If you’ve tried V-Giyan‘s food you’ll know what all the fuss is about, its plant based Punjabi menu enormously in demand in Oxfordshire.
But after receiving enquiries from all over the country, and with clients coming from London and further afield to get their hands on its delicious vegan dishes, founder Bal Gill is launching V-Giyan nationwide from August 1 and is enormously excited.
‘My mum has been cooking wonderful Punjabi food for 50 years, and is my inspiration’
“We will just do things on a bigger scale, but the process, ingredients and the love that goes into every dish will stay the same,” he says proudly. “We just felt that more people deserved to access it. So this next step feels like a natural one.”
“We cook our dishes really slowly in the Punjabi way, and take our time to really bring the flavours out in every dish, because for us it’s still all about the food. The food is everything.”
“for us it’s still all about the food. The food is everything.”
Oxfordshire has been enjoying V-Giyan deliveries for three years now, but the new expansion means that UK customers ordering online before 1pm anywhere in the country can now expect a fresh, chilled, free, overnight delivery arriving the next day via DPL, just like Gousto or Hello Fresh.
And OXINABOX was first to try the new look, and loved every second of our delicious and varied dinner. But it seems we are not alone: “The feedback has already been enormously encouraging,” Bal says.
“I think we’ll be flat out because we have come on to the market at just the right time for natural, plant-based, sustainable food,” Bal says.
“I AM VERY PROUD TO BE FROM A MINORITY AND TO BE MINORITY OWNED”
But Bal is keen to stress to his thousands of regular customers that the expansion won’t have any effect on V-Giyan’s quality, which so many of us have come to rely on.
It does mean however that the meals have new packaging and designs, although the menu of 52 dishes has stayed the same. “Well if you are going to do something, do it properly,” he smiles.
Which were exactly his thoughts when he started V-Giyan back in 2020, having found himself out of a job in hospitality.
Instead, Bal started cooking healthy Punjabi food without meat or dairy in his Wendover kitchen, and delivering it to friends. V-Giyan took off immediately through word-of-mouth, and Bal had to move to the farm units in Woodstock to accommodate the demand.
Currently building a second unit on the farm, Bal says: “We are building the business in the way I’d always hoped and envisaged. We don’t want to become too corporate. My staff are like family so their work/life balance is really important,”
‘I THINK WE WILL BE FLAT OUT BECAUSE WE’VE COME ON TO THE MARKET AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME’
“But yes, it’s been quite a journey,” he accedes, READ ABOUT IT HERE “but I always knew V-Giyan had potential, so am very proud to be from a minority and to be minority owned.”
Not that the majority of V-Giyan‘s clients are vegan – Bal says they only make up 10%-15% of his client base – the rest choosing to eat less meat or healthier Indian food.
He is also very proud of V-Giyan‘s eco credentials: “We are the only company in the UK to do 100% fresh plant-based Indian food and have just been awarded a Carbon rating of A.
“All our Oxfordshire deliveries are made by pedal or electric vehicles, and nationwide that will be 80%, hopefully 100% by next year. So we are miles ahead on the net zero and sustainable front, and that’s really important to me.”
So who do we have to thank for Baz’s love of cooking? “My mum and my grandmother. My mum has been cooking wonderful Punjabi food for 50 years, and is my inspiration.
“She comes and helps out in our kitchens too, so that’s the level of nurture we’re talking about.”
For more details or to order go to https://www.veganpunjabi.delivery
