Ankur Indoria, a BBA graduate from East West College of Management in Bengaluru, decided he wouldn’t wait for businesses to open in order to get his practical training as an entrepreneur. He came up with the prototype of a portable cart for a sandwich maker that could be stationed anywhere.
“In India, there are big food brands as well as street vendors who operate individually. We decided on a meeting point of the two — a high quality brand of street food; that would be our motto,” says Ankur.
The result was a portable box, which included a cylinder, burner, manual toaster, storage and money box.
“I’ve called the brand ‘Oh-Ho’ and there is only one item on our menu; the ‘Street Toast 101,’ a vegetarian sandwich,” he says.
While it may sound simple enough, the menu and cart structure has been planned keeping the future in mind. “When we expand, it will be easy for potential employees to dish out a sandwich in a minute. The whole point of working the cart myself is to experience glitches first-hand, so they can be ironed out for others.”
A second Oh-Ho cart with bigger tyres and a provision to make more sandwiches is currently in the works. However, there are no plans to expand the menu. “It is based on the same premise as your neighbourhood paani-puri vendor; just one item that is done well. We worked on a lot of variations before we locked this particular recipe down,” he says.
Corn, bell peppers, olives, tofu and other vegetables are sauteed in olive oil, stuffed into garlic bread with grated cheese and grilled. It costs ₹40.
One can easily spot Oh-Ho on Bengaluru’s Church Street every day of the week, especially as it is the only food cart complete with a music system, manned by a man in a monkey mask.
Ask him why and he says, “One, it is the novelty factor. Second, I believe we are still advanced apes with mobile phones.”