Meet Aamir Wani: The Man Behind Wazwan Box

Tell us about yourself?

I am Aamir Mumtaz Wani, 29 years old from Natipora Srinagar, I have done MBA Marketing & Human Resource from IUST and passed out in the year 2016. I have worked for the Aditya Birla Group for more than 7 years.

Tell us about Wazwan box

It was 1st July 2020, one of my friends, Shafiq, and I were having quality time in my home, reimagining childhood days and days when we used to have a lot of Wazwan. It was during that time we realized the food served locally was of poor quality. Hence we thought of doing something about it and then it all started.

I started this venture on 1st July 2020 in the middle of the pandemic. I wanted to fill the gap between the desire of having wazwan and fulfilling it. I did some research among friends and family and got a good response that we can bring Wazwan in the form of a cloud kitchen and make it available to the people who wish to have it in offices, at the comfort of home, mid-day craving or while organizing parties.

Wazwan box is a kitchen, proudly serving the Kashmiri cuisine all over Srinagar as of now, apart from wazwan, we serve Mughlai and some Chinese & continental dishes too.

What struggles had you go through in your journey

Well in Kashmir operating any business is a struggle in itself due to lots of constraints be it operational hours or issues with the internet, and ours is not any different. If you ask me I want to be operational 24*7, here in Kashmir that’s just not possible due to the situation, internet gags often create issues for us as people look out for us on social media or other digital platforms. Apart from this, we face logistical support, we don’t have many delivery companies operating in Srinagar, for now, we have our in house delivery guys who deliver to almost in entire Srinagar, with only a few delivery guys delivering many orders, and often our order takes longer than usual and that is the area of major concern as of now, but we are working on it and trying to increase my recourses with whatever I have for now and I am hopeful that in coming years wazwan box will expand in other districts as well.

What type of organization and sanitation system do you enforce as the owner of this cloud kitchen?

In the organizational concept I believe as an owner I owe a responsibility to my kitchen because my whole input, as well as output, will be impacted by the level of consistency in the proper organization. I try to inculcate innovative ideas, designing concepts, and subject knowledge in the organizational field. As far as sanitation is concerned, firstly I ensure that people working with me commit towards hygiene because that is integral to my work. Also, sanitation is something which we are very particular about, in pandemic we became extra cautious to make sure our food is delivered with safety and hygiene, our types of equipment get steam washed after before and after every preparation, our chefs cant enter the kitchen without proper gear like head covers, masks, and gloves. Our delivery guys can’t enter the kitchen premises, we do temperature checks of staff every morning before they enter the kitchen, and a hand sanitizer bottle is always given to our delivery boys along with new PPE kits each day.

How do you see the future of the Wazwan box?

I wish to explore other districts as well and hopefully within 2 years wazwan box will be served in most of the districts across Kashmir, we are planning to open another cloud kitchen in the south of Srinagar to serve new areas and by the end of this year, we shall be operational. Also as demand is increasing we are looking for people who can help us out with various tasks, if anyone is interested they can reach us at our Instagram page called ‘Wazwan Box’ or on our Facebook page titled same, we usually post about jobs there.

Your message to the young entrepreneur of Kashmir

My message to young professionals and students is to take risks even if you fail you will come out as a learner and not a failure. Before starting any business learn about the market, you don’t need capital only, talk to people who are familiar with it, don’t shy from learning. No business reaches the sky on day one it’s the determination and persistence on what you want to achieve that makes the business flourish. My best wishes to all of you.

Interview by
Durdanah Masoodi