This ‘Natural Nutrition’ Company Is Taking On Baby Food Giants

Her own struggle to find tasty but nutritious branded food products for her baby prompted Shruti Tibrewal to set up the Bebe Burp product line that promises to meet childhood nutrition requirements.
Note: Bebe Burp did not meet the minimum revenue criteria of INR 50 Lakhs, it has been included in the list based on the high scores from the jury pitch round.

Tibrewal recalls that the startup was launched due to her unsuccessful attempts to find tasty but nutritious baby food with no chemicals or processed sugar. However, very few natural, organic options were available off the shelf. A few parents tried to make it at home. But the lack of fresh baby food would often frustrate people, especially working moms who juggle work and family.

So far, Bebe Burp has served 20K users and has sold more than 70K jars of baby food in retail stores, online and direct-to-consumer and has a repeat purchase rate of 66%. It is proud of a product playbook based on a collaborative culture. Its evolving product lines are a delicious mix of grandma’s recipes, organic goodness, new-age innovation and realtime feedback from parents. The startup has clocked month-on-month revenue growth of 35%.

The baby food market in India is typically dominated by legacy players like Nestlé India, GCMMF (Amul), Wockhardt, Danone, Heinz and more. Of these, Nestlé India accounts for 85% of the country’s baby food and nutrition market. However, the growing awareness regarding the goodness of natural ingredients, coupled with food safety concerns, has given rise to homegrown companies like Bebe Burp, making inroads into the $32 Bn segment.

It was a hairy, audacious project, but making healthy food for babies and toddlers was a mission-driven endeavour for the cofounders. From two jars of baby food a day, Bebe Burp now sells 15 products under four categories – porridges, puffs, cookies and protein powders – made of grains, fruits, veggies and natural sweeteners. The company got certified by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) right after its launch, and its 100% natural and organic products are tested externally for nutrient contents.

With the exponential rise in the number of online shoppers, the company eyes 10x growth in FY22 and wants to broaden its reach beyond the home state of Gujarat. Expanding to Mumbai and a host of southern Indian cities is a big part of its growth plan. The company will also enter global markets by 2025.