What people have to say - December 2013

Its been over a month since we have launched, and we have our first bit of customer feedback. We thought it is a good idea to put all this feedback to words, and provide an answer wherever applicable.

A lot of feedback has been very positive; the texture and flavour of our pasta has been a big hit, as well as the branding, website, look and feel. The visual appeal of the product matches its intention, and for this we are very proud and happy. The flavours of our sauces have also received a lot of appreciation, and everybody agrees that the sauce quantity is generous, more than enough for the meal.

Slyly Simple baked ravioli

A few people have had a suspicious expression on hearing that the pasta is whole wheat, some are convinced that it would be too healthy to be tasty. Some have compared it to whole wheat pasta available in the supermarket, and have declared that they don't like whole wheat.

However, we are very happy to say, that after trying our products, we don't have a single complaint that our pasta is more healthy than it is tasty! except for the slightly darker colour, it isn't at all apparent that the pasta is whole wheat when it comes to taste and texture. Perhaps Slyly Simple will set the trend for wholesome food that looks and tastes good as well!

We are grateful and motivated by the positive feedback, and would like now elaborate on the criticism and points for improvement.

1. Why is it so expensive?

Most people who have ever tried their hand at fresh pasta do not have this question. People who compare the quality of the product with the best quality available in high end gourmet restaurants also do not have this question. But we have been faced with this question a couple of times, so here is the justification.
As far as ingredients are concerned, we use premium quality whole wheat, organic/free range eggs, organic soya flour and spices, imported cheese and olive oil, vegetables and herbs are either organic, or have minimum fertilizers/pesticides. We are a small scale unit, and can only buy our ingredients at retail rates. We do not skimp on the quantity or quality of any of our ingredients with the aim to cut costs. Good ingredients speak for good quality products, and our products speak for themselves.

Free range eggs are better for health

We use fresh produce

Our packaging is made from good quality materials so they can be reused for household purposed, or can be recycled.

Packaged ravioli

Slyly Simple aims to provide easy to use products, to make gourmet meals in your own kitchen without any of the preparation and planning that is actually needed. This means that we do the preparation and planning for you. We source the ingredients, evaluate the quality of the goods, work out recipes, check quality, procure packaging, work hard to make hand crafted pasta for your plate. The organisational effort and logistics aside, the process of creating our products is time consuming and physically demanding. Whole wheat dough specially requires more kneading, to attain the right consistency for pasta. Vegan pasta is even more difficult, since it takes a lot more kneading and a very delicate balance of moisture to flour so that the dough will bind properly. The dough needs to be kneaded in batches, and every flavour of pasta will mean another batch of dough. Once kneaded, the dough is rested for some time, after which the pasta rollers are used to bring the pasta into shape. While fettuccine is machine-cut, our ravioli and farfalle are individually hand crafted. Every piece is carefully examined to make sure the pasta holds its shape even while cooking. The shaped pasta is laid out to dry for some time, after which it is packaged. This means that the average physical effort needed to make one box of simple pasta is at least 1-2 hours. Ravioli is even more complex, since the filling must be made and cooled separately, and the packaging and storage is more complex.
Consider all this, and add to it operational costs, excess and wastage, and the price you come to is likely to be much higher than what we offer!

2. The quantity is too little

The portions in each box is sufficient for two people, when the pasta is part of a complete meal - which means that there are additional items like a soup/salad/dessert to go with it. If this is the only item in your meal, then this would be enough for two moderate eaters. Our portions are determined based on research of average meal sizes, and we rather leave you hungry for more, than have excess food on your plate!

Typical serving size for one person

3. The pasta did not absorb the flavour of the sauce/the flavour of the sauce was too strong

We received this feedback from one person, and we have been thinking about this in detail. Unfortunately, the two statements appear a little contradictory, since you would normally have stronger flavours because the pasta absorbed the sauce a little too well! People who are accustomed to using dry pasta may end up using a little too much sauce when working with fresh pasta.

Fettuccine with pesto and fresh vegetables

In any case, fresh pasta tends to absorb more sauce than dried pasta. We have also experienced this ourselves, which leaves us a little puzzled as to why we have this feedback.
The method of cooking could also result in this feedback, though. Some people tend to rinse the pasta in cold water after cooking - this means that the starch on the surface of the pasta is washed off, and the pasta cannot absorb any sauce after that... this method is only recommended while making cold pasta salads, where you want the pasta to cool down without overcooking.

4. The ravioli packaging needs improvement

We have had some glitches with the ravioli packaging, which we are working on. Since the ravioli filling is freshly cooked, it has moisture in it, which makes the pasta moist. This means that the ravioli needs to be frozen until it is ready to cook, which puts constraints on our packaging and distribution mechanism.
Having said this, we are working on the problem and are happy to announce that we have had a few batches of successfully packed ravioli. It is still too early to celebrate, but hopefully we will get there soon.
The few of you who have had bad luck with our ravioli will get a special offer with your next order!

5. The pesto bottles leak

To keep pesto fresh, it is necessary to cover the surface with a little bit of olive oil. This oil seems to seep through any kind of packaging we use, and we have tried improving the sealing, taping the lid down, even other containers.. the problem persists. To work around this, we have now added a second layer of packing to the pesto bottles to make it easy and cleaner to handle. We hope this works better now!

6. The cooking instructions are off the mark

The pasta should be immersed into the water only after the water has reached a boil. This is when the cooking time begins. Since ravioli is frozen, it may take a couple of minutes longer than the other pasta.

7. Is it possible to avoid the plastic packaging?

We tried very hard to have completely eco-friendly packaging. But we also needed packaging that is easy to store, easy to handle during transport, can be frozen for the ravioli and repels moisture. To have all these options and to still keep the price affordable, we were forced to select plastic. However, we only use high grade plastic materials which can be recycled or reused for household purposes. Our pasta boxes also provide suggestions on how the packaging could be reused.

8. Children don't like whole wheat/children want white sauce

While it is difficult to please children, we have experienced children relishing our pasta and coming back for seconds (and thirds). We have had stalls where we have served fresh cooked food - while a lot of children were initially disappointed that there wasn't any white sauce, they all were very satisfied with the flavour of the pasta after they tried it. We believe it is important to educate our children to eat wholesome meals, and Slyly Simple gives you that opportunity to serve your kids food that is fun and wholesome at the same time!

9. We want more shapes

We want more shapes too! We intend to expand our product list over time, starting with lasagna sheets, and moving on to short pasta shapes. We will get there, all you need to do is keep a close eye on what we make next!

10. Why is there a dog on the box? Is this dog food?

Errr... No this isn't intended to be dog food, but the dogs love it too! The dog on the box is the brand mascot and the reason while Slyly Simple came to be. Our food is honest, simple and sincere - with no agenda other than to leave you in a state of good health and good spirits, much in the same way our brand mascot does for us!

Our inspiration and mascot

On the whole, it has been a fantastic beginning. More than 90% of our patrons have had only good things to say, and we hope that the rest of you are convinced that we take your opinion seriously, and will do our best to continue to give you the best possible gourmet food.