WORCESTER – Shrewsbury resident and local chef Pooja Vishal is eagerly waiting important news regarding her business called Urban Spice World.

As a new member of the StartUp Worcester cohort, Vishal is grateful for the business opportunities the program provides in terms of “store mentorship” as she attempts to branch out her online business, which started in 2018, to stores like Whole Foods, Walmart, Price Chopper, and Market Basket. 

Currently she sells prepackaged, organic meal kits inspired by her late mother’s cooking. With the help of StartUp Worcester, she recently presented her product to Whole Foods representatives.

“I’ve given Whole Foods my kits to try and I got very positive feedback on them, but I’m still waiting to hear,” Vishal said. “Just keeping my fingers crossed for it to click. I started with Whole Foods … I’m taking one step at a time and we’ll see what happens, knock on wood.”

Vishal said working with StartUp Worcester has been a good experience. “I went in for a meeting with all of them there at StartUp Worcester and it was really nice and I met a lot of good people there,” she said. “They’re really doing a lot of stuff helping new entrepreneurs … We were basically looking for some kind of help and someone to show us the right path about how to go about things and store mentorship and we found this gem.”

Her meal kits are available at the Worcester Public Pantry and on her website at urbanspiceworld.com. The goal for her kits is to help people prepare quality meals without the stress. The kits are prepared by Chef Vishal with premeasured fresh ingredients and urban spices and flavors.

“It’s no-brainer cooking,” Vishal said. “There are no fail recipes because it’s all measured and it’s just you involving yourself in a complete cooking experience. There’s no calculations required and there’s no mistakes possible, so people are kind of enjoying it. They’re getting more experimental. Okay, today, let’s add the microgreens and tomorrow, let’s add this and that, so that’s kind of nice. I get a lot of positive messages and that makes me feel good.”

Vishal has recently opened her own “brick and mortar eatery” in the Worcester Public Market called Namaste Woo, which offers samosas, loaded naan, mixed vegetable paratha and other Indian specialties. Her food kits will also be available at this location.

“I have a 14-year-old and when I’m out and about she just picks up my kit and cooks it herself,” she said. “That gives me pleasure that it’s not a take-out grab-and-go. You can get up, take your kid, and cook it yourself. There’s nothing more satisfying than that. You eat your own home cooked meal. Nothing is more fresh than that.”

From now and throughout the holiday season, Vishal has been putting together kits as gifts. “You will not believe I am dispatching my orders for the gift season,” she said. “I have been doing this right from the middle of November. I started off with all the holiday assignments and I gave so many out for Thanksgiving and, of course, many for Christmas, as well. I still have a few pending assignments yet to fill up, so yes, I’m trying my best and it’s going well.”

The kits are shelf-stable, which means they will survive long periods on store or home shelves without spoiling. “They serve as a great gift because people could really experiment with different stuff and it’s all organic,” she said. “It’s all dry products, so, nothing is gonna get spoiled or anything.”

Vishal said she has received orders from college students as far as Ohio and Michigan. “It’s great for students,” she said. “They love using it in their dorms. I have a few students who send me pictures and they write to me saying that ‘we cooked your Biryani and we called all our fellow roommates and we had a little party in our room.’ That feels nice. So yes, you know anyone and everyone can cook it. It is simple. It is easy and you’ll love the experience.”