Can Khetika’s Purity Formula Stir Up India’s Buzzing Ready-To-Cook Space

“Straight from the packet or just a little pan-frying.” That’s the mantra with India’s emerging consumer class of GenZs and millennials, and it’s one that D2C startups selling ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook foods are banking on 

Of course, convenience is just one part of the equation. Healthy, unadulterated and clean labels are the other side. The likes of The Whole Truth, Khetika, 24 Mantra, Slurrp Farms and others are trying to strike the right balance.

India’s nascent INR 75,000 Cr ($9 Bn) market for clean label, and the the $6.65 Bn ready-to-cook meals market combined have attracted a whole host of retail startups and D2C brands. The latter is projected to reach $12 Bn by 2033, thanks to an accelerating consumer demand for convenient, healthy, and authentic meal solutions, meeting busy lifestyle, health-conscious eating, and a preference for regional cuisines.

The ready-to-cook (RTC) boom reflects in the growth seen by iD Fresh and its rival Khetika. While iD saw its revenue soar 22% on-year to INR 681.3 Cr in FY25 and profitability swing five-fold to INR 26 Cr, Khetika’s topline jumped 50% to INR 247 Cr and the company inched towards break-even. 

But Khetika CEO Prithwi Singh believes his startup’s USP of unadulterated ingredients and the use of nutrient-retention technology is one that not many other rivals can match.

“Khetika stands as one of India’s largest zero-preservative brands,” the Khetika CEO said.

The startup was founded by Singh, Darshan Krishnamurthy and Raghuveer Allada in 2017 to address gaps that plague India’s ready-to-cook food and spices industry by removing adulteration, yet retaining the home-like taste.

Quick commerce was yet to go full throttle then, so Khetika followed the old-school trade channels, starting from Mumbai to reach out to potential customers.

Eight years later after securing $18 Bn in July 2025 in a Series B round, the company has four production plants across Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, and a dedicated foxnuts facility in Bihar. The company’s relatively under-the-radar journey has served it well, as it allowed the founders and the team to focus on quality rather than growth alone.

The fact that Khetika has managed to reach INR 250 Cr in revenue despite that  underscores a broader shift in the Indian market: consumers aren’t just buying products, they’re investing in authenticity and quality, especially when the fulfilment is becoming faster and faster. Here’s how Khetika tapped this evolution. 

Fighting The Menace Of Adulteration

India’s INR 30,49,800 Cr ($354.5 Bn) food processing market, which is expected to reach INR 4,584,415 Cr ($535 Bn) by the end of FY26, is a paradox of abundance and deceit. 

Staples such as spices, flours, grains and dry fruits form the basis of daily meals for an average Indian, yet adulteration taints nearly 70% of this, according to sector watchdog Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

From marble dust in cumin powder to synthetic colors in turmeric – such adulterations do not precipitate from mere oversight, they have become systemic, as the rush for profit outruns the commitment to purity. 

“If the raw ingredients are of poor quality or contaminated, the final food product’s quality drops,” the Khetika CEO said, adding, “Manufacturers, in a bid to make the final product visually appealing, adulterate them.” 

Most commercial-scale processing uses high-RPM machines that generate a lot of heat. This high temperature causes nutritional degradation. In simple terms, the food gets burnt and loses its natural nutrients. Finally, preservatives used to increase the shelf-life often leads to chemical toxicity. 

How does Khetika counter this? 

The startup claims to focus on single-origin sourcing, bypassing intermediaries, to procure directly from authentic agroclimatic zones. Chilies come from Guntur’s fields, cumin from Western Rajasthan’s arid expanses, and turmeric from Sangli. “That ensures not only the best quality, but also the most authentic taste, which is very important because those regions have the right agroclimatic conditions for these crops,” Singh affirmed.

This farmer-first ethos extends beyond procurement, according to Singh. The company has digitised its entire supply chain. For processing, it uses a low-temperature stone-grinding system integrated with modern machinery like SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) for real-time monitoring of temperature and pressure.

“This ensures scalability and consistent quality while retaining nutrition,” Singh said. 

Khetika has four food categories. The fresh category includes batters and chutneys with a shelf-life of 10 days, the spices are manufactured using stone-grinding technology, dry fruits and flours are processed and packed under a similar clean and low-temperature system, while foxnuts or makhana are sourced from Bihar.

