Digitising compliance, simplifying exports: LabelBlind is transforming food labelling in India and beyond

As food and beverage companies across India accelerate their global ambitions, one challenge continues to quietly derail exports, delay shipments, and expose brands to serious risk—regulatory labelling compliance. Addressing this critical gap is LabelBlind, India’s first digital food labelling solutions company, founded by Rashida Vapiwala, a food scientist with over 15 years of industry experience.

Speaking at Indusfood 2026, Rashida shared the journey behind LabelBlind, the problems it solves, and how technology is reshaping the future of food exports.

From food science to food-tech innovation

Introducing herself, Rashida explained the core mission behind the company, “We are India’s first digital food labelling solutions company. We have digitised regulatory compliance not only for India—covering FSSAI and Legal Metrology—but also for 22 international markets.”

Today, LabelBlind supports compliance across key export destinations, including the USA, UK, Canada, the Gulf region, Australia, New Zealand, the European Union, and Southeast Asia. The platform enables food and beverage companies to generate compliant labels, validate artwork using artificial intelligence, and accelerate exports with confidence.

“Our goal is to help companies quickly generate new labels, validate their artworks through AI, and export much faster—without the fear of non-compliance,” she added.

The idea behind ‘LabelBlind’

Rashida’s inspiration for LabelBlind came from her years of hands-on industry experience. “I am a food science student, and this is the work I have done all my life. When my co-founder and I decided to start something of our own, we realised this area was largely untouched,” she said.

The name itself reflects the company’s original consumer-focused vision. “We called it ‘LabelBlind’ because consumers were blind about labels. Back in 2019, people didn’t really read labels.”

A turning point came when LabelBlind worked with FSSAI on front-of-pack labelling regulations. “That project allowed us to work with 30–35 of India’s top companies. We realised that labelling was actually a bigger problem for companies than for consumers.”

In 2021, LabelBlind pivoted fully to a B2B model, digitising India’s labelling ecosystem. By 2022–23, the company expanded internationally—starting with five markets and scaling rapidly to 22.

Why Indusfood matters

Participating at Indusfood for the second consecutive year, LabelBlind sees the exhibition as a strategic platform to stay close to its customers. “Food and beverage companies today aspire to export to 30, 50, even 70 markets. Our role is to enable them to meet all their export requirements in a 100% compliant manner,” Rashida said.

She emphasised that the exhibition is not just about showcasing technology, but about listening. “This platform allows us to hear the customer’s voice—both from companies we already work with and those we want to work with.”

Solving one of the industry’s biggest pain points

One of the most common reactions LabelBlind receives at Indusfood is curiosity—and relief. “The first question people ask us is, ‘How did you get this idea?’ If you look across all the halls at Indusfood, we are the only company offering digital food labelling solutions at this level,” Rashida noted.

Labelling, she explained, has long been a silent burden for food businesses. “Generating labels for every country, tracking changes, checking artwork—it’s extremely time-consuming and heavily manual. When companies see this problem being solved through technology, it genuinely excites them.”

The high cost of non-compliance

According to Rashida, the biggest challenge companies face today is non-compliance, and its consequences can be devastating.

“Non-compliance can lead to product recalls, consignments being held up in courts, or outright rejections. There’s a direct financial loss, but beyond that, there’s severe brand and reputational damage,” she explained.

She also highlighted the larger impact on India’s image as an exporting nation. “It’s not just about one company’s reputation—it’s also about India’s reputation as a global brand.”

Another major hurdle is time. Regulatory compliance is still largely dependent on individual experts. “Expecting one person to know regulations for 45 or 50 countries is unrealistic, while companies want to export to 70 or 80 markets. That’s where technology becomes essential.”

LabelBlind’s platform manages regulations for 50–70 countries, validating everything from label data sheets to final artworks using AI—making it a true end-to-end compliance solution.

Current focus and future expansion

Currently, LabelBlind caters exclusively to the food and beverage sector, but expansion is already underway. “Over the next three years, we plan to enter nutraceuticals, cosmetics, personal care, and other parallel markets,” Rashida shared.

Partnerships remain central to the company’s growth strategy. “We actively collaborate with organisations like TPCI and FIEO, conducting knowledge sessions and webinars. Wherever we see value creation—whether with MSMEs or large enterprises—we are open to partnerships.”

Rashida described growth in two dimensions—depth and breadth. “Vertically, we want to go deeper into regulations—advertising claims, front-of-pack labelling, and overall product compliance. Horizontally, we want to expand to more countries.”

LabelBlind aims to reach 30 countries by the end of this quarter and 50 by the next, while adding new product categories. “Our goal is to achieve this trajectory in the next three years, not five,” she stated confidently.

Beyond packaged foods, she also sees opportunity in the farmer and agri sector, where compliance challenges are even more complex.

Concluding the conversation, Rashida had a clear message for food and beverage companies, “Digitisation is the only way forward for scaling. Without adopting technology, growth—both in India and in export markets—will be extremely difficult.”

She reaffirmed LabelBlind’s commitment to supporting businesses of all sizes. “We are here to help companies speed up compliance and growth, and we’re happy to work alongside small, medium, and large brands alike.”