By Steve Antao
If you wish to have a nice and juicy burger, what place would you think of? McDonald’s? Burger King? KFC? Well, there is a new name in the burger business in Goa and that’s the Burger Dough Company at Quepem. It is a homegrown food enterprise started by Mr. Dave Pinto, a young 29 year old budding entrepreneur who always dreamt of starting his own food business someday. Located opposite the Quepem church, the place has become a very popular spot for burger aficionados looking to get their hands on some delicious, lip-smacking burgers.
Dave’s father is the owner of one of the oldest confectionery and catering businesses in Quepem. As a kid, Dave used to watch food and confectioneries being prepared, packed and delivered to customers. All of this gave him a strong idea of how the food industry worked.
After completing his 3 year degree programme in Hospitality and Advanced Management at the prestigious Institute of Advanced Management (IAM) at Nuvem, Dave migrated to London in 2013 in search of greener pastures. He worked as a General Manager for a group of hotels in Central London. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he returned home to Goa in the year 2020. He continued to work for the hotel in London remotely from Goa. So, it was like a very long vacation for him in Goa and it gave him a lot of time to think about his future.
Ever since he was in his early teens, he had a dream of starting his own enterprise in Goa. Also, being a food science student, he used to experiment a lot with food in the kitchen. He used to bake and grill a variety of dishes just as a hobby. Many people used to call him crazy for experimenting with food but all that criticism never deterred him in any way.
One day, a very close friend of his tried a burger that he had prepared after doing a little bit of experimentation. His friend liked the burger and told him that he would do really well if he started to sell burgers in Goa! These words struck Dave’s mind and had a very strong impact on him. It kept pushing him and gave him a feeling that this is the right time to do what he always wanted to do. This is the time to take that deep plunge into the food industry and start his own food enterprise. It’s either now or never! And since he was working from home, it was a win-win situation for him!
All these thoughts in Dave’s mind resulted in the birth of The Burger Dough Company in the year 2021. Initially, they used to sell a few commonly available burgers like the cheeseburger, beef burger, chicken burger etc. Later, they started making burgers with different flavours. They experimented with various flavours and cooking styles to get the best flavours and recipes from all over the world. For example, they introduced cajun fries, but with a twist of a secret ingredient to it. The secret spice ingredient was imported from Spain, although it originated from Louisiana.
They also introduced the Jack Daniel whisky-soaked burger, which was based on a unique recipe that Dave had experimented with years back. People loved the concept and it was a big hit. The Burger Dough Company now offers a variety of food items including burritos, pork chops, pizzas, vegan burgers and a lot more. “We do keep changing and revising our menu regularly in order to keep it refreshing as people always want to try out something new!” says Dave.
The folks at the Burger Dough Company don’t believe in offering burgers similar to what is offered at other burger joints in Goa. Hence, each and every item offered at The Burger Dough Company is special and unique. Dave personally works with his in-house chefs and experiments with various flavours until he comes up with some unique burger recipe worthy to be put out on the menu.
“We had started a burger cake concept just so that people would also consider cutting an actual 10-inch burger on their birthday and that could actually be a thing! Also, “The Angry Bird Burger” is an all time favourite of a majority of our customers.I’m never gonna take it off the menu because it is loved by all!” he says.
At the Burger Dough Company, the feedback and suggestions of customers are always valued and appreciated. It helps the company to constantly improve and come up with food offerings that live up to the tastes and expectations of customers. They had a lot of customers who wanted them to start offering vegan burgers. So, Dave got in touch with his cousin who is a certified vegan chef and they together worked on a vegan burger recipe. When the vegan burger was launched, it turned out to be a big hit with customers. The burger has a secret and unique flavour of chorizo despite it still being 100% vegan!
Dave says that the biggest challenge for him while starting this business was that he did not get sufficient time to study the market in Goa before entering the business. Since he had been in London for the past 8 years, starting a business in Goa all of a sudden was a big bet, he says.
Dave says that he is really fortunate to have been blessed with a lot of people that helped him to make his dream of starting the Burger Dough Company come true. Apart from his family who has always been there for him, he says that there is a very special person (whom he doesn’t wish to name) to whom he will always be grateful to for all the help and support that this person offered him during the process of setting up the Burger Dough Company. “This special person has always been there for me and has always encouraged me and helped me to grow. Right from the idea of starting something like the Burger Dough Company to finding a name for the business to the last minute logo design to helping me with everything else! The Burger Dough Company would have never been possible without the support of this special person! There were people who called me crazy for starting something like this, but that never stopped me from doing what I always wanted to do. Hence, I am always grateful to the people who stood by me, supported me and motivated me to go ahead and start this business”, he says.
Dave is a firm believer in being “Vocal for Local”! He supports local vendors by sourcing a majority of his ingredients from them. This also helps him to maintain the authenticity and freshness in his products. His support to these vendors has come back to him as a blessing of good karma which he has received in the form of tremendous support from his family, friends and his team at the Burger Dough Company, for which he feels truly indebted and humbled.
Apart from this, Dave had started a programme called “Feed a Friend”, where-in he delivers free food to anyone who cannot afford a proper meal. So basically, if anyone knows of a person like that, they inform Dave and he tries to deliver food twice a week to such people.
He says that he tries to keep his prices reasonable. He adds that he has often received one very common piece of feedback from his customers. His customers tell him that his burgers are very filling and the quantity is too much! “Well, I guess I am doing something right over there, I suppose!”, he says.
When asked whether he plans to open more outlets of the Burger Dough Company in other parts of Goa, Dave replied in the affirmative. “Yes! Why not? Maybe soon!” he says. He adds that his close friend Dilan along with his wife own a franchise of the Burger Dough Company in their home town of Verona in Italy. As of now, they only offer home delivery of burgers in and around Verona. Very soon, Dilan will be opening a full fledged cafe under the Burger Dough Company brand name.The cafe will be situated either in Verona or in Sicily as his family already owns a resort in Sicily.
Dave says that the Burger Dough Company brand is very special to him and is very close to his heart. Hence, he would do his best to keep the brand as unique and refreshing as possible and hopes that it keeps on growing in the years to come.
For more information about The Burger Dough Company, call 077095 10903.
You can also follow The Burger Dough Company on:
Facebook: @theburgerdoughcompany
Instagram: @theburgerdoughco
