Our Story
‘Khidkivada’ might sound to be a strange name for the one in oblivion. But for crores of Mumbaikars and Maharashtrians, it has become a household name synonymous with “Batate-Vada” (the Indian burger). There is a glorious history to this name. And this is our story.
In the late 1950s, Yeshwant, the youngest and the brightest son of Mr. Moreshwar Vaze of Kalyan had to quit his education to take up a job of a clerk in the Kohinoor textile mill at Dadar. Troubled by the economic crisis that had costed him his promising academics, Yeshwant, in the hope of making his ends meet, juggled through thousand side jobs while also continuing his clerkship sincerely. On December 6, 1968, he got married to Uma (neé Shobha Gondhalekar from Vardha). And that is when his industrious entrepreneurial skills received a perfect reciprocation from his hardworking dextrous bride.
To pay off the loans he had availed for arranging the wedding expenses, the couple decided to start a “Batate-Vada” (Indian Burger) shop at their home in Kalyan on the 24th day post their marriage (December 30, 1968). Until then, Batate-Vada was limited to the menu cards of restaurants while shops selling solely this food item were absent. In that sense, it was a novel and bold experiment by the Vazes. And thanks to the impressive culinary skills of Mrs. Uma, an affordable (10 paise) price, the satiating size and high quality of the product, this experiment was soon a big hit!
It must be the only example in the history of enterprises where a start-up was named by the customers and not the proprietors. The Batate-Vada business became popular by the day and fame grew by the word of mouth. People started calling the shop ‘Khidkivada’ by the virtue of the burger (Batate-vada) being sold through the road facing window (Khidki) of the Vaze’s household residence. This is how our brand was born, from the people and for the people.
After managing the mill job along with his blossoming business for almost 14 years, Mr. Yeshwant finally resigned from his clerkship and devoted himself completely to Khidkivada to never look back again. To counter the menace of copycats feeding off the name that Khidkivada had garnered for itself, Mr. and Mrs. Vaze, now led by their two young sons Nilesh and Shailesh, took another courageous leap ahead of their time. They got their brandname “KHIDKIVADA” registered and trademarked in 1991, again becoming the first “Batate-Vada” business to do so. Today, Khidkivada is patented and approved by all the major food regulating associations in India (FSSAI) and USA (FDA).
Now, Khidkivada has over 50 years of glorious history. While our original central shop is still based in Kalyan, we run a chain of franchises distributed across the suburbs of Mumbai, Pune and other cities of Maharashtra. The formula, the masala (spicy gravy), that renders this age old taste is now manufactured at an industrial level at our factory unit in Dapoli, Maharashtra. This ensures that all of our outlets guarantee the same typical taste, size and quality of our Khidkivada. Moreover, we market our formula by the name of “Khidkivada masala” which you can use to make and enjoy the classic Khidkivada in your own kitchen. As it comes handy to quickly make a number of other delicious vegetarian and non-vegetarian recipes and gravies, the Khidkivada masala has an overwhelming demand in the market in Maharashtra, Gujarat, the rest of India, as well as abroad (regularly exported to USA, UK and Europe).
With god’s grace and our customers’ eternal support, the small sapling of Khidkivada is now growing high nationally and internationally. However, we are well versed on the fact that our product provides for a day’s meal to the countless common people working in and around Mumbai. Therefore, we are deeply rooted to the ground by our philosophy of serving people with excellent quality and affordable price. Because after all, we are a brand made by the people and for the people.
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