Vinit Patil’s tiffin box always stood out in his class and was over seconds after it was opened. Today, he has capitalised on his mother’s magic in the kitchen in a big way.
After putting four out of five sharks in a bidding war on Shark Tank Season 2, they accepted a joint offer of Rs 40 lakh for 4% equity from Peyush Bansal and Anupam Mittal.
Back in the day, Geeta, Vinit’s mother, would make Maharashtrian snacks like chakli or puranpoli for her neighbours during festivals for free, and they loved it.
But, when her husband lost his job, Geeta decided to make use of her popularity, of being a good cook in nearby areas, to support the family.
“Until 2016, I was cooking out of my passion. But once I decided to start a small business as a means to run our household, I couldn’t afford to take it easy any longer,” she says.
Then in 2021, combining his mother’s talents and his marketing knowledge, Vinit started the brand ‘Patil Kaki’, which earns around Rs 1 crore per year today.
He says, “I wanted to help aai scale this business and take it forward. I have seen the amount of hard work that she has poured into this.”
At Patil Kaki, 70% of the workforce is women, who are all working for the very first time. And, all the operations happen in a 1,200 sq ft space in Santacruz.
Modaks, puranpoli and chakli are their bestsellers, while there is also a constant demand for their besan ladoo and chivda.
They ship over 3,000 orders every month in Mumbai and Pune, and are planning to expand delivery to other places too.