“I discovered my passion for healthy food and nutrition pretty early when I started my professional career about 12 years back. I’ve always wanted to help people by motivating them to adopt a balanced lifestyle & healthy eating habits.” - Sonali Kocharekar, Founder, Appetite Food.
Rapid global urbanization in India has resulted in traditional, largely plant based diets being replaced by processed food dominated diets that are high in sugars, artificial additives & preservatives, animal fats etc., and low in starches, dietary fiber, nuts, fruits, and vegetables. This nutrition transition in turn has resulted in the rapid rise of obesity, lower immunity, increase in lifestyle disease and early onset of chronic diseases/ conditions. Founded in the year 2020, Appetite Food is a food technology start-up that understands and addresses these issues.
We’re excited to have Appetite Food in our community! Here is an insightful conversation with the Founder - Sonali Kocharekar about the journey of Appetite food and where they are headed.
What made you start Appetite Food?
Rapid global urbanisation in India has resulted in traditional, largely plant base diets being replaced by processed food dominated diets that are high in sugars, artificial additives & preservatives, animal fats etc., and low in starches, dietary fiber, nuts, fruits, and vegetables. This nutrition transition in turn has resulted in the rapid rise of obesity, lower immunity, increase in lifestyle disease and early onset of chronic diseases/ conditions. Founded in the year 2020, Appetite Food is a food technology start-up that understands and addresses these issues.
The core reason for the creation of Appetite Food is to provide its consumers with food choices that are not only aligned with current dietary trends but are also healthy, nutritious and advocate the benefits of the super ingredients like Basil (Tulsi), Ginseng (Ashwagandha) & Spirulina, that we infuse in our products. All of this while ensuring Zero Compromise on the taste & flavor benefits provided our traditional food systems.
How did you come up with the idea?
I discovered my passion for healthy food and nutrition pretty early when I started my professional career about 12 years back. I’ve always wanted to help people by motivating them to adopt a balanced lifestyle & healthy eating habits. And making a positive impact in someone’s life is something I find truly fulfilling & rewarding. This prompted me to look at the food industry through the lens of nutrition. I invested a couple of years to learn more about the latest trends in nutrition, followed the work of other nutritionists and studied in some detail, the benefits of Ayurveda & our traditional food systems. This gave me valuable insights on how millennials, can easily adopt healthier alternate lifestyles, with balanced diets that are in line with current dietary trends, but do not compromise on the taste & flavor benefits of traditional food systems.
After sampling a few of the recipes I had created in the local community & family/friends, I found that there was a growing demand for such food options that do not compromise on nutrition or taste. That’s when I decided to monetize my ideas, and start Appetite Food in Aug 2020.
What are the challenges you faced and are facing?
• Visibility: Visibility in terms of shelf space in retail counters, and search rankings on e-comm platforms.
• Awareness: Awareness in the sense that consumers need to be made aware that there is a healthy, tasty and nutritious option available (for their favorite Indian snack foods) as compared to the processed food brands that are low on nutrition and high on preservatives, additives, sugar etc.
How does your product stand out from any other?
We’re able to pack in more nutritive value in our products without compromising on taste & flavor. And we don’t use any ingredients that are artificial or contain preservatives.
Ingredients like Spirulina, Ginseng, Moringa etc., are difficult to infuse in food products since they lose their nutritive value because of the way Indian food is cooked. Also, ingredients like Spirulina even if properly added without affecting the nutritive value, still significantly alter the taste profile because of their intense flavors. We’re one of the 1st brands that have been able to infuse these super-ingredients into our product while still maintaining their nutrition benefits, and not affecting the flavors and taste offered by traditional food systems.
What's your vision for Appetite Food where do you plan to take it?
Our vision is to create a brand which consumers shall trust when it comes to nutrition, quality and great taste. We’re just at the beginning of our journey to make this vision a reality.
Where/ which platform are you present ?
We have our own e-comm enabled website https://www.appetitefood.in
Our products are also available on Flipkart, LBB, Switify and Orders24.
We’re in the process of getting our products listed on Earth&Organics, Amazon, Mirchi, DMart and may more platforms.
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