This startup is making healthy, convenient meals that taste amazing

Ishit Saurabh Pilani, Co-Founder of Organic Roots began his tryst with food more than seven years ago. A former investment banker at Ambit Corporate Finance and System Analyst at Fidelity, Ishit knew he had more to offer to this world. Tying up with Luke Coutinho, Organic Roots is gaining a strong foothold in the overseas market as well. This collaboration comes in the wake of mutual goals. The partnership aims to augment the consumption of healthy instant food. The vision is to build a thriving, responsible business with wellness at its centre. In an interview with Bizz Buzz, Ishit Saurabh Pilani talks about the challenges of starting a food company, the importance of sustainability, and the future of the ready-to-eat market

How was Organic roots conceptualized?

Our busy lives leave little time for the age-old cooking methods we were so used to. So, we decided to box them up into ready-to-eat meals, while ensuring that they taste nothing like packaged food! Mixing traditional techniques with the latest food technology, we have created products that are organic, 100 per cent true to authentic flavours and 100 per cent safe, retaining the natural nutrients of the ingredients.

The ready-to-eat market is massive especially in the urban landscape. Traditional food cooking techniques are time taking and people today are looking for healthy, tasty options that do not require the whole ritual of vegetable cutting and other prep required to cook a good meal. Besides this, while people are looking for ready-to-eat meals, they wish to upgrade to healthy food choices. They are looking for convenience without compromising on taste and that was a big motivation behind Organic Roots.

Besides this, cold chains are missing in India. So, customers only have the option to choose from ready-to-eat meals that are shelf stable. We wanted to provide products that have a high self life but are nutritious. For the same, we have used technology which preserves nutrition. With changing consumer habits, it is a great time to offer them something new. Consumer willingness to try new products is at an all time high. We have a great DTC and online global opportunity in this digital age. Organic Roots is a culmination of these opportunities and the market gap to offer packaged food that is nutritious.

How has the company evolved over the years?

We are a very young company. We formally launched and started selling our products in April 2022. With growing focus on a healthy lifestyle, we are growing steadily. We offer health at convenience, organic and safe. There has been a growing demand for Organic Roots. The pandemic accelerated awareness and adoption for healthy meals. With no preservatives, no artificial ingredients, our clean label has reached thousands of customers. We are the only soup brand to be added in the in-flight menu of Spice Jet.

We started our journey by curating recipes from our own childhoods. Often tweaking them to make healthier substitutes that embrace modern-day living. Our passion for flavours has taken us all over the country, handpicking regional dishes, family recipes and cooking techniques, each of which has influenced and shaped our products. We are constantly evolving and we now have a range of products that evoke nostalgia. Recipes lost through generations due to lack of skill, traditional wisdom and patience are now preserved in our nutritious authentic meals. We offer instant preparation without compromising on taste, health and nutrition.

What are your portfolio of brands and which of them are the ready-to-eat?

We offer food that will warm your soul, made with wholesome ingredients for those who need quick but healthy meal choices. We have re-invented classic Indian dishes with technology that ensures that the food on your plate is 100 per cent organic yet true to authentic flavours. Our process helps preserve the nutritional value of the dish, while tapping into age-old cooking traditions, family recipes and home-grown ingredients. We offer meals (mostly Khichdis), soups and chutneys. All of them ready to eat.

What is the unique selling point for your product?

All our ingredients are directly sourced from farmers. Organic isn’t just lip service. It means working with farmers who are certified organic and ensuring that our entire supply chain is sustainable and mindful of the communities we work with. Our network consists of over 1000 organic farmers that support this all-natural practice, and all our ingredients and directly source from them. Our USPs includes:

Curated recipes: Regional flavours collected across the length and breadth of India

Completely organic: Absolutely no artificial flavouring or added preservatives

Consciously sourced: Fresh ingredients from our network of handpicked organic farmers

Nutrient rich: Advanced food technology preserves natural nutrients of the food

Super convenient: Easy to carry, quick to prepare and ready to eat in just three minutes

Available globally: You can now shop our products across India and the globe

What are the kind of ready-to-eat products in the $64 billion market?

As per Market Research Future’s (MRFR) report, the ready-to-eat meals market will achieve $188.0 billion by 2030 growing at 10.98 per cent CAGR. A lot of products available currently in the ready-to-eat market are high on unhealthy fats, huge and salt. The rapidly changing lifestyle is fuelling growth for convince and variety in ready-to-eat meals.

How big is the Indian market? How is it growing year on year?

The busy Indian millennial workforce, increase in gross family income, and nuclear families have given an incentive for growth to the ready-to-eat market. As per Technavio’s segmentation analysis, this category will grow to $751.43 million by 2026 at a CAGR of 18.63 per cent.

What is the percentage of your sales internationally?

We have recently started selling on Amazon global beginning with the UK, US, Canada and UAE market. We have sent shipments to SE Asia, Europe and the US. We are working on expanding globally.

What are the challenges of marketing your brands in India and internationally?

One of the major challenges in the ready-to-eat sector is the misleading labels. These can be found on both the large scale and small scale brands. Packaged food is considered unhealthy because of these misleading labels not listing the ingredients. Besides this, people have a misconception that organic food is expensive. Often the customer's understanding of organic is minimal.

Large players often control the mind space and wallet share and marketing. Incumbent players often sell unhealthy stuff. Alternatives and a lot of competitions don’t have clean labels. These practices often leave the customer confused with everyone claiming natural preservative free food. Digital landscape has offered many new brands the opportunity to connect with the consumer but it has also made it more competitive. CPG – food is crowded. Brand building is easier than before but still challenging. Besides this, building distribution network takes time and working capital can be large initially. Creating a differentiated product is tough especially as the organic food supply chain can be challenging. This includes certification challenges as well. The ready-to-eat market is constantly evolving with changing consumer eating and fast habits. The high premium on organic food adds to these challenges.

What kind of sustainable packaging is fuelling the ready-to-eat market growth?

The consumer is more aware about the environmental impact of packaging. We are a responsible brand. We offer light-weight eco-conscious packing, easy to carry and ready to eat in three minutes

What kind of product innovation is driving the growth of the ready-to-eat market?

Ready-to-eat that is as good as fresh is what the consumer wants. Preservative-free, shelf-stable, long shelf life with preserved nutritional values and free of chemicals. These are the values that are driving the ready to eat market.

What trends do you see in the years to come?

The future is about convenience. Customers will make choices driven by comfort-food and convenience. From demanding clean labels to making healthy choices, the ready-to-eat market will be about fresh, nutritious food and this is what we are doing at Organic Roots.