“We do not differentiate between the heart and stomach” - Foodio.fit

Headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka, Foodio.fit is a health-package food company founded in 2020. It offers healthier alternatives in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) category with low-carb, high-protein, multigrain, and keto options. Apoorva Gururaj, a food technologist and chief executive officer (CEO) of Food.fit founded the company to bring sustainability to the market and help people switch to healthier snacking options. She founded Foodio.fit with her childhood friend Suresh Reddy to promote healthy snacking worldwide.

Talking about what made her venture into this business, Gururaj says, "We realized that there were not many reliable healthy options in the market and hence came up with the one-stop solution provider for more healthy munching, that is, Foodio.fit. Our products are natural as they adhere to strict guidelines and health and nutrition standards."

Clean ingredients and healthy snack options

She informed that Foodio.fit uses seeds such as sunflower, pumpkin, flax, and melon as the main ingredients in manufacturing snack flour. The products have no added refined sugar or flour. Gururaj says, "As all the products come from the farmers, they can be considered 100% organic. We source sunflower seeds and flax from the Himalayas and Jaipur." The packaging used is bio-degradable and eco-friendly.

Foodio.fit offers healthy snacks made of bindi, beetroot, sweet potato, and other vegetables. Foodio.fit offers a replacement for all snacks that are cooked in unsaturated fatty oils as the snacks are "Vacuum fried chips". Gururaj believes that the company's products are a healthy alternative to other snacks and says, "If you are someone who has a habit of munching snacks while watching films, Foodio.fit chips would be the ideal pick as you're consuming 100 percent vegetables that are in a crunchy form using 95 % less oil than usual fries." They call it the "Netflix and chips" concept.

Utilizing Freeze Drying Technology for enhanced high shelf life, taste, and texture

Gururaj informed that Foodio.fit follows the Freeze-drying technology through which it dehydrates the frozen foods under a vacuum so the moisture content changes directly from a solid to a gaseous form without having to undergo the intermediate liquid state through sublimation. In this process, freeze-dried food maintains its original size and shape with minimal cell rupture.

She explains the process through a product example, “The coconut water in the sachet that Foodio.fit offers is basically the coconut salt that is left as crystals after the water is dried using freezing. Once water is added to the same, it regains its original form. This technology enhances the shelf life, product taste, and texture. Moreover, you don’t have to add any preservatives or flavors to it as it remains as true to its nature.”

Taking the onus on food safety

According to Gururaj, Safety at different levels is ensured- from raw materials to cleaning to the packaging. She says, “Hygiene is our biggest concern and we ensure that all our products are manufactured on the safest & cleanest premises. Also, we ensure that all our employees are fully vaccinated and regularly using sanitizers at short intervals.”

There are ducts enabled to suck out the polluted air to bring in a sterilized environment. “Besides, the brand has a food safety & cleanliness expert who monitors the day-to-day activities,” she adds.

Focus on R&D to develop new products

Foodio.fit has been actively researching over the past three years and has developed more than 250 product variants. Gururaj says, “We plan to launch the products every year as and when the market is ready to receive something new (according to the market trends). Moreover, the brand continues conducting consumer trials across geographies to identify the best fit.” Foodio.fit currently has more than 50 products on the market.

The role of food technology in the Indian economy

Gururaj said that even though India is the largest producer of vegetables, around 2-5 % get wasted as we don’t have enough storage capacities or transportation capabilities to sustain the same. She believes that food technology plays an important role in the economy regarding food harvesting and preservation.

Tackling specific dietary requirements

Gururaj says, “Foodio.fit is the only brand that specifically addresses the specific dietary requirements such as Low carb for diabetes and hypertension, Keto and high protein for people who need high protein requirements along with multi-grain (Slow-carb). These are tailor-made to meet the life cycle requirements.”

Mission and vision

The company envisions itself creating for the world, products that are affordable and healthy. Foodio.fit aims to produce more products in the healthy segment and to become the world’s best healthy FMCG packaged food.

Insights into the future

Sharing the company’s journey, Gururaj shares, “Foodio.fit aims to become the first FMCG Indian brand to enter the global market and give a makeover to traditional Indian food in a better avatar with nutritional upliftment.”

The business runs on three revenue models, online selling, subscription model, and B2B for restaurants and related entities rely on them for their kitchen requirements. Foodio.fit has been seeing 25% growth month on month and 30% of the customer base is repetitive. There are more than 150 products in the pipeline, which will be launched soon.