World on a platter: How expats are taking over Bengaluru's F&B industry by serving authentic fare

BENGALURU: Little did Jimmy Yeoh, an expat from Malaysia, ever imagine that homesickness would result in a food business in Bengaluru and get funding from legendary F&B establishment Koshy’s.

On moving to Bengaluru as the CEO of a luxury tech company, Yeoh would miss his home food and began spending time in the kitchen. His friends identified his culinary prowess and suggested to meet restaurateurs. Koshy’s came on board and asked him to supply Malaysian Kaya coconut jam for their breakfast menu. Today, Yeoh supplies about 100 kg of Kaya jam per month to even The Egg Factory, The Fatty Bao and Bangalore Club.

“Bengaluru’s cultural diversity and the willingness to experiment with food helped me. While I provide authentic flavours from my country to the restaurants here, Indian spices and curries have added a layer to my understanding of the city’s culture,” says Yeoh, founder of Serendipity Foods which also supplies coconut milk and pancakes.




It’s not just him. Quite a few expats here have hopped onto the thriving F&B scene. They have turned suppliers of base ingredients like jams, sauces, pastes and breads for restaurants serving world cuisine.

Take the case of Israeli couple and serial entrepreneurs Yair and Vardit Abramovich, directors at CTB Foods & Hospitality. The expats make and supply Mediterranean staples like pita bread and baba ghanoush to hotels focussed on West Asian cuisine.

“My research showed that Bengaluru is a good test market for the hospitality business. We were told that if our food operation is a success in Bengaluru, it will be a hit everywhere. We packed bags and moved to the city from Israel eight years ago,” says Abramovich. Her vegetarian bakery and kitchen located on Mysuru Road dishes about 200 kg of hummus per week for restaurants here.



About 200 kg of syrup and sauce toppings for waffles at Waffle Stories are concocted and supplied by American expat Martha Kohlhagen. She came to Bengaluru as the director of an environmental tech company but turned into a food entrepreneur inspired by the quality produce of mangoes, tomatoes, chillies, lime and guava at her farms outside the city.

“Bengaluru gave me the idea to start a food business. I underwent a few culinary courses and hopped on. It’s amazing to see the enthusiasm over international recipes here,” says Kohlhagen, founder of Martha’s Preserves which also retails jams, marmalades and pasta sauce online.

The growing symbiotic relationship between F&B industry and expats in Bengaluru has chefs delighted as they can serve an authentic fare to the evolved foodie of the city.

Yogesh Mokashi, cofounder of The Egg Factory, says, “It was a cumbersome 8-10 hour process to make Kaya jam. Outsourcing it from an expat has given the traditional toast a degree of authenticity. I also outsource pita breads and hummus.”

Similarly, chef Prashanth Puttaswamy of The Fatty Bao outsources 50 litres of fresh coconut milk per week from an expat. “Canned ingredients cannot replicate the original flavour. Expats are best to rope in for fresh ingredients for the cuisines that come from their land.”