Tell Us Your Story. What motivated you to start your business? Why are you passionate about what you do?

I came to Canada in 2012 from a small village in Haryana, India. I come from a traditional farmer family and have seen the very life cycle of food from farm to fork. The journey always used to amuse me to think how the very humble start of this value chain translates into relationship building, creating healthy community and making the impact across the world in the same way. I always identified that breaking the bread together brings huge value and this is something that i found even in Canada when i arrived in Toronto for my Hotel Management course. The two year long post graduate course exposed me to the Canadian Culture and how the food is such an integrated part of the culture. This was the time when i committed to myself to bring the impact in the community by bringing the best quality Indian Food to the community through starting my own business. This very purpose was the motivation for me to get out of bed everyday and worked towards it. I ended up doing security job which also trained me for the agility and ability to do the right customer service with utmost humility while ensuring the safety of my customers. This job also exposed me further to meet with few extremely influential self-made business tycoons like Ajay Dilwari who always motivated me to work relentlessly to bring the impact in the community. In particular to mention his generosity of donating millions of dollars to various initiatives left me into tears as to how a great business person becomes an asset for the community. This was the time when I determined that I would also leave no stone unturned to bring this impact always irrespective of my income levels. These were the foundation pillars of starting the journey of taking over the already existing business Desi Turka Indian Cuisine in 2017. This was a great business in operations but certainly was lacking a strategic vision and the passion to make it the best place for Indian Food in the lower mainland. I started in the kitchen and ensured that I pay the best attention to the food and i was clubbed with the best serving team. We have been taking a lot of community initiatives and have become an integrated part of the community. Ever since then it is an every day pleasure to come and work to see the smiling face of team, customers and the most importantly the community members.

Describe and demonstrate, including metrics, your community support. How do you support and uplift your community, and how do they show that support in return? Minimum 25 words, maximum 2500 characters.

During COVID-19, our community faced emotional, financial, social, and logistical challenges. I assured my team there would be no layoffs and together we brainstormed ways to help. We launched a food drive, offering free cooked meals which quickly gained traction. Volunteers delivered food to senior homes, single moms, and the elderly, and people from Metro Vancouver joined in, bringing thousands of smiles. Collaborating with other organizations, we distributed 9,000 kg of dry groceries and over 12,000 cooked meals for three months. Our aim was to show that by sharing resources, we could endure tough times together. Our efforts were recognized by the City of Burnaby with the Burnaby Community Spirit Award in 2021. LJ Christmas Manor in Coquitlam also acknowledged our contributions, thanking us for bringing joy to their residents. We also supported international travelers with free food and delivery at their quarantine locations. Families quarantined for two weeks often lacked healthy food options. We delivered meals to their hotels and homes, providing essential support. Many families with young children were particularly stressed, and our food deliveries became a daily source of joy and relief during those extraordinary times. I have also been involved in various social initiatives to impact the community positively. Desi Turka is central to not-for-profit and socially uplifting efforts. We support social building by sponsoring food and providing monetary support. This has greatly benefited grassroots organizations, helping them thrive and promoting multiculturalism to greater heights. We partnered with the Canadian Desi Arts and Cultural Club for multicultural events in the Lower Mainland. It includes members from around the world with ethnic representation. We humbly showcased them at our restaurant, supporting and sponsoring annual events like the “Raas Garba” dance program. These events made impact in the community and fostered an inclusive ecosystem. The event attracted over 1,500 participants over three days, strengthening relationships. It promoted business and social engagement, with active exchanges among 400+ group participants. 5) Food Delivery Professionals Appreciation Month Food delivery folks ensure timely, fresh deliveries with a smile. Their hard work often goes unnoticed, seen merely as drivers. To address this, we’ve allocated up to CA$15,000 annually in August for them to enjoy 20% off as our guests with friends and family.

Why do you deserve to win the Business Impact award?

