For Traveling Spoon, the coronavirus pandemic was a serious blow to a company that organizes bespoke meals and cooking lessons for intrepid travelers at the homes of local hosts.
Steph Lawrence, who launched the company in 2013, saw her business dry up virtually overnight. At the time, Traveling Spoon was near breakeven and preparing to lure venture capitalists in for a new round of funding. As the pandemic intensified, revenues fell by more than 95%, the funding round was postponed, and some of their local hosts struggled to survive.
Lawrence and co-founder Aashi Vel were quick to save the business. First, they established a series of grants funded in part by former clients to help support 19 of their most vulnerable hosts. Around 80% are women, many of whom are heads of household and depend on Traveling Spoon to make ends meet.
Then, in April, they went virtual, taking advantage of a network of hosts in 67 countries to offer cooking classes online. The initial six lessons quickly skyrocketed to 131, and with prices starting at $ 25, they look like a bargain. Some people are turning to Traveling Spoon instead of canceled vacations, while it is also popular with travel enthusiasts who for health or financial reasons cannot move as freely as before, she says.
The online shift hasn’t offset the revenue impact caused by the pandemic, but the classes keep the company alive and offer a new revenue stream that could add appeal when the company seeks new funding, says Lawrence.
Online Cooking
The quality of the experience is incredible, but what often turns us down is that international travel is a low frequency level, Being able to combine cooking classes online solves the various problems.”
looking at the offerings, you notice the Asian roots of the site. Vel hails from Chennai, India, and Lawrence spent time living in China, learning Mandarin, and looking for local food experiences. So if you fancy making Thai green curry, you can connect with Pea, who lives with her son in a traditional teak house in Chiang Mai, or you can choose from a variety of Indian classes, ranging from butter chicken to seafood stew. from Goa.
I started a little closer to home. I first connected with Juan in Spanish Almeria to improve my paella. Juan, a retired civil servant, is from Valencia, the coastal city that gave the world the famous rice dish. When I looked at the ingredients, I realized this was the real deal, not a tourist paella or a Jamie Oliver shot that risked causing an international incident.
Mediterranean Adventure
Then I moved to Sicily via the Mediterranean where I hooked up with Fabio and Annarella for fresh ricotta-filled ravioli. Traveling Spoon’s menus can be adjusted to taste, but I soon learned that authenticity trumps customer preference. My request to change the dessert from fried ravioli to panna cotta, a personal favorite, was rejected because it was a northern dish and not typical of Sicily. I’m glad Fabio stood his ground as the crunchy ravioli oozing with creamy ricotta and melted chocolate were a huge hit.
Fabio and Annarella accompanied me in the process of kneading the eggless pasta and spreading the sheets. I then made a line of small mounds of ricotta filling, before folding the pasta and squeezing out the air pockets to prevent the ravioli from bursting in the boiling water. The stuffed pasta was topped with a local tomato sauce seasoned with fennel seeds and thickened with carrots and potatoes. Unusual and delicious.
