Two truly audacious businessmen from Baku, Azerbaijan, have launched a product in the Indian market which, so far, has only been known in their home country. Slightly similar to raita, dovga is a healthy relish based on yogurt made the traditional way of the Caucasus, blended with fresh greeneries such as coriander and fennel, and rich in essential vitamins and minerals. Ingredients include yogurt, water, fresh greeneries (coriander, fennel, green onion, chick pees, mint and celery), flour, rice, pepper, salt. No colors, preservatives or any other kind of additions are used. It is entirely vegetarian and is being sold under the brand name “Dovga” in sealed cups of 200 ml, which under refrigeration can be kept for upto two weeks.
The launch of the first 50,000 cups of Dovga in India took much preparation. First of all, the enterprise was registered in Gurgaon under the name Bah-Bah with all the necessary licenses. Then its two owners bought all equipment for cooking, processing, sealing and refrigerating locally, had posters, leaflets and labels printed, and got the thermoformed plastic cups produced and printed before they could actually start production. They have already made arrangements with a few large corporations and about twenty shopping malls where they installed refrigeration chains to receive the product appropriately. Distribution is now their greatest challenge.
