Currently operating in 22 places in Goa on a franchisee model, Taaza Tokri is a welcome step for those who prefer buying their daily requirement of vegetables and fruits instead of stuffing their refrigerators with weekly quotas. The Goan takes a closer look at this tempting alternative to going grocery shopping
BHARATI PAWASKAR
Radha Borkar, a homemaker from Margao was worried about how she was going to entertain her friends who had called her saying they are going to drop in for tea and hot batatawadas. Radha’s kitchen shelves were empty and she really didn’t have enough potatoes and onions to make instant batatawadas for these uninvited guests. There wasn’t enough time to make a quick trip to the grocer, so she decided to call Margao Bazaar’s Taaza Tokri counter to drop in the necessary ingredients, including onions, potatoes, chillies, garlic, ginger, coriander and curry leaves.
Tazaa Tokri had all of this and since the billing was over Rs 200, their person took Radha’s address and was at her doorstep with all her stuff and the bill. The delivery was absolutely free which saved Radha’s time and energy, both. She happily turned to the kitchen and within an hour was ready to serve platefuls of hot batatawadas.
Taaza Tokri’s three outlets in Margao offers this facility of home delivery within the city of Margao and its outskirts, till Fatorda. “Taaza Tokri is a franchisee model that works on the concept of offering fresh fruits and vegetables at reasonable rates,” explains Amey Kossambe, who runs the three outlets in Margao. Like him there are many in Goa who have taken the franchisee of Taaza Tokri and sell fruits and vegetables in air-conditioned outlets across the state.
Amey admits that there are over two dozen Taaza Tokri outlets in Goa currently and the plan is to expand the number to 40 by 2019 year-end. Taaza Tokri is a brainchild of three friends – Vinit Bichu, Rahul Kulkarni and Ganesh Oulkar who run a cold storage chain - Saurabh Cold Storage (Karnataka) Ltd in Belgaum. The trio initiated and worked on the concept to make available farm fresh fruits and vegetables at air-conditioned outlets to the consumers in cities at a considerably reasonable price.
Currently operating in 22 places on a franchisee model in Goa, Taaza Tokri, has been a welcome step for those who prefer buying their daily requirement of vegetables and fruits instead of stuffing their refrigerators with weekly quota. Amey, a public works department contractor from Sanguem has concentrated on opening Taaza Tokri units in Margao. Initially starting three outlets of Taaza Tokri in Margao and one in Vasco, Amey has added Taaza Tokri counter at his newly started Margao Bazaar on the Eastern Bypass road in Margao too where all Indian as well as exotic variety of fresh fruits are available which are supplied from the original outlet of Taaza Tokri in Belgaum.
In Goa, the unit of Taaza Tokri was first installed at Goa Sahakar Bhandar, Panaji. The Margao branch of the Goa Sahakar Bhandar too had a counter of Taaza Tokri but when this counter was about to close, Vinit asked Amey to look out for another option in Margao. “Initially, I tried locating a good spot for Vinit, but later I thought of getting myself associated with Taaza Tokri and take up their franchise to start my outlets at three places in Margao and one at Vasco.”
The first outlet of Taaza Tokri was started on October 8, 2017 at Margao, the second in Vasco, the third in Fatorda and the fourth at Gogol in June 2018 but Amey shut it soon and shifted it to Margao Market area where he expected more footfalls. He then opened Margao Bazaar on November 8, 2018 where he opened a counter of Taaza Tokri too. “This concept is picking up fast and Taaza Tokri intends to spread its wings to more cities,” quips Amey on behalf of Vinit.
“At Margao Bazaar we keep anything and everything under the roof,” claims Amey. There’s chakki fresh wheat aata along with milk of reputed brands, grocery, FMCG goods, Patanjali products and of course the farm fresh vegetables and fruits on our Taaza Tokri counter. In addition he also has Lakdi Ghana groundnut oil from Sangli and organically grown bananas from Goa. “We are planning to open a counter exclusively for organically grown farm produce. We have plan to sell Panchagavya – a product of medicinal value,” briefs Amey.
Margao Bazaar has membership card system and the prices of some of their daily consumption items are less than MRP. “We are open on all days except Tuesday – except our market outlet which is closed on Sunday and open on week days from 6.30 am to 9.30 pm. We are open even during lunch time, no break in between and our home delivery time is from 9 am to 6 pm,” says Amey who is planning to open one more Margao Bazar outlet at Fatorda in the first trimester of 2019.
Taaza Tokri rates at par with horticulture dept rates but quality is much better, claims Amey, adding, “We sell in hygienic conditions, the vegetables are sorted out, there’s no dirt or mud, even the onions and potatoes are sorted out and clean. One can buy even a sack blindly – there is absolutely no wastage. Taza Tokri has iceberg lettuce, basil leaves, celery, parsley, broccoli, jukini, red and yellow capsicum, Thai chillies and imported fruits such as kiwi, apples apart from the Indian ones - watermelon, oranges, bananas, custard apple, pomegranate, grapes and bora.”
(For home delivery one can call 9823132759 or 7378537476) HOME GROCER
There are over two dozen Taaza Tokri outlets in Goa currently and the plan is to expand the number to 40 by 2019 year-end
It is a brainchild of three friends – Vinit Bichu, Rahul Kulkarni and Ganesh Oulkar who run a cold storage chain in Belgaum
Margao Bazaar has membership card system and the prices of some of their daily consumption items are less than MRP
