- On health foods and braving the pandemic
Joshua’s Tree Founder Kaushalya De Silva shared with Brunch her journey since the launch of her cloud kitchen just five months prior, how the pandemic has treated her small business, and the new direction she has envisioned for her initiative.
Kaushalya was quick to express her gratitude towards her customers for the love and support she has received. “I must say that it has been a blessed and an overwhelming journey for us so far. As for any start up small business we had our ups and downs but mostly the love and support we have been receiving from our customers made it all worth going forward,” she said.
She noted that while restaurants shuttered during lockdowns and limitations on social gatherings, food delivery soared, which created a window for cloud kitchens to be more recognised by consumers. “Being a startup cloud kitchen, this gave us the opportunity and the exposure to reach our target audience at the right time,” she said, adding that “as any business we also have been greatly affected by the current economic crisis in the country. The biggest challenge we are facing at the moment is the lack of resources to run our operations smoothly”.
Despite the challenges, Joshua’s Tree is looking to keep things fresh and they have made some exciting new introductions to their menu.
Kaushalya shared some details about what to expect.
Tell us about your health food line. What are some items you will be introducing?
Our weekly healthy meal planner solves a problem in any hungry and busy person’s life, which generally involves lack of time to shop and decide what’s for dinner and sticking to a diet plan. We took a step further by doing all the prep work for our customers. That means fresh meals arrive at your home fully-cooked, and everything is designed to be ready to heat and serve in under three minutes. Our main focus is to offer meals that will satisfy your cravings without compromising on your diet plan. Our menu changes weekly, therefore you’ll never get fed up with eating the same meals every week. If customers have any special requirements, they also have the option of getting a customised meal plan according to their requirement.
Apart from the healthy meal plan we have also introduced a separate weekly lunch menu too.
What’s the reason behind this type of new health focused items? What was the inspiration behind it?
Whether you’re trying to lose some extra kilos or improve your nutrition, planning your meals is a helpful way to ensure you’re eating well and can make a big difference to your goals and your wallet. We spend a lot of time deciding what to eat, grocery shopping, cooking and then cleaning up after dinner. We all know planning meals can be an unnecessary stress, particularly on weekdays when you have the morning rush and race home from work and try to get a healthy, nutritious meal on the table. People work against the clock every day to get their daily chores done and finally ends spending on takeaways and eating out.
Most of my existing customers who are under the meal plan are focusing on weight reduction, weight gain, and some customers who have diabetes. We also have new moms on board with us, and there are some who are on customised meal plans too.
Cooking has always been my passion, and if my passion can make a positive impact on society why not?
What’s next for Joshua’s Tree?
We are currently planning on expanding our business and soon we will have a physical location where customers can walk in and enjoy their meals.
Instagram: @joshuastreelk
Facebook: Joshua’s Tree
