love to hear some of the really clever bootstrapping strategies that worked for you and your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the ways that you grew while still cutting costs, saving money, being clever about how you spent on marketing or go to market. So tell me about some of those strategies, 1 or 2 that really worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe one I would say I felt really gave us a lot of return was the cookery classes that we did. It was quite a lot of effort on our part, but we got so much out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We charged for seats, and I literally did it in our own kitchen, so there was no rent involved, so everything went straight into profit, ingredients don\u2019t really cost very much, and we were ranking at number 1 on Google for Indian cooking lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that was pretty much it, I don\u2019t know how I did it, I have to admit, but I built the website, and it ranked us up there, and it was really quite low cost to the company in order to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I think we got some really nice wins out of that, and obviously some reviews as well on Google about BANG! Curry and the lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the intellectual property we took out of that as well is what people actually wanted out of a product, and what sort of recipes and how much time were they prepared to take with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because I was showing them step-by-step, I wasn\u2019t using the kits, and I was showing them from A to Z every single piece that would go into the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was not 1 customer that didn\u2019t go away, take the recipe that I would give them, and cook it from scratch, they all ended up just using the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at the end I\u2019d give them a little gift bag with the kits and the recipes, but I don\u2019t know anyone that actually cooked the whole thing from scratch, went out and bought all the different ingredients. And so there was a lot of learning gained from that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it helped kickstart, it helped finance things like branding, things like print packaging, all of these things, all to do with cost of goods, which at the beginning that\u2019s all we were paying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any marketing, we tried to be very clever about it in terms of guerrilla marketing, digital advertising, which basically I tried to turn my head to and did all that stuff initially myself. I basically worked that bit out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
That\u2019s a great tip, the bootstrapping tip. And what about when it came to getting your products on Waitrose shelves? How did you manage that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nOh, hard work and perseverance. Knocking, knocking, knocking on the door. Oh that was very difficult. I think that was a conversation probably that started 18 months prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These things take a lot of time and nurturing and using things like LinkedIn and social media, just to stay forefront of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Talking about things that are relevant to that particular retailer is really important. Trying to get some insider knowledge, for example, what is Waitrose\u2019s agenda, business goals for the year, and trying to align what you are doing with those agendas, trying to tick their boxes, because everyone has the KPIs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yeah, it\u2019s just being very targeted about what we\u2019re showing out there online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Figuring out how to give the best value for money<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nI wanted to ask about margin, because it\u2019s so difficult, I think, when you are doing a recipe kit to make sure that you are charging enough to have a sustainable business, but also fit in that sweet spot where the consumer feels that they\u2019re getting value for money. How did you find that price point and how long did it take you to get there?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nSo with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
So with BANG!, we\u2019ve actually always pretty much had that perception-to-value difficulty, and giving the consumer that value for money, especially with now. It\u2019s difficult now, everyone wants value for money, everyone\u2019s tightening their purse strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what we try to do was to not make our products a premium product. It\u2019s more about catering to that middle section who have a little bit to spend on their groceries, but it\u2019s not a premium product, basically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we priced it such that per portion for a 4 person meal, it\u2019s cheaper actually to use what we are doing than buy a jar sauce, and without a doubt it\u2019s worked out that way. So that\u2019s how we did it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We compared ourselves by looking at how much it would cost to feed a family of 4 if you use a well-known jar sauce or if you use BANG!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we pitched ourselves lower in price because we figured, \u201cWell, actually, there\u2019s a price involved to actually do the cooking,\u201d so we allocated a certain amount of value for that, and then we equated it out, and that\u2019s how we came to price the RRP if you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s great advice actually. Just thinking about the category you are disrupting and making sure that you are on a par or cheaper than the sort of traditional lower quality option. I think that\u2019s amazing that you did that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Brick Lane surrounded by flavoursome food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd then tell me about Brick Lane, because when I saw that you grew up around Brick Lane [London] and were eating out in those restaurants, I was a teenager growing up in London, spending my 20s in London, all my friends and I had favourite restaurants on Brick Lane, we would be going out to 93 Feet East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s just brought back so many memories. So tell me about your life eating and hanging out around Brick Lane and how that inspired your passion for food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nBrick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Brick Lane was a hub of the Bangladeshi community at the time. And culturally, food was everything. That\u2019s all anyone ever talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And food, what are you having for dinner? What are you making for so-and-so when they come round? And we were in and out of restaurants all along Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So my dad basically knew every restaurateur there. I don\u2019t know how he does it, but he makes friends with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my dad had a factory in Brick Lane. It was a tea-blending factory, and it was just off Brick Lane, and so I spent most of my days there around that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And my mum also did a lot of cooking, as I mentioned before. So it was all about food pretty much and understanding which restaurants to go to, which ones gave the best naans, made the best homemade naans and faratas and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. It\u2019s really good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of it I didn\u2019t have to pay for. Everyone was uncle in Brick Lane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWas that like an early focus group? Because you must\u2019ve seen what were the most popular dishes in a lot of these places or things. Everyone always asks for the chicken tikka masala, always the forever chicken tikka masala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