“Our positioning as a clean-label, zero-preservative brand drives the business,” claimed the founder. 

Towards INR 2,000 Cr Revenue Target 

Eight years and INR 250 Cr in revenue after inception, Khetika is now aiming for close to 10X revenue growth over the next 2-3 years. 

“We have stepped up our focus on expansion and branding after the latest fundraise of $18 Mn. We’re looking at not just the domestic, but also overseas markets, especially in Europe after India’s recent trade deals,” Singh shared. 

The company plans to ship spices and foxnuts or makhana to the overseas markets, and in India, the southern states remains its largest market with Bengaluru alone being 3-4x bigger than Mumbai in volume.

“We’ve seen strong traction from Tier II and Tier III cities and even from the North East for spices and dry fruits. These regions are more educated and digitally connected now, which helps in adoption. For fresh products, expansion will happen gradually through smaller demo plants closer to consumers.” 

The Khetika CEO is upbeat on quick commerce, especially for categories like batters and chutneys. Quick commerce makes up only 10% of its sales so far but in certain categories, he believes, it is proving to be a great growth enabler. It also allows a longer product range to offer. In markets that are less sensitive to prices, Khetika plans to introduce more premium, health-driven, and convenient product lines.

“The third benefit is experimentation. When we launched stone-ground chutneys, it was made possible by the quick commerce ecosystem. Earlier, with traditional logistics, small price-point products and short shelf-life items like these would have been very difficult to distribute profitably,” Singh noted.

Gaining The Competitive Edge

Both the ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat segments have a sizable presence of FMCG brands like ITC, Nestle and Haldirams. But, the competition is limited in categories like batters and chutneys, with iD Fresh being the leader in a market for idli-dosa batters, pegged at anything between INR 1,500 Cr and INR 4,000 Cr with only 5–10% of it organised and dominated by big brands. 

“We are the second-largest national player. This category needs a temperature-controlled (4°C) supply chain, which is complex and not easy to manage. Hence, barriers to entry are high,” Singh said.

“Also, breakfast as a segment is growing rapidly across India. Idli-dosa batter has become a national breakfast option now. But not everyone knows how to make it, and even those who do it, often run out of time. So, convenience plays a major role. We see strong growth potential here, and since it’s a differentiated, high-complexity category, not many can easily enter it.” 

He pointed out that an end-to-end control over logistics and supply chain was key to managing the operations efficiently. “We manage it in-house using our proprietary technology stack, built by our co-founder Darshan [Krishnamurthy]. The vehicles are third-party, but logistics management, monitoring, and data tracking are done entirely through our own system. This gives us end-to-end visibility and control.”

To ensure speedy deliveries of food items in fresh categories, the production locations are chosen in proximity to the demand centres. When it comes to categories like spices, there are limited clean-label brands in fray. 

Khetika claims to have set up farmer knowledge centres for implementing Integrated Pest Management (IPM) training for chemicals-free farming. “Building this ecosystem takes time. Every farming cycle is 12 months. So, it’s not easy to replicate. We’re also innovating in large-scale stone-grinding manufacturing and ensuring full traceability through technology,” he said.

All of Khetika’s existign plants are FSSC 22000 (Version 5.1) certified and externally audited, which further strengthens its quality assurance, claimed the founder. Consumer awareness has also grown significantly, with people now demanding proof of authenticity. “Transparency through technology and certifications is a big differentiator for us.” 

Khetika’s ascent from a bootstrapped Mumbai startup to an INR 247 Cr omnichannel clean-label powerhouse reflects disciplined execution in a sector notorious for opacity and margin pressure. Its single-origin sourcing, proprietary stone-grinding technology, and in-house cold-chain control have built defensible moats in fresh batters and premium spices, while quick commerce penetration has eased its entry into newer markets.

Yet, the way to the INR 2,000 Cr revenue target by 2028 will come with its own headwinds.

Scaling zero-preservative products across Tier II and III cities will strain cold-chain capex and working capital, while it needs to ensure that blended spice and RTC launches out-innovate both legacy FMCG giants and D2C rivals, as its export ambitions hinge on volatile global certifications and currency swings. 

As growing demand for healthy foods spices up a global market for clean-label ingredients to scale $80.69 Bn by 2032, there are potential prospects for companies like Khetika to ride the wave, leveraging its technology support and management skill.    

[Edited By Kumar Chatterjee]