Backed By Leading Angels, Sprinng Foods Bets India Will Go Gluten-Free

SUMMARY

The funds will be used to take the gluten-free breads and cookies to more markets

The company will expand its range of healthy baked goods

Sprinng Foods’ investors include Ashish Kashyap, Infobridge Asia, Sukhbir Singh and others

In the face of changing consumer mindset towards healthier lifestyles and food choices, there are several new-age businesses sprouting up to provide these options in the market. Add Mumbai-based Sprinng Foods to the list. The health food brand, which has announced raising seed funding from angel investors, will produce international quality gluten-free, vegan and lactose-free baked goods in India.

Talking to Inc42, Sprinng Foods cofounder Tarun Khanna said that the company has secured seed funding to scale the business to more regions and expand its range of products.

The company has raised funds from N Gautham (prominent LP), Sunish Sharma (co-founder Kedaara Capital), R Karthik (cofounder Xanadu Realty), Ashish Kashyap (founder, INDwealth), Rajesh Sawhney (founder, GSF and Innerchef), Infobridge Asia, Amit Singhal (Startup Buddy), Mistletoe, Sukhbir Singh and Sahil Mehta (founder, Sovika Logistics).

Sprinng Foods: Baking With A Proprietary Mix

Khanna told us that the company has a proprietary mix of ingredients, which is specially produced in Ireland. He emphasised that this mix adheres to the UK and European FDA standards. This blend is then imported to India and is used to produce Sprinng’s own recipes.

We currently have 13 SKUs being supplied to over 70 stores in Mumbai and Pune including Nature’s Basket, Foodhall, HyperCity, BigBasket, Scootsy, PVR Cinemas and many others,” he added.

The company’s products include bread, cakes, cookies and brownies. Khanna said that the products match the taste and texture of regular baked goods. He told us that the company is seeing 25%-35% Q-o-Q growth across all its stores.

“Our unique, asset-light model helps us operate with customized areas within existing bakeries and that can get us to scale rapidly, in tune with market demand,” Khanna explained.

In its next phase of growth, the company is looking to scale to Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru. Talking to Inc42 about the investment, Rajesh Sawhney said, “The consumer shift to healthier food option is a mega global trend. The Indian consumer is both aware and knowledgeable. Gluten-free food options created by Sprinng Foods is a part of this evolution. They are experiencing good adoption in Mumbai and are ready to take their product to other markets.”

Ashish Kashyap, founder of INDwealth, told Inc42, “I am glad to support Tarun and Sprinng Foods team in their quest to create a leading and ubiquitous health food brand that impacts the lives of the people for the better. Their platform leverages the spare capacities of bakeries across India enabling them to quickly scale and at the same time be omni present.”

The Challenges And Competition

As the modern-day working population becomes increasingly health-conscious and aware of options such as gluten-free or vegan foods, the market and addressable base for health foods are growing in urban India. Studies show that more than half of the urban population today suffers from lifestyle diseases in India and this proportion is rising rapidly.

Diet and lifestyle are major factors influencing the susceptibility to many diseases. Some of the common occupational or lifestyle diseases include Alzheimer’s, arteriosclerosis, cancer, chronic liver disease/cirrhosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, nephritis/CRF, and stroke.

The market of healthy products is wide and includes large chains like Curefit’s Eat.fit which offers meals with a detailed analysis of its contents, Ripsey, Healthie, Nutritap and others.

However, creating brand awareness for health-conscious food products is a huge task. The market is already flooded with international brands like Whole Foods and Wheafree and others that are also producing gluten-free products. Hence, for Sprinng Foods and others, the challenge is to drive consumers to try new brands through differentiation, branding, product packaging and better customer service experience.

“Our challenges are reducing logistics costs, return rates, building awareness around the category and the brand via word of mouth and organic growth. Sprinng’s main focus is to produce India’s best Gluten Free bread and baked goods,” Khanna told us.