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Devesh Jha, Pritam Das & Devbrat Bhardwaj
When you hear the word ‘consultancy,’ what comes to mind? You probably thought of IT consultancy firms like Boston Consulting Group, Accenture, and McKinsey.
They specialize in providing strategies to businesses to help them overcome operational challenges. But… Here's something you probably haven't heard. Food & Beverage Consultants.
When Devbrat Bhardwaj founded One Sprig Hospitality Consultants in 2016, the concept of hospitality consultancy was still emerging and not widely recognized.
“Back then, hardly any resources were available for budding cafe and bar entrepreneurs. Most were learning through trial and error. I saw an opportunity to use our experience in hospitality to start an F&B consulting businesse. That's how One Sprig started,” says Devbrat Bhardwaj, the Founder of One Sprig Hospitality Consultants, during an exclusive interview with Startup Pedia.
Founded in 2016, One Sprig is a Bengaluru-based hospitality consultancy specializing in providing end-to-end planning and execution services for F&B businesses, including bars, cafes, and restaurants.
One Sprig has successfully assisted over 70 restaurants, cafes, and bars in launching from the ground up.
Recently, the consultancy startup offered expert support to large-scale ventures such as Palaxi Cinemas, a popular 8-screen multiplex in Calicut.
Their recent projects include the launch of Stellar Reserve in Hyderabad, Jugni (a nostalgic Indian bar in Bangalore), and The Big Star Cafe in Hyderabad.
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HOW IT ALL STARTED
Hailing from Bhagalpur, Bihar, Devbrat Bhardwaj was always into all things culinary.
He graduated with a Hotel Management degree from IHM Chennai and underwent training at Oberoi Hotels. Right after college, he began his career as a management trainee at The Park Hotels.
Speaking to Startup Pedia, Devbrat shares, “This was where my career as a chef began shaping up and I loved every single moment of it.”
Eventually, he managed different food and dining outlets at the hotel, ranging from all-day dining restaurants to bars and banquets.
He says, “It was in 2014 that I quit my full-time job and began taking up individual projects in the realms of food and dining. By 2016, I could see that the standalone restaurant business in India was rising. More people were interested in opening up their own cafes, QSR, bars, and restaurants.”
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This was when Devbrat Bhardwaj met Pritam Das. Pritam is also a hotel management graduate and has worked as a chef at renowned establishments, including The Park in Vizag and Chennai.
Devbrat and Pritam decided to collaborate, utilizing their extensive experience in the hospitality industry.
“We noticed that many restaurants were attempting to run operations independently, but they faced numerous challenges. They didn't know how to go about structuring their menu, conducting food trials and tastings, or establishing proper SOPs. Also, relying on trial and error turned out to be costly,” shares Pritam Das, the Chef and Co-founder of One Sprig Hospitality Consultants, with Startup Pedia.
He added, “We saw an opportunity to step in and offer guidance, and that's how we became hospitality consultants.”
One Sprig Hospitality Consultants started in 2016 with a small office in Bangalore. Since it was a skill they were offering, they didn't need to put in a lot of money.
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INITIAL CHALLENGES
During the beginning of One Sprig, hospitality consultants Devbrat and Pritam saw awareness as a key challenge.
Devbrat tells Startup Pedia, “It was kind of difficult to make people aware of the solution we were providing. Everyone knew the traditional way of hiring a chef and giving them a list of dishes and cuisines to be prepared. They didn't know that we could come in and take over everything from kitchen planning and standard operating procedures to menu development and revenue management.”
The young entrepreneurs would spend the initial days reaching out to aspiring entrepreneurs in the hospitality industry, driving awareness, informing them of their solutions, and giving them detailed briefings.
The Bangalore-based hospitality consultancy startup eventually began to gain momentum.
Devbrat and Pritam would take up one project at a time, dedicate themselves to it, and move on to the next only after its completion.
As project volumes increased, the originally small two-person team at One Sprig began to grow. What began as a bootstrapped venture gradually transformed into a pan-Indian team, bringing together specialized chefs, baristas, mixologists, and design consultants.
Devesh Jha joined the hospitality consultancy startup and has become an integral team member. He is an electronics engineering graduate and hospitality enthusiast who specializes in launching and managing F&B outlets.
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FROM IDEA TO REVENUE: THE ONE SPRIG WAY
Hospitality consultants Devbrat Bhardwaj and Pritam Das lead One Sprig with a clear and steadfast mission: offer comprehensive, end-to-end support to F&B outlets, guiding them from the finalisation of their concept through to the first month of revenue generation.
“This is not a halfhearted job. We are genuinely invested in helping our clients start getting fruits of their labour. That's why One Sprig stays with them until every tiny detail is taken care of,” shares Devbrat while talking to Startup Pedia.
The Bangalore-based hospitality consultancy startup helps cafes, restaurants, bars, and bakeries of all types scale with professional guidance and operational strategies that do what they claim.
One Sprig Hospitality Consultants offers a wide range of consultancy services that include but are not limited to:
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Concept design and brand development
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Restaurant management and operational strategy
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Kitchen design and layout planning
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Kitchen equipment selection and sourcing
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Menu planning, engineering, and design
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Recipe development and menu customization
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Food and beverage costing and profitability
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Supply chain and vendor management
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Branding and marketing strategy
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Food styling and photography
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Staff training and development
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Crockery, Cutlery and Glassware Designs and Selections
The hospitality consultancy startup ensures that clients know exactly what they're getting into, the kind of revenues they can expect initially, the brand voice that the restaurant should have, and the exact styling that food, furniture, and crockery should have.
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GROWTH
One Sprig Hospitality Consultants has witnessed a steady rise in the volume of projects.
Currently, it handles projects all over India, from Jammu to Kanyakumari and Guwahati to Surat.
With a team size of 8 full-time people, the hospitality consultancy startup works with multiple freelancers and contractors on a project-to-project basis.
In 2018, One Sprig Hospitality Consultants won the Best Restaurant Consultants & Business Mentor award at the Restaurant India Awards. In 2019, the young entrepreneurs continued their winning streak of getting the Best Restaurant Consultants award. In 2021, they won the Restaurant Consultant of the Year award by Food Connoisseurs.
Featured in magazines like Business Connect and Consultants Review, One Sprig has made a name for itself. In 2024, it expanded its office to Hyderabad.
It has worked with 70+ restaurants in 35+ cities and helped them start from scratch and scale to generate consistent revenue.
Recently, the Bangalore-based hospitality consultancy startup assisted Stellar Reserve, an ultra-luxury cafe in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, in conceptualizing and launching their entire F&B section.
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As Devbrat Bhardwaj signs off with plans to elevate One Sprig in 2025, he says, “At One Sprig, we deeply understand the passion behind launching a café or restaurant. Our mission is to empower those brave enough to enter this challenging and unpredictable industry, helping them make a lasting impact.”
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