Sep 12, 2017 10:58 AM
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I used Place of Origin to buy Upperi(Kerala delicacy, made of fried Nenthraka variety of Banana chunks dipped in a syrup made of Jaggery with Ginger extract) and found on receiving the package that they had sourced it from some unknown Bakery in Tamil Nadu, not from Kerala. On opening it, I found that the Banana Chunks were of the regular green Banana(these Green Bananas are the cheapest in the country - original Nenthraka variety is the most expensive variety) and the chunks were dunked in sugar syrup not Jaggery. There was NO Ginger in it. Repeated complaints produced deafening SILENCE. Obviously there is poor or non-existent assessment done of genuineness of:Gourmet" items, and their USP of "Curated" Products is simply marketing buzz(curated online marketplace where we bring to you India`s finest gourmet artisans).
One other Marketing trick used by Place of Origin is to show fake customer rating of either 4/5 or 4.5/5 and corresponding filled-up Red Stars, shown against EVERY single product listed on their website! It gives a false impression to the potential Customer that genuine customers have provided actual Good or V Good feedback. It is fairly arbitrary and even ordinary Roasted Sunflower Seeds are shown with 4/5 rating!
The latest order from us was for 500 GMs of Karanji(Similar to Gujia of North India, but a Maharashtrian delicacy that has only a coconut and Jaggery mix, stuffed into semi-circular parcels made of dough, and fried) We received a tightly packed small box with Silver Foil heat-sealed pouch inside - containing mostly filling and crushed-dough powder. It appears that Vaidehi Foods that manufactures these, passes off damaged and broken pieces from their Production Line, to Place Of Origin Customers, by placing broken items into the packet and then topping up with powdered stuff to fill the right weight.
So while Customers angrily grit their teeth on receiving lousy products that are neither genuine "regional" delicacies other than in name, nor of any quality and write email after email, or call in vain, both Place of Origin as well as the "Curated" Product manufacturers laugh all the way to the bank!
Cameras dont lie. Check out the images- The first image has broken Karanji which we shook out of the dust and powder in the packet and have put it into our container
The second image shows the weight of dust and powder 175 GMs out of 500 GMs total weight of the package remaining that was deliberately passed off.
