Viraj Bahl, founder and managing director of Veeba, shared how he grew from selling his house to start his company to winning Domino’s as the firm’s first major client.

What Happened: Bahl in a conversation with the Think School podcast said, “We were doing mayonnaise and ketchup for small restaurants, I used to go to Dominos five times a week. “How did I crack Domino’s? Nothing sexy, bheek mang ke (I begged),” Bahl added humorously.

“I remember how the front office exec felt sorry for me ‘They didn’t meet you, please leave now,'” Bahl added.

Veeba were looking to replace the existing vendor for sauces for Domino’s. When asked what was extra in his ketchup, Bahl said it was “innovation”. He explained that Veeba would do a healthier sauce with low-fat dressing and a lower-fat mayonnaise.

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He remarked that Domino’s wouldn’t work with the company if the plant was not world-standard, and so it had to audit its plant to make sure it was up to the mark. After the plant was audited and Domino’s gave the plant the green light, Bahl thought they had got the business, but they hadn’t. “That’s when the begging stage happened,” he said.

Bahl said that the worst period in his life was when the Veeba plant was set up and there was no revenue generation for a year.

“We had spent a lot of money, and we sold our house to start the plant,” he said. While the plant, quality control and production were set up, business was not coming in and salaries were going out every month, he said. “The desperation was to get business from Domino’s”, he said.

When Domino’s finally gave the order for 70 tonnes of product, it was equal to the production capacity of a month, Bahl added. The order helped the company find its feet, he said.

After the Domino’s order, the company quickly snagged Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell because they saw Veeba doing something right, Bahl added.

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