Save the last bite

A mix of white, milk and dark chocolate Best Bites ready to be packed. Pics/Satej Shinde

When we bit into a freshly baked hot waffle on a stick at Bandra flea market in 2014, a few more irresistible bites followed. That year, Waffle House made its entry into offline hot waffle stores with a host of tempting combinations. By 2019, they had 25 outlets across India and by March 2020, they had signed a deal with a multiplex platform for 300 screens. But the pandemic had other plans. Overnight, they ran out of business.

Founders Nidhi Gadia and her husband Harsh Gadia, regrouped and began to work on a 2.0 version; this time, renaming Waffle House as Nova Nova, to accommodate more products. Last week, we stepped into their central kitchen in Goregaon East; the space exudes the sweet aroma of fresh waffles. Tables are filled with trays of different products at various stages of production. Bars are dipped in chocolate; cookies get a sprinkle, and tarts are being packed. They offer 200 products on their website, but our trip was largely focused on one product - Best Bites. These are chocolate-filled mini-cones that every ice cream lover looks forward too, and wishes there was more of the triangular sweet ending.

A mix of bars, waffles, and cookies

"When the pandemic struck, I remember being left with Nidhi and a sole chef. The rest had returned to their home towns or villages. We had one product that had been developed but not released - the Belgian waffle cookie. We shot some pictures and released it online. It went viral, and soon enough, we were back on track; this time for an online business for snackable, high-shelf life products," says Harsh.

In eight years, their central kitchen has grown from 400 sq ft to 5,000 sq ft, and a round of seed funding has also buoyed their operations. "Since its inception, our idea has been to make innovations in international products. That's how the mini cones came to be. It includes the same ingredients as most of our products and was ready after six months of R&D that involved a team of food technologists, engineers and chefs. Many of our products pair well with ice cream and this, we were sure, would be a classic combo.

Nidhi and Harsh Gadia at their central kitchen in Goregaon East

"Today people prefer smaller-bite desserts with a longer shelf life. It took time to develop a machine that would make these cones. When we launched with our first machine, our orders shot through the roof. We could not keep up with it; also, making another machine would take time. So, we finally scaled up and now we do 500-plus orders a day," says Nidhi. One of their other upcoming products is a granola peanut butter and madeleines that have a 30-day shelf life. While freshly baked chunky cookies are transformed into mini polo bites, their peanut butter has the goodness of granola. Indulgent chocolate tarts come with layers of caramel, white chocolate and ganache. To complement this selection, they have introduced a line of flavoured coffees like hazelnut, vanilla and caramel. We popped it in a milkshake, on a day we craved for a sweetened coffee kick.

"We call ourselves the HnM for food. The FMCG sector has picked up beautifully in the lockdown and it will get better with niche product manufacturers being able to reach a pan-India audience," signs off Harsh.

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