
Desi Aroma
Localisation of culinary delights
Place
Gandhinagar, India
Duration
3 months
Desi Aroma was an outcome of the System & Service Design module which was the major design project for the fourth semester of my M.Des. The outcome was a team effort and the team consisted of 2 people including myself.
The service was developed based on the opportunity areas for addressing the gap identified after studying and mapping the various factors in Gandhinagar city as a system.



Overview
India's cosmopolitan cities are beaming with aspiring migrants from across the country. The extended busy hours, unhealthy life choices, and easy accessibility, tends to compromise on the cultural aspects owing to the rapid rush of atomized city life. These ambitious migrants are aware and conscious about their physical, mental as well as spiritual well being and thus often seek experiences, people, food, and events that bring them closer to their regional culture.
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Desi Aroma is a unique platform that collaborates with home-chefs having amazing culinary skills and facilitates them to prepare unique regional food. The service is aimed at bringing home-cooked food to the people living away from home, with the help of digital and technological interventions. The home chefs partnering with the platform cook extra portions of the meals they cook for their family and share them with others. The food would be packed in biodegradable single-use containers to avoid spreading or contracting the virus and delivered contactless by our delivery partners. A zone-based distribution system would ensure that the meals are delivered hot and that the delivery partners are not overburdened. Further on kiosk-based pick-up options for contactless delivery of freshly cooked meals can be explored in places with high risk or reduced movement. The platform would also enable the home-chefs to conduct webinar-style online guided cooking classes helping people to learn to cook their favourite dishes.
Scope for the service
Internal migrants in India are approximated at 400 million in the 2011 census. About 30% of these migrants are youth aged 15-29 years. These youth move away from home for various reasons such as education as well as jobs.
Food is one of the major concerns for people living away from their homeland and is a defining factor in building a connection with a city. Thus, helping the floating population develop a connect to a city through food by connecting them to the local and migrant population settled here would be a viable choice.
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Favourable factors for the service in Gandhinagar
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Gandhinagar, being the capital of Gujarat is home to numerous Government offices due to which people from different parts of India have migrated and settled here with their families.
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Gandhinagar is also an Educational and upcoming IT hub with a high influx of young people (17 years to 35 years of age) coming in every year from across the country, which forms a major section of the floating population.
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Based on the research findings, about 72% of the people living away from home face difficulty in finding food with authentic taste of their home region.
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Unavailability of food that has the flavours of the native region of the target customers.
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No easy means of getting homemade food is available.
Desi Aroma's differentiating factor and offerings
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Ghar jaisa khana nahi, Ghar ka Khana ( Not food like homemade food, But home cooked food)
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No other existing services which serve authentic regional cuisines cooked by people from that specific region itself.
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OFFERINGS
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Homemade food+diverse Indian cuisine ​- When people stay away from home, they get tired of having outside food everyday, so they have a craving for any home made food for its simplicity, hygiene and taste. People spend time and money to go to places which serve their local cuisine. We will provide options to our customers of home made food of their local cuisine.
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No Commitment ​- Most of the existing services which provide home made food have a monthly subscription. So people get bored of having food from the same place. Desi aroma will provide their customers with options from a list of home chefs.
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Dynamic Menu​ - Generally the meal menu in an Indian household varies everyday. Our home -chefs will update us daily about what they are cooking for their family.
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Multiple Options​ - Options of different chefs who update their menu daily and option of different Indian and international cuisine.
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Serving what we eat ​- We don’t serve food cooked by a home-chef from a pre listed menu. We serve what the chef cooks for their family.
-
Mini Meals & snacks​ - We bring you not only personal sized meals but also freshly prepared homemade snacks to make you feel at home whenever you are hungry.
Desi Aroma's differentiating factor and offerings
-
Ghar jaisa khana nahi, Ghar ka Khana ( Not food like homemade food, But home cooked food)
-
No other existing services which serve authentic regional cuisines cooked by people from that specific region itself.
​
OFFERINGS
-
Homemade food+diverse Indian cuisine ​- When people stay away from home, they get tired of having outside food everyday, so they have a craving for any home made food for its simplicity, hygiene and taste. People spend time and money to go to places which serve their local cuisine. We will provide options to our customers of home made food of their local cuisine.
-
No Commitment ​- Most of the existing services which provide home made food have a monthly subscription. So people get bored of having food from the same place. Desi aroma will provide their customers with options from a list of home chefs.
-
Dynamic Menu​ - Generally the meal menu in an Indian household varies everyday. Our home -chefs will update us daily about what they are cooking for their family.
-
Multiple Options​ - Options of different chefs who update their menu daily and option of different Indian and international cuisine.
-
Serving what we eat ​- We don’t serve food cooked by a home-chef from a pre listed menu. We serve what the chef cooks for their family.
-
Mini Meals & snacks​ - We bring you not only personal sized meals but also freshly prepared homemade snacks to make you feel at home whenever you are hungry.