It\u2019s a good one though, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt is so delicious. Hard to beat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
It\u2019s the biryani. It\u2019s the tanginess in the tikka, I think. But it\u2019s not even a traditional dish, you know that? That\u2019s purely British, I\u2019m proud to say that, actually. It\u2019s a very good sort of mix of the two cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineering a sustainable brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
And we talked a little bit about sustainability earlier, and I really just wanted to come back to that because you\u2019ve been very careful on how you formulated your kits so that they are kinder to the planet than rivals and other options that you could choose for your dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about that and how difficult it was to engineer a sustainable brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nCost-wise, it was difficult, because our packs, they\u2019re all made of paper. They\u2019re all hand-packed, and we try to minimize the plastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, we could quite easily have machine-packed everything, using plastic pouches, and there are new materials coming on board, so maybe we will go that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But at the time, when we brought the range out, this was the best option for us. But more than anything, I think the sustainability comes across with the fact that you\u2019re using real ingredients and there are no additives and you\u2019re using scratch cooking or home cooking, whichever way you want to put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, you are utilizing your ingredients in a more efficient way. There\u2019s less wasted. You\u2019re eating your leftovers. You might not necessarily do that if you have takeaways or jar sauce because not necessarily nice the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with this, it just keeps on going, and you eat every part of it. And that\u2019s, I think where we are teaching a little bit more about that sustainability aspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being authentic will win you retailers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd was that really useful when it came to winning retailers? They\u2019ve all got their ESG agendas now, everyone wants to ask their suppliers, what are you doing in terms of carbon reduction? And you are right up there saying, \u201cHey, look, no plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Yeah, I would say topmost for the retailers for us was the authenticity. And they\u2019re really attracted to how authentic our flavours were and how they\u2019re put together, the authenticity of the processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We didn\u2019t cut corners, we\u2019ve just used some really clever hacks with what we do. And one of the components of our kits is, it sounds so unsexy, it\u2019s a onion, garlic, and ginger mix, and we\u2019ve currently got a patent pending on it, and that was my latest MPD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that, what it does, it cuts out all the hard work of the chopping of the onions, the ginger, and garlic. Every curry starts with that famous trio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so what it\u2019s doing, it is just helping make something that home cooking takes time and it takes effort, but it is more authentic. And I think that\u2019s what the retailers really loved about what we\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are pairing up the convenience and the authenticity, and to top it off, it\u2019s the fact that we minimize our plastic, I think, went in that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building out your business into multiple functions and products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBex Burn-Callander<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\nIt sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
It sounds like you\u2019ve got more than 1 business here. It sounds like you\u2019ve got BANG! Curry, and then you\u2019ve got this amazing ginger, garlic, and onion product, which you could sell that mix to loads of other companies and loads of people in catering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then it also seems like you\u2019ve got this R&D process where you can get a new product created in very few steps following a particular process that you have also designed, which seems like an entirely other business that you could sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThank you. You\u2019ve made that sound really shiny. Thank you. I wish I had an onion, garlic, and ginger thing to show you, but there\u2019s not one here. But the pouches I can show you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bex Burn-Callander:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nYeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Yeah, show me the pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shelly Nuruzzaman:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAll right, this is new. This is new to market, and this serves 140 portions, and this is the exciting new news that we\u2019ll have very soon. We\u2019ve got a really good listing, but I\u2019m not allowed to publicize it just yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this is for the chefs, right? It makes their lives so easy. They don\u2019t have to store all the different bags, and most of them do come in really heavy plastic tubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the sustainability aspect is really big on that side of the business, I would say more so than for retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by this business story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Wherever you\u2019re listening or watching, subscribe to Sound Advice on Apple iTunes<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nJoin our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\nWant to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGet a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
We are also on Spotify<\/a> and anywhere else you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Join our community to share your insights and stories on X @Sage_Canada<\/a> using the hashtag #SoundAdvicePodcast, on Instagram @SageOfficial<\/a> or in the comments below!<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can find out more about Shelly on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can learn more about BANG! Curry on their website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n Get a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Discover how BANG! Curry has made its way into kitchens worldwide, securing partnerships with HelloFresh and getting onto the shelves of Waitrose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":11681,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"_sage_video":true,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[187,265,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[49,67],"coauthors":[446],"class_list":["post-11680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-how-to-grow-your-business","tag-small-business","post_format-post-format-audio","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Bex Burn-Callander","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/Sound-advice_Blog_S3_Ep16.jpg","imagine_tags":{"49":"growing business","67":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/11681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=11680"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=11680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Want to know more about Shelly and BANG! Curry?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Subscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"