This week we tried out Grind On The Go, an initiative by Advanced Level (A/L) student Ahmed Aadil Fowzie who just finished his exams. An inspired business person and culinary enthusiast, Aadil launched Grind On The Go in June last year when he, like many of us, found some extra time on his hands.
Aadil shared that while he recently took time off to sit for his exams, he is now putting his full-time efforts into expanding and growing his business as much as possible until he sets off to university. He wishes to nurture this product as best he can.
Grind On The Go serves a simple menu consisting of several iced coffees, frappes, and a chocolate biscuit pudding. When asked how he wishes to set his brand apart from all the rest, especially considering his limited-item menu and the unprecedented rise in cloud kitchens, Aadil quite confidently stated that his product is good because they have perfected the basics. He said they have gone to great lengths to create a simple yet high-quality product that people across the board can enjoy.
However, he stated that while at present he offers a total of four items on the menu – including two types of iced coffee (one strong and the other medium), Nutella frappe, and chocolate biscuit pudding – with a new item soon to join its ranks (which we will talk about in just a moment), he does hope to expand its range, but with a focus on unique flavours.
He stated that he has been facing some difficulties during this lockdown when it comes to the packaging, as he must purchase his glass bottles, and gaining access to it has been a challenge. He also pointed out that sourcing some of the imported ingredients was a hurdle, noting that as the price of Nutella had recently gone up, he had to seriously consider taking the Nutella frappe off the menu due to the pricing disparity.
Grind On The Go offers 200 ml bottles at Rs. 200 for both iced coffees, and the Nutella frappe is priced at Rs. 300. We were incredibly happy with this pricing, especially the frappe, because it is evidently a premium item and it was delicious – great consistency, a good amount of Nutella flavouring comes through, and it is a solid product.
We also really enjoyed the fact that the iced coffees came with two coffee strengths, with the strong option having a stronger coffee flavour, a bit on the bitter side, and not at all sweet, which was a welcome change for iced coffee, and this option clearly won us over in comparison to the other, which was your average iced coffee – milky and very sweet.
What had us on the fence, however, was the chocolate biscuit pudding because of its pricing. We went on a little journey researching the general pricing of chocolate biscuit pudding in Sri Lanka, and we were shocked to find that they’re all ludicrously priced. You will be hard-pressed to find an affordable chocolate biscuit pudding, which by the way is a dessert of Sri Lankan origin. You may notice that this has been a particularly educational experience for us as we also Googled the actual definition of “frappé”, which we found to be “a drink served with ice or frozen to a slushy consistency”, and the term “Frappuccino®” is specific to Starbucks.
Moving on from our journey of food industry terminology enlightenment, we have to say the four-to-six-person serving of the pudding, which is the smaller portion (six-to-eight-person serving priced at Rs. 1750), did not feel like it was worth it. Of course, it tasted great and we thoroughly enjoyed the flavour, sharing it with about six people comfortably, but for this price, we kept saying “why don’t we just make this at home?” And really, when you buy a product, even if it is homemade, that is not ideal. This is not entirely the fault of the product, but rather chocolate biscuit pudding in general, which always feels like it would be better if a loved one made it. This is simply a personal observation.
Finally, the new upcoming item, which we were able to sneak a peek at before it officially hit the menu, is the almond-flavoured drink. This one came with bits of almond pieces in the mix, and while we don’t want to dash its hopes before it even hits the menu, this item was our least favourite. It was too sweet and the artificial almond flavouring was just not pleasant. Nevertheless, amongst the few people who tried it, there was one who genuinely enjoyed it, so there’s definitely hope.
Founded by one of the youngest entrepreneurs we have come across, Grind On The Go, while not perfect, has great potential, and we encourage you to show it some love.
Instagram: @grind.onthego
