From Wok to World: House of Wok's Ambitious Growth Strategy Targets Global Markets in 2024

The House of Wok, a popular restaurant chain, draws its inspiration from the innovations found in global cuisine. It was born out of a personal culinary experience at a small eatery during extensive travels. The restaurant's concept is straightforward: customers can customize their meals by choosing from various options of rice or noodles, proteins and vegetables, and sauces. Everything is freshly cooked and served in convenient boxes.

Sajat Jain, Co-Founder and CEO of House of Wok, opens up on his journey and expansion of the company.  

1. What was the inspiration behind House of Wok?

The inspiration for the House of Wok has always been my extensive travels across the world and the huge influence of local cuisine, that I always make it a point to try and explore. During one such memorable trip I stumbled upon a tiny food spot with a long queue. The concept was simple: choose rice or noodles, pick your protein and veggies, and select a sauce. The dish was then prepared before your eyes and served in a convenient box. Among my numerous culinary experiences, this particular one stayed on with me for a long time. Inspired by this innovative food experience, in 2019 House of Wok came to life, embodying a fusion of my travel discoveries with tailored adjustments to our Indian market.

2. What motivated you to make this career in the F&B and how did your background in technology help you grow in this segment.

In 2018, an opportunity came my way to transition from my venture-funded health tech startup to a new venture. I always dreamt of owning a restaurant and this transition allowed me to realise this dream. Leveraging my technology background, we implemented software to monitor real-time inventories and food costs.

We have also implemented digital tools to streamline our kitchen operations, minimizing reliance on paper and mitigating manual errors. Data obtained from our online channel partners is analysed to help us take informed decisions on both operational and marketing strategies.

3. With the launch of a new outlet in Mohali, what are your future-plans for House of Wok in 2024.

2024 holds great promise for the House of Wok family as we are set to expand with five new restaurants in the pipeline. Within the next four months, we will be opening outlets in Delhi, Gurgaon, and Punjab and each one is promised to be a delightful addition to our ever-growing legacy.

4. Can you share some of the challenges you have faced in your entrepreneurial journey so far?

Lack of experience in the industry led us to burn a lot of money at the beginning. It took us a while to understand the nuances of the trade, and set up processes that would help us to not only offer consistency in taste and quality to our customers, but also optimize operations.

We have had great success in setting up base kitchen operations for a few of our items, and are planning to build on that to cover more of our menu. The end goal is to have a tighter control on the quality of food reaching our customers which isn’t always possible when procuring from multiple vendors.

We are building a supply chain to not only help our company owned kitchens but also support our franchisees to help them offer the same level of taste and experience to our customers.

5. Are you planning to launch any new restaurant in other cities of India ?

Our expansion plans include exploring new geographical locations and opening additional restaurants to reach new markets and cater to a wider customer base. We are always looking for regional/local franchise partners who are as passionate about food as we are, and are looking forward to bringing House of Wok to their cities.

6. What according to you is the key point that differentiates HOW from any other Pan -Asian restaurant chain?

The USP of House of Wok lies in our commitment to using only the freshest and highest quality ingredients for all our dishes. We don’t serve anything that we can’t eat ourselves or serve our family. We also pride ourselves on our ability to cater to the varied tastes and preferences of our customers by offering a wide range of vegetarian and gluten-free options. Our menu is designed to take customers on a culinary journey through the different regions of Asia. It’s our consistency and perseverance that sets us apart. A validation we keep getting from our loyal customers who keep coming back to us everytime they want to repeat their House of Wok favourites.