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Launch HN: The Buttermilk Company (YC S18) – Homemade Indian Food in 5 Minutes

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Re: Launch HN: The Buttermilk Company (YC S18) – Homemade Indian Food in 5 Minutes

#41

Post by parthdesai »

neya wrote: post #11

How is this any different from MTR's line of products?[1] And given that MTR's products cost just $2.50 per pack where I currently live, $24 isn't exactly cheap. I haven't tasted your product, but I have tasted the MTR ones and they seem pretty authentic. And MTR being a very old, traditional brand, it's as authentic as it gets. Would love to hear about your differentiation strategy. [1] https://www.mtrfoods.com/prod…

Maybe i'm just picky but MTR or even (Gits) is horrible. Deep is the only one that is somewhat decent.

Re: Launch HN: The Buttermilk Company (YC S18) – Homemade Indian Food in 5 Minutes

#42

Post by mitraraman »

infinite8s wrote: post #20
neya wrote: post #11

How is this any different from MTR's line of products?[1] And given that MTR's products cost just $2.50 per pack where I currently live, $24 isn't exactly cheap. I haven't tasted your product, but I have tasted the MTR ones and they seem pretty authentic. And MTR being a very old, traditional brand, it's as authentic as it gets. Would love to hear about your differentiation strategy. [1] https://www.mtrfoods.com/prod…

Haven't tried any food from buttermilk, but if their shelf life is any indication their food is much fresher than MTRs. MTR's packets are good for at least a year (and taste like it - they are passable in a pinch but definitely have that preservative taste to them). I think buttermilk is competing with freshly made or restaurant quality food. Edit: was wrong about MTR using preservatives, but I've always found their…

Yes, you're right! We are a fresher and healthier option than frozen meals, with a more authentic and varied selection.

Re: Launch HN: The Buttermilk Company (YC S18) – Homemade Indian Food in 5 Minutes

#43

Post by opportune »

J_cst wrote: post #33
MrEfficiency wrote: post #4

>The options were expensive 5 Spice packets for 24$ isnt what I consider cheap, given I eat for an entire week on ~20$, including a curry chicken dish. If I misunderstood(like veggies and beans are included), could you mention that in the product page?

Do you mind to share what you eat for 20usd/week and, more importantly, in which region you achieve that? I am in Italy, and I believe that budget would suffice for maximum one day. Thank you

I have lived on that before in the US and it’s not that hard. You just need to buy macro-nutritionally dense food at super markets - rice, chicken, beans, cooking oil, butter, oatmeal, noodles, etc.

Of course the problem is that you don’t get a super varied diet which can be problematic both mentally and nutritionally. It can also become a bit harder to incorporate fruits and veggies into your diet when they’re not on sale. And you also need to cook a decent amount

When I was in Rome I found that I could eat on less than $20 a day extremely easily so unless you’re going to restaurants every day I’m not sure how you spent so much

Re: Launch HN: The Buttermilk Company (YC S18) – Homemade Indian Food in 5 Minutes

#45

Post by xenihn »

sgoel wrote: post #35

Why is the sodium level so high? The dal pack has 1220 milligrams of sodium per serving? It seems rather unethical for you to be marketing high sodium products to a group of people that should not be eating a daily amount of sodium in one sitting.

Is everything offered that salty? My biggest issue with the packets of Indian food at Trader Joe's is how much sodium they have, otherwise I would eat 2-3 of those every day. I have to keep track of my sodium intake or my face bloats.

Re: Launch HN: The Buttermilk Company (YC S18) – Homemade Indian Food in 5 Minutes

#46

Post by mitraraman »

schoen wrote: post #38
dotBen wrote: post #30

I think you should consider your addressable market to be greater than Indian expats - I'm a Brit and I miss my curry living here as much as anyone from India! Two quick thoughts: 1) I don't get your branding, especially the company name, and especially as all of your meals are vegan. 2) Shipping meat-based meals is presumably a very different and more expensive logistical challenge so I get the reason why there's no…

> 1) I don't get your branding, especially the company name, and especially as all of your meals are vegan. As I mentioned downthread, I was planning to skip this completely because of the name until one of the founders happened to mention in a comment that the meals are vegan. I don't normally associate "buttermilk" with anything that I eat as a vegan. This might be a tricky marketing issue, because a huge amount of…

That's a great point about the branding. Why we're called Buttermilk: Buttermilk is eaten at the end of almost every South Indian meal to "cool down" the stomach. As a South Indian myself, this is one of my go-to comfort foods. The aim with the company is to provide authentic, comfort foods which is how we came about to using it for the name! Plus, it's a known and easy-to-say word.

We didn't actually launch with the aim of only providing vegan meals, it just so happened that our first dishes are all vegan! This has definitely caused some confusion so we'll continue to iterate on our branding/messaging.

Re: Launch HN: The Buttermilk Company (YC S18) – Homemade Indian Food in 5 Minutes

#47

Post by xenihn »

J_cst wrote: post #33
MrEfficiency wrote: post #4

>The options were expensive 5 Spice packets for 24$ isnt what I consider cheap, given I eat for an entire week on ~20$, including a curry chicken dish. If I misunderstood(like veggies and beans are included), could you mention that in the product page?

Do you mind to share what you eat for 20usd/week and, more importantly, in which region you achieve that? I am in Italy, and I believe that budget would suffice for maximum one day. Thank you

For me it involves shopping at Costco, but you'll be spending $120+ upfront and you will need freezer space.

Re: Launch HN: The Buttermilk Company (YC S18) – Homemade Indian Food in 5 Minutes

#48

Post by mitraraman »

dotBen wrote: post #30

I think you should consider your addressable market to be greater than Indian expats - I'm a Brit and I miss my curry living here as much as anyone from India! Two quick thoughts: 1) I don't get your branding, especially the company name, and especially as all of your meals are vegan. 2) Shipping meat-based meals is presumably a very different and more expensive logistical challenge so I get the reason why there's no…

Thank you for your feedback! Note about why we're called Buttermilk below.

Re: meat-based options, we have added suggestions for meat to mix in with each dish under 'How to eat'! We plan on adding more in-depth recipes in the near future.

Re: Launch HN: The Buttermilk Company (YC S18) – Homemade Indian Food in 5 Minutes

#49

Post by mitraraman »

akshatpradhan wrote: post #25

Nutrition Label upfront, in words and text. I know there is a picture but I missed it, some of the nutrition labels are like the 4th picture. Some of the starter packs don’t have nutrition label on it either.

Great feedback. We will update our website accordingly!

Re: Launch HN: The Buttermilk Company (YC S18) – Homemade Indian Food in 5 Minutes

#50

Post by praneshp »

neya wrote: post #11

How is this any different from MTR's line of products?[1] And given that MTR's products cost just $2.50 per pack where I currently live, $24 isn't exactly cheap. I haven't tasted your product, but I have tasted the MTR ones and they seem pretty authentic. And MTR being a very old, traditional brand, it's as authentic as it gets. Would love to hear about your differentiation strategy. [1] https://www.mtrfoods.com/prod…

Not sure how OP's product is different, but MTR's food is not good at all. Even assuming that a $2.50 pack is enough for you (I find that I need two at most times for my regular hunger), it's not good to eat at all. I usually reserve it for national park trips only (the convenience of popping the pack into boiling water or into the microwave for 2 mins is unbeatable).

As far as authenticity goes, most of their stuff isn't. I would actually put them in the "very very bad attempt" category. But it could just represent the food of local area where they started (and that's not really acceptable, given that they make a wide range of stuff).

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