Sarath Babu, a mealion dollar baby

Humble beginnings seldom pay. But E Sarath Babu will not buy that. For this 28-year-old, rags-to-riches is not just another adage. It’s his very foundation of success. From a slum in Chennai to the top echelons of academia with an enrolment in chemical engineering at BITS Pilani and IIM-A, and now as the steward of his Food King Catering business, Sarath has come a long way. His humility perhaps made him reject several high-brow offers from MNCs after his MBA. That, in a way, was the genesis of Food King Catering—with a paltry Rs 2,000 seed money.

Today, his food business spans six locations with a Rs 9-crore turnover to boot and set to clock Rs 20 crore by year-end. For Sarath, his mother, who once sold idlis on the pavements of Chennai and worked as an ayah, is a pillar of strength. “Her sacrifice eggs me on,” says Sarath. Apart from bringing up four children, Sarath’s mother worked as a cook for the mid-day meal scheme for 11 years and got paid just a rupee each day.

Having completed SSLC, she moved on to teach under the same scheme for five years. Even then, her salary was insufficient. So Sarath’s mom sought refuge in the food business to supplement her meager income. As she rolled dough in the form of idlis, dosas, bhajjis and appams, it was Sarath’s job to sell them in the neighbourhood. “For kids living in a slum, idlis for breakfast is something very special,” says Sarath even to this day.

A natural entrant to the food business with acquired acumen in childhood, Sarath has trained his sight higher. From the current 250 people, he’s aiming to recruit 2,000 people by next year, “and probably, 5,000 in the next two years”.

Initially, his catering business, with two units in Ahmedabad, was Rs 2,000-per -day in the red. “But I burnt the midnight oil literally to get a solution,” Sarath says. It’s worth a mention here that Sarath spent most of his childhood in the dark, without electricity. He focused on volumes rather than spartan servings, and started taking contracts from institutions and companies.

To bag an order, Sarath even slept on the platform of Mumbai’s railway station. “That’s one of my finest nights I’ve ever had,” Sarath reminisces. Today, Food King is targeting 100 clients, including 50 top institutions and 50 corporates for the snacks business — South Indian, North Indian and Chinese food.

Food business is not just about selling but also taking care of quality and the people associated with it, Sarath points out. He now envisions FoodKing’s Palace (food malls) across cities where all kinds of Indian food would be served at “economical rates”. And how does he manage his team? “I ask them to write their dreams on a piece of paper and advise them to think of developing themselves,” says Sarath.

Is he really worried about inflation or price-rise in food products? When most of the restaurants have increased their prices, Sarath sees an opportunity to serve at a cheaper price. “Sourcing from one place makes a lot of difference. I will tap this opportunity,” says Sarath. Today, he drives a Chevrolet to take his mother for a ride to oversee his business units in Chennai. “Next, I want to build a house for my mother,” says Sarath.