Santosh Pandey was already running a successful ‘gifting’ startup when he came up with the idea for ‘Oho! Cake’.

At ‘Offering Happiness’, his first company helping people send gifts and organize surprise parties for their loved ones, he had realized the potential of the cake business.

Pandey says cakes have become staples for any celebration these days but there aren’t many cake companies in Kathmandu that are consistent with their product quality and service.

“We started off with the idea of building a reputed cake business as that was what the market and the customers were missing,” he says.

Pandey and his friend Dibyesh Giri, who comes from a tech background and is currently based in the US, set up Oho! Cake in 2021. The time was not auspicious for a new business. Many businesses were either folding up or struggling to stay afloat due to covid. But food delivery was booming. Oho! Cake thus had no trouble finding customers even during the lockdown.     

Before venturing into cakes, Pandey and Giri had already done their homework. The two friends studied customer needs and identified the areas they could improve upon from what their potential competitors were offering. 

Pandey says cakes worth over Rs 5 million are sold daily in Kathmandu Valley. Most people buy ready-made cakes from their local shops or order them through delivery platforms that mostly drop-ship goods purchased from third party retailers. Moreover, he adds, there are many complaints of late delivery. 

“At Oho! Cake we guarantee delivery of freshly baked cakes to our customers within 45 minutes of order,” Pandey says. “Our motto is simple: If you value the customers’ time, your business will succeed.”

Oho! Cake runs its operations with imported machines and technology that have the capacity of preparing more than 500 cakes with customized designs in a day. It currently handles over 100 daily cake orders.

For now the company offers its service only inside Kathmandu Valley, but its co-founders are already planning to expand.

“In the initial days Oho! Cake was limited to online platform delivery, but we have recently opened our first outlet at Tinkune,” Pandey says.

The company is planning to open at least 10 more outlets in different parts of Kathmandu Valley in the first half of 2022 before branching out to other parts of the country.

“Our ultimate goal is to become the country’s largest cake chain,” says Pandey.

Entering the cake business has been a fulfilling experience for him. He takes pride and comfort knowing that Oho! Cake is part of joy and celebration for its customers.

“We get many thank you messages from our customers. Their good words give us great satisfaction and inspire us to do ever better,” says Pandey.

Oho! Cakes

Establish year: 2021
Founders: Santosh Pandey, Dibyesh Giri
Service location: Kathmandu Valley
Price of product: Varies depending on weight and design
Contact: 9886049922
Website: ohocake.com