Celebrity chef and entrepreneur Saransh Goila of MasterChef fame has joined hands with India’s leading creator-led live entertainment commerce platform Roposo to launch a co-created cookware brand Delishaas. With a product line of trendy, quirky, and high-quality cookware essentials, the brand celebrates the love of cooking and joins a long list of co-created brands that have been launched by Roposo over the last year through Glance Collective — a joint venture between Roposo’s parent company, Glance, and talent management firm, Collective Artists Network. These brands include EK with Ektaa Kapoor in the home, wellness and ethnic-wear category; a limited-edition streetwear brand KRA with BeYouNick (aka Nikunj Lotia), and DCRAF with Rana Daggubati in the men’s grooming market. We catch up with Saransh to find out more about this joint venture.
What was the start of your journey with food?
I started cooking when I was 12 or 13 years old, it began as a hobby. I would see my grandfather cook and spend a lot of time in the kitchen and that made me curious, and I realised, “Oh, men can cook too.” The stereotype did exist back then, and it was nice to break it and start cooking at a very young age. As I grew older, I realised that I had a sort of a gift to cook great tasting food in the kitchen and I naturally gravitated towards becoming a chef. My grandfather was very supportive, which led into the world of food.
How is Delishaas different from other cookware brands available in the market?
I would like to believe we are a smart cookware brand made with high quality metal. The technology that we have used in making these pots and pans is innovative, and we are doing different kinds of ranges. One is a tri-ply stainless steel range and the other is a Greblon non-stick aluminium range. The products, especially the Dutch Oven has been designed in a manner that you can cook your biryani or curries in it and then bring it to your dinner table using it as a serving dish too. We have kept the aesthetics in mind. They are also healthy for cooking as we have ensured not to use any APEO, PFOA or any other chemicals. They are designed to avoid spillage and the interior coating makes it scratch resistant.
We have noticed the trend where chefs are opening restaurants and starting their own brands of cookware or food.
My little learning as an entrepreneur, and I use that word because before that I was just a chef in a kitchen. In my journey of becoming an entrepreneur from a chef, I have learnt that you have to be open to share your ideas and thoughts with the world. You have to be okay with sitting across tables or social media and sharing what you believe in, whether it is a cookware range, restaurant or a masala. I think, I was able to share this vision of Delishaas, I never thought it could be a brand and only thought of it as a hashtag. I was open to sharing this idea with Roposo and they did so much more with something that was just a fun cooking related wordplay. I was able to share my ideas and designs with them and they were very open and accepting of the fact that we should have a bit of Saransh in this range. All the co-creation with the platform has enabled me to launch this. I feel any chef and creator in today’s day and age should look for creation like this. Collaboration is the future and I believe it is truly the right way to grow and extend your user base. Also, not one person can do everything, so it helps to have a solid team backing you.
Who inspired you to be a part of the culinary industry? When did you decide that you wanted to be a part of the industry?
It was definitely my grandfather as I watched him spend a lot of time in the kitchen and cook, when I was a kid. Alongside, to name some legends — it was Sanjeev Kapoor, Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay.
What are your future plans with Delishaas or are there any new shows or collaborations?
Currently, all my efforts are planned towards pushing Delishaas till the end of the year. We are looking at engaging with all my fans and community with Delishaas, you’ll see a lot of recipes rolling out and there will be an upgrade to my kitchen. Apart from that, content is something that I keep making on the site; we’ll be creating a live entertainment show on Roposo which will be based around food, sort of first-of-its-kind. Alongside, Goila Butter Chicken is growing as a brand, and we are currently at 25 stores across the country.
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