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

Post by selimthegrim » Wed, Aug 15, 2018, 9:20 PM UTC

vram22 wrote: post #76

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…

I saw Mitra's reply downthread, but adding my 2c as an Indian: Buttermilk is commonly drunk with meals in India (both North and South, although lassi is very popular in the North too), and also separately as a refresher, more so in summer, often lightly spiced with cumin, hing (asafoetida), etc. and sometimes with a few green chillies in it (for the brave - heh:), and is considered a soothing drink, and also healthy…

Post by schoen » Wed, Aug 15, 2018, 9:29 PM UTC

guildenstern wrote: post #108

mitraraman wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Another vegan chiming in to say I assumed these weren’t suitable for me based on the name because buttermilk is an ingredient I see and think, “damn :(“. Veganism is very much about identifying red flags that make something unsuitable, so any reference to a non-vegan product is going to immediately turn off a non-zero portion of vegans because they won’t search out the ingredients to discover it is vegan. A key part…

Post by mike-cardwell » Wed, Aug 15, 2018, 9:30 PM UTC

sarchertech wrote: post #242

t1o5 wrote: post #200

You will have a hard time balancing the spice levels. You can't satisfy both Indian and non-Indian demographic or you will have to have a spicy, less spicy type of each item. As an Indian, I cant stand the westernized non spicy versions of the supposedly authentic Indian foods. So I wouldn't buy them nor eat in those type of Indian restaurants. Its the same case vice versa. Non Indians may not like the spicy versions…

In my experience non-westerners tend to underestimate the level of spiciness that westerners can handle (particularly westerners who are culinarily adventurous), and overestimate the average spiciness of their cuisine. If it's too spicy for me, it's too spicy for 99% of the population of any country, but it's damn near impossible to convince servers of that.

Post by lenocinor » Wed, Aug 15, 2018, 9:34 PM UTC

JoblessWonder wrote: post #144

As a non-Indian who enjoys Indian food, I'd be interested in this. However, if you want to market to non-Indians I'd suggest putting the dish description outside of the "Details" dropdown and up where the more general description is. Or start with the "Details" section expanded. Or rename "Details" to something else that lets you know that is where the more detailed description of the flavors is.

Post by GordonS » Wed, Aug 15, 2018, 9:37 PM UTC

mitraraman wrote: post #205

bogomipz wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>"The sodium comes from the traditional Indian spices used in each dish so it's an intricate process to adjust the levels and keep the same quality and taste." The majority of Indian spices are mostly single element spices - cumin, coriander, fennel, fenugreek, garlic etc. Even Garam Masala probably the most widely used multi-spice doesn't contain any salt. Could you elaborate on which "traditional" Indian spices hav…

Sorry for the confusion! I meant to specify that the traditional spices like you mentioned contain sodium, not salt. We include red and green chillies, homemade garam masala, ginger, etc. all of which add up to increased amounts of sodium in the product. We are working on lowering sodium in each product while maintaining the taste and flavor.