‘Amrik Sukhdev’ is a saga of sheer perseverance, entrepreneurial acumen, and the widespread popularity of honest, quality food. This saga started back in 1956 when a domestic dispute prompted Sardar Prakash Singh and his wife to start a new life from scratch. Prakash Singh was able to find a suitable spot in Murthal with the aid of his father, where he decided to start a dhaba. This was a strategic choice since the rent was reasonable, which meant that his wife could use its top floor as a residence. Equipped with a meager set of utensils but a burning passion to feed people, Prakash Singh started a small eatery along a major road serving mostly truckers, the unsung heroes of Bharat’s logistics industry. Prakash Singh and his wife did everything themselves back in the day, cooking and serving customers single-handedly.
However, the journey to success was far from being smooth. In the first place, the business was marred by a lack of capital and a small customer base. Finding the perfect location was an incredibly difficult task; they were forced to change locations three times due to a number of reasons. They could have easily chosen to wind up the business and take up regular jobs. However, the family stuck together, all because of their unshakeable faith in the quality and honesty of their hard work.
For a long time, the traditional Indian dhaba was a male-dominated, smoky, and utilitarian space that was a little rough around the edges. The turning point came when Prakash Singh’s sons, Amrik Singh and Sukhdev Singh, took charge. They realised that there was a paradigm shift in the travel habits of the people of Bharat and that more and more families were taking road trips but had nowhere premium and safe to halt.
Taking a strategic gamble that would alter the face of the highway dining scene forever, the brothers shifted the focus of the business from a trucker-oriented diner to a welcoming family restaurant. While all other dhabas were focused on excelling in one aspect — culinary expertise — Amrik and Sukhdev were focused on providing a hygienic atmosphere. They chose to invest all their profits in creating hygienic and modern bathroom facilities. This was a major pain point for women and senior citizens on the highway, which proved to be a brilliant marketing strategy, drawing thousands of families who now felt comfortable dining at their NH-1 dhaba. They also developed a play area for children.
The Secret Behind The Scale
Nowadays, running a 24/7 kitchen with over 150 tables and serving 10,000 people daily is a feat of industrial engineering. The brothers have achieved the feat of running a system to deliver massive, bulky orders without compromising on quality. They have not just recruited cooks; they have built a culture where their staff works with the precision of a Swiss watch. Whether they are preparing a single portion of Aloo Paratha or catering to a crowd of fifty, their signature ‘Sukhdev taste’ is consistent. They have achieved this by employing dedicated teams for tandoors, curries, and garnish, and constant quality control of their signature white butter and curd, which is the essence of their menu.
In an era when the hospitality industry faces the challenge of high staff turnover rates, Amrik Sukhdev boasts an army of 500 employees. The key to achieving this is by treating the staff as family and making them feel at home. The company provides exclusive welfare benefits to their staff, such as supplying groceries to the staff at the same wholesale price as the dhaba pays to their vendors, thereby helping the staff support their families at a fraction of the price charged in retail stores. In addition, the company provides exclusive transportation services to their female staff to make them feel safe and secure.
When the Dhaba made it to TasteAtlas’s list of the 100 Most Iconic Restaurants in the World, it was not just a triumph for the Singh family. It was a monumental triumph for Indian street food culture as a whole, proving that a street food stall can proudly stand alongside the best restaurants in Paris and New York, as long as it remains committed to cleanliness, employee loyalty, and taste.
The ultimate outcome of this incredible journey, from Prakash Singh’s humble wooden benches to today’s mega-structure, is the building of a global brand. Amrik and Sukhdev have managed to take their business to an astonishing turnover of Rs 100 crore, thereby showing that Indian soul food is capable of achieving huge commercial success. Today, ‘Amrik Sukhdev’ is no longer just a dhaba; it has become a full-fledged tourist destination. A substantial percentage of their consumer base does not merely pass by; they visit the dhaba to spend quality time with their loved ones.