The BC economy thrives thanks to small businesses driven by entrepreneurial spirit, risk-taking, and a commitment to community and ethics. At Desi Turka, we are dedicated to bringing traditional and fusion Indian cuisine to the community, promoting inclusivity and diversity. Integrity is a core value at Desi Turka. We take pride in upholding the highest standards across our business, ensuring that we use the finest ingredients and prioritize customer health and taste. Our commitment is to operate based on values rather than just profitability. To foster a sustainable and clean economy, we are advancing our operations through digitization. We look forward to offering a diverse array of cuisines and implementing promotions that enhance community inclusivity. Our social impact extends globally through our services and future offerings. We also strive to make the impact through being local for most of our ingredients sourcing thus supporting the local businesses to flourish and grow. Our thrust to foster lifelong relationships with our partners in BC so that we are creating the robust value chain. We are also looking to implement Clean Technology in our business by focusing at reducing, reuse and recycle principles thus impacting and contributing towards the Climate Change and ecological sustainability. We have plans for implementing AI algorithms into our business so that we may have machine driven impactful decision making both for supply side as well on customer side. We are also community oriented and looking to continue supporting at large by various ways. We will continue supporting local not-for-profits, community organziations and students so that they can be at their best. We are also an all accessible businesses thus we are always looking forward to have the team members with special needs and look for the roles that may be best suitable for their growth and capabilities. We are also an organization focused with health and wellbeing of our team. Thus we walk extra miles to ensure that we fulfil our commitment to provide the best organizational framework and environment for our team members. By leading with integrity and leveraging the Small Business framework, we aim to set high standards and make a meaningful impact on the community. Our commitment to transparency and customer engagement ensures we continue to make a positive difference.

Tell Us About Your Culture. How are you creating a sustainable and healthy workplace where everyone feels welcome? Provide examples of leadership you show in interactions with clients, vendors, contractors, staff and others.

I have spent almost half of my life in Canada and half in India thus I am kind of the best of both. Thus ever since we started into the business culture is the quintessential part of our very reason for being into business. We respect all the cultures, walks of life, ethnicities and it certainly gives us liberty to have all inclusive approach to provide safe and respectful environment in our words and deeds. We have a great blend of team comprising male and females and having our female leaders to steer the experiences at our business. We keep our restaurant open until 2 AM for 5 days a week so that we may really serve those customers who may not find anywhere else to eat at that time except possibly just a sandwich and a coffee. The welcoming smile with a zeal to serve in those ghost shift hours keeps us on our toes with the unwavering commitment of the best in class customer service and business excellence. We have strong culture of mutual respect and no tolerance policy for any kind of discrimination, foul words or hate. We work as a family and stand together in all the situations of life together. I have had a situation when an employee fell terminally sick and were going through rough time, we extended all our support to her and tried to give as much business as possible to her husband for food delivery so that the family may be supported. Entire team at Desi Turka also came together and pledged to support by all means for her well being. We also have long term relationship with our contractors who come from distinct nationalities and stories in their lives. They all are welcome at our restaurant with complimentary food and are always made feel like part of our family. We strive to maintain high quality standards thus we don’t make vendor switch only on the basis of money. We adhere with the best in class service standards and respect our vendors and contractors to stay with us for long term. We have customers visiting us since 2017 with the same delight. When i tried to learn their experience they share that it is not only food that makes them come to our restaurant time and over again, rather it is the very essence of the feeling of being home where their preferences, likes, dislikes are known and respected to the tune that they didn’t ever encounter a grain of extra salt than to their taste buds. This is what makes us stand out with the impactful lifelong relationships.

Why do you think you should win the Premier’s People’s Choice Award?

In the humble journey of last 7 years starting as the amateur business owner our core focus has been to create the best place for our community to be with. We have seen Covid-19 which came as a challenge but our team could see the very opportunity in that to serve the community and make the difference. We could bring smiles to the faces and taste to the taste buds when people were even afraid of looking at each other. This has created a great value based advocacy for us in all our stakeholders. We are in business to continue this experiential journey even the years ahead. Food is an integral part of human life we add a purpose to it and thus it is our passion to bring more and more delight and compassion in the community. We are committed to tread the path of customer excellence while ensuring our efforts are rewarding for all of our stakeholders and for our environment.