In The News
Software Executive Gets Taste of Food Business

   San Fernando Business Journal - December 2005

by: Jeff Weiss

Sudipta K. “Basu,” Ghosh, the president of Calabasas-based software consulting firm, Omnikron Systems Inc., is about to launch another business endeavor, one that has nothing to do with the world of computers. Along with his son, Robin Ghosh, Basu Ghosh has his heart set out on being the Omaha Steaks of Indian cuisine, as he has founded Basu’s Homestyle Indian Cuisine, a new Calabasas-based company that aims to deliver frozen and delicious traditional Indian delicacies direct to its customer’s homes.

A long-time cooking enthusiast, Ghosh had long entertained the idea of opening an Indian food restaurant and had even gone as far to be a passive investor in several other people’s restaurants ventures. Yet despite running his successful concept company, Ghosh never got over the idea of serving his home-cooked meals that had garnered raves from his friends and family.

“At first, I decided to just go ahead and open a restaurant, but I soon realized that the most important thing about running one was about paying attention to minute details. I’m more of a concept guy and I soon realized that I wouldn’t enjoy the grind of the day-to-day challenge. So about a year and half ago, I decided to go with selling frozen foods.”

Initially, Ghosh considered making frozen dinners and placing them in upscale markets such as Whole Foods and Bristol Farms, but Ghosh realized that consumers who bought frozen dinners were generally more interested in price point than quality. Knowing that he couldn’t compete with companies like Lean Cuisine that sold frozen meals for $3 a pop, Ghosh settled on the idea of marketing the frozen meals directly to customers homes.

“My original goal was to create a set of recipes and products to be sold frozen to the consumers. The core proposition was to make food as good if you came to my house and I had cooked for them,” Ghosh said. “It was tough at first to translate the home cooking to large scale preparation being done at the factory. But after a year and a half of product testing, we’re certain that we’ve gotten it down perfect.”

Throughout the entire process, Ghosh relied heavily on his son, Robin (Basu’s Homestyle’s director of operations), who had formerly been employed at Omnikron. Though Robin Ghosh had been dissatisfied at Omnikron, the elder Ghosh claims that this project has been a much better experience for both of them.

“From day one, Robin has taken a keen interest in the business and has become my go-to-man. He works on all parts of the business, including dealing with the manufacturer, the product designers and our website,” Ghosh said. “We work in tandem. I’ve really been enjoying the experience and he’s made the business happen. It’s been a blessing to work with my son and build a business together from scratch. I hope that one day, he will completely take over and run it all by himself.”

After a year and half process of getting the recipes down pat and developing a client base to sell to, Basu’s Homestyle is preparing to launch at the beginning of January. Ghosh claims that the company already has hundreds of customers ready to receive the deliveries.