Abhishek Agarwal, From A Regular Foodie to Lucknow’s Best Food And Travel Blogger – Flavors of Lucknow

Abhishek Agarwal- Founder and Director of Flavors of Lucknow- is one of the most prominent faces and youth entrepreneur of Lucknow. With years of experience in Business Consulting, Digital Marketing and Business start-ups, he started Flavors of Lucknow in 2017 to promote local street vendors of Lucknow on social media platforms. Gradually things became big and Flavors of Lucknow became Lucknow’s favourite food platform for the brands to be promoted on with exclusive marketing strategy.

Q- What inspired you to become a food influencer? How did you come up with the idea of starting a Flavors of Lucknow? What’s your story behind this food blog?

Hailing from a typical Marwari family, food has always been a top notch priority. Thus, my love for food had evolved on the day I stepped foot on this Earth.

Once, I had an encounter with an old man who had  a very small street food shop. There was a boy who was not talking and behaving in a very dignified way to that man because he was not that satisfied with the quality of food he was presented with. Had it been a five star restaurant the behavior would have been completely different. This incident triggered me with this thought of a food blog. So one of the very main motive behind starting this page was to raise the standard of living of such people and provide them with a platform where they can showcase their food.

Also, bringing Lucknow on the World food map was another driving force that instilled in the idea of influencing people through Lucknow’s food.

Q- How different do you think Flavors of Lucknow is from other food blogs. What do you think is your USP?

The originality and uniqueness of the content and the ability to deliver it to the audience in an equally unique way is what makes FOL stand out. The trust my followers have in me is my USP.

I create content which is related to food , people and travel. The key mantra to success is to be genuine, have quality content be regular and consistent. When you have extraordinarily ideas and out of the box content people are eager to see and appreciate it. Also, you should never compare yourself with other people and should always involve in healthy competition that brings success and growth to everyone working towards a similar objective. Competing with your own self is something that makes you stand out from the rest. Your evaluation of “ where you were yesterday and where do you land yourself today” , will surely pave your way towards infinite success and happiness. Learn to value your work, time and energy. It is only then that the brands would value you.

Started as an initiative to help the local street vendors of the city on one hand , FOL has successfully managed to create an impact on the best of brands with its amazing feed and reviews thereby maintaining a flavorsome balance between the elite choice and lip smacking street food.   Having dared to be different than the rest , Flavors of Lucknow has got it’s audience fall head over heals in love with his work emerging out as one of the best influencer marketing platform of the town. FOL takes pride in reviewing more than 300+ food places in town and outside, that includes the hidden gems of the city.

Q- When did your first collaboration happen? How has your feed grown since then?

Ans3)My first collaboration happened in 2017 with one of the local brands of Lucknow (which was new venture in the city). With time, Flavors of Lucknow has grown by leaps and bounds. Initially a lot of national brands started collaborating with me and as the page grew many international brands have also tied up with us like KFC, Marriot, OYO Rooms, Toyota,etc.

Q- What is your dream about taking your blogging/ food styling journey to the next level? How do you plan to grow next?

Ans)The key idea behind founding Flovors of Lucknow was to accelerate the growth of the city with a pinch of both local street food and elite tastes and cuisines added to it. I want Flavors of Lucknow to be one-stop option for anyone visiting the city. I have audience from abroad as well engaged on my page thereby creating an international awareness about the food and cuisine. Apart from this, I want the page to grow more as an influencer marketing platform whereby the best of international brands choose FOL for their marketing and promotions , taking a leverage of my marketing strategies and innovative ideas. Thus, I would  want FOL to grow as brand of GLOBAL CHOICE.

Q- Apart from food, what is your vision with regards to travel and adventure? What all places have you covered on your platform?

Ans) Travel and adventure is what brings out your hidden desires and aspirations and at the same time makes you feel at peace with your inner self. It’s a busy busy world we live in! Travel gives you a time out of your busy and monotonous work schedule.

We’ve had amazing series on Jaipur, Delhi, Hyderabad and Nainital food and travel on our page.

Q- What advice would you like to give to the coming of age bloggers/ influencers?

Ans ) My only advice to the coming age of bloggers /influencers is not involve in negative competition. Be genuine and true with your content. People follow you for your own style and credibility so don’t indulge in fake reviews or copying others content. Do whatever you’re good at, do what gives you happiness , do what helps you earn money but not at the cost of misleading others.

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Website- www.flavorsoflucknow.com