AWSUM - India's first Ayurveda-inspired functional chocolate brand

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, when immunity boosters are driving people crazy, one would not be able to assimilate the fact that chocolates can also boost your immunity and can be made of Ayurvedic herbs and botanicals.

The pandemic forced the urban workforce to adapt to the remote working model quickly. As a result of working from home, the lines between professional and personal life became blurry. The millennials, who love to eat out, shop, and travel, were now confined to their rooms. The increased screen time hampered their circadian rhythm, due to which they are struggling to get a good night's sleep. This has also led to a surge in disorders like stress, insomnia, mid-day lethargy, depression, and other ailments.

Designed to help the urban working millennials deal with their modern-day lifestyle disorders, two friends Pranav Sharma and Kritik Thakur, have launched India's first Functional Chocolate brand, Awsum. Awsum is the first of its kind chocolate brand that uses Ayurvedic principles to make products healthier that nowhere compromises on taste. Awsum uses the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda and combines it with premium dark and milk chocolate to create exciting products that come with functional benefits.

The brand claims that functional chocolate is a new and novel category for the Indian markets, with no similar brands available in the same space. These chocolates are packed with herbs and nutrients that help the body deal with modern-day lifestyle health disorders and are very relevant for the current scenario where we are all dealing with a pandemic like Covid. The chocolates have a rich and smooth texture and do not come at a compromise of taste.

Awsum has initially launched four variants to start with - Daily Energy, Sleep, Goodbye Stress, and Active Immunity.

Commenting on the innovation, co-founders Pranav Sharma and Kritik Thakur said, "The brand's mission is to inspire lifelong healthy habits by bringing simplicity, inspiration, and delight to the world of supplements and nutraceuticals. These functional chocolates immensely help you fight and deal with modern-day lifestyle problems- from sleep deprivation to stress and anxiety. So, a product like this has become more relevant in the current scenario where India is fighting a battle with a global pandemic. Wherein everyone is looking for immunity boosting products and problems like sleep deprivation, stress and anxiety has aggravated all the way more."

The idea of Awsum was conceived in the backdrop of nationwide lockdown declared by the government last year in 2020 when the co-founders themselves grappled with sleep deprivation, daytime lethargy, and anxiety. And their own experience led to creating the brand that aims to help people deal with these problems more conveniently and excitingly. Their 'Awsum' thought took shape at Gurugram based start-up incubator, Huddle that closely works with selected high-growth start-ups. The company is also backed and mentored by a group of highly accomplished individuals and industry experts.

People irrespective of class, gender, region, love chocolates, and many medical researchers have already proved that they are a good antioxidant source. Awsum just gave us more reasons to munch chocolates and compensated for vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients.