KALYANI JHA |NT BUZZ
Food has always been an integral part of the Pimenta clan. Indeed, over the years Shevaughn Pimenta learned about the hospitality and food and beverage business through her father Dwayne Pimenta. But she chose writing and advertising as her career path at first. All this changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“When the pandemic changed how people ate and interacted with food, my father didn’t resist the change—he embraced it. Cloud kitchens were rising and delivery culture became the new norm. And this where I was introduced to this idea by him,” she says.
Started in December 2024, the cloud kitchen, ‘Aavois!’, has Shevaughn as the operating head while her father now acts as her mentor, providing valuable suggestions as and when required.
The home grown brand specialises in UFO burgers with Goan flavours like cafreal, balchao, ros omelette, etc. “Our format celebrates nostalgia while embracing modernity. We thought, why keep these iconic tastes limited to plates and bowls? So we took a globally trending international design, fused the buns together, shaped it like a flying saucer and stuffed it with Goan goodness,” she shares.
The soul of each dish though remains intact, she says. “The masalas, ingredients and seasoning are authentically Goan—but the format is global, portable and fun,” she says, adding that a cloud kitchen allows them to innovate freely and reach more Goans while staying agile and aligned with the fast-paced, delivery-first lifestyle the younger generation lives by. However, staying true to local sourcing, quality, and consistency, while building everything from scratch has not always been easy. “When you commit to sourcing everything within a 10 km radius—buns from Benaulim, masalas from Colva, fries from Margao—you’re choosing the road less travelled,” she shares.
But this process of sourcing helped Shevaughn build strong relationships with local bakers, masala makers, vendors and packaging partners. “It took time, trial and error, and a lot of tweaking, but this community-first approach is now the heart of Aavois,” she says. Their packaging, she says, is also unique. “It opens up into a plate so that it can be taken just about anywhere for a mess-free experience,” she says. Shevaughn aims to take Aavois! across Goa and then expand beyond the state with time. She also wants to introduce seasonal specials based on Goan festivals and flavours. “I want Aavois to be the brand every Goan is proud to call their own,” she says.
