MBA graduate Reshma Suresh founded ‘Tocco’ to empower home chefs, particularly senior citizens and homemakers, by helping them showcase their regional culinary talents.
It all started with Reshma’s desire to promote the culinary talents of her mother, Uma, and aunt, Lakshmi. She says that there is immense potential in engaging individuals who are retired or living alone.
“I asked my mother to make her famous prawn and mango pickle, a childhood favourite of many. I packaged it and started selling it,” Reshma says.
Soon, Lakshmi’s mulga podi (gun powder), sambar powder, and other products were also introduced. Reshma then created a proper platform to sell these nostalgic products, naming it Tocco.
After onboarding her mother and aunt as the first chefs, Reshma expanded the platform to include over 16 chefs, primarily seniors in their 50s, from cities like Kerala, Mumbai, and Bengaluru.
The platform offers a wide array of products, including snacks, masalas, and regional dishes like banana chips, jackfruit chips, shankarpali (a sweet snack), rasam podi (spice powder), and puli inji (ginger pickle), among others.
Some of the highlights include prawn pickles made by Kerala’s Uma Suresh (Reshma’s mother), nankhatais made by Mumbai-based chef Bhavana Shah, and Bengaluru-based Annie Philip’s matured plum cake.
Chefs can apply to join Tocco through an online process. Once selected, their dishes must meet health standards and have a shelf life of at least 30 days.
When an order is placed, it is forwarded to the respective chef, who prepares the dish fresh. Tocco assists with logistics, including packaging, shipping, and customer service.
Tocco is inspiring confidence in people across age groups, particularly those in their 50s and 60s, by showing that it’s never too late to start new ventures.
“The biggest motivation is seeing chefs like my mother live an independent life. Many of them would not have had the opportunity to sell their products on a large scale. We are providing an opportunity to them,” says Reshma.