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Healthy snacks segment to be around 2% of overall snacks market in India
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Kimberley Fernandes, Mumbai
September 11 , 2020
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The healthy snacks segment is estimated to be around 2 per cent of the overall snacks market in India, according to experts. However, in light of Covid-19, more people are seeking out global health food trends and hence influencing the health food segment in the market.
Power couple, Sachin and Simran Sahni, based in Lucknow, are the founders of Keeros, a brand which is currently dominating the healthy snacks niche in India. Their vision is to reach a turnover of Rs 200 crore within the next 4 years.
“We want to be known as an Indian multinational company in the FMCG domain and health foods category. Our plan is to expand to the top 30 cities of the country and open at least 10,000 outlets,” commented Sahni.
Their motto is ‘healthy snacks for all, diabetic safe and awesome tasting’. One of the major reasons for the brand foraying into the health snacks segment with the main aim being to cater to diabetics who seldom have any choice when it comes to snacking options in the market.
The brand’s roasted snacks come in three variants; lightly salted multigrain, slightly sweet multiseed and lightly spiced quinoagrain. The snacks have low glycemic index, zero cholesterol and zero trans-fats, making it ideal for everyone to enjoy.
“We would get a lot of people who suffer from diabetes asking for advice on what to eat and whether these products were available in the market. Since there were very few options, we decided to add health and happiness to people’s lives through our food products,” said Sahni.
Opportunity to co-invest with fellow angel investors and venture capitalists have shifted their focus to funding food processing startups in small towns and tier ll cities, Sahni opines, “Venture capitalists are showing a lot of interest in consumer goods produced in tier ll cities because the biggest advantage is that the operation costs are much lower as compared to metropolitan cities.”
“Last year we had raised funds with the help of Venture Catalysts and this year too, despite the global pandemic, we are able to do the same. The fact that we are from a tier ll city and are able to run a successful business proves that venture capitalists are investing in smaller cities,” he added.
Due to Covid-19 and the following shutting of borders, quarantine and lockdown, the food and beverage industry suffered huge losses. However, e-commerce platforms, online delivery platforms and other online food technology solutions saw an uptick.
“Pre-Covid we begun expansion through vending machines across Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, etc., in corporate spaces and airports; business was booming. We had participated in Aahar and received great responses but due to lockdown and quarantine that soon followed our business suffered great losses.Gradually with the lifting of lockdown our business has started picking up with sales through online platform like Amazon and other e-commerce websites,” said Sahni.
“Post Covid-19, we are working on developing our products for other tier ll cities as responses from them have been far greater. We want to be a major player in the e-commerce platforms, wellness channels like gyms, diabetologists, dieticians, etc. We are planning on exporting our food products to the Middle East, USA, and Europe as we receive a lot of enquiries about our products,” he concluded.
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