How this Pune-based health foods startup is planning its new growth route

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Puru Gupta, a former Procter & Gamble executive, founded Healthy World, an e-commerce website that mostly provided healthy food options, about a decade ago, a small percentage of the country's population had become aware of what they were eating. However, by 2016, Indians had developed a taste for excellent food and were willing to spend a little more on it. 

As per a 2016 report published by Nielsen, a US-based market research agency, the market size for health and wellness foods was Rs 10,352 crore, with a growth rate of roughly 10%.

This might be the result, among other things, of increased awareness brought on by increased internet penetration as a result of the Jio boom. Puru, who also was dabbling with private label brands for his internet store, had fully transitioned to a brand-focused company in 2015. Their private label, True Elements, was launched by them. However, instead of becoming an aggregator, they chose to launch a snack brand because many people were looking for superior brands that were not readily available.

 

Because customers were still hesitant to shop online, being present in both physical and digital storefronts was the only way to go. Puru chose to start in overall trade stores, whereas most other new-age brands, such as cold-press juice manufacturer RAW Pressery, Greek yogurt player Epigamia, and snack brand Wingreens Farms, focused on contemporary trade stores. These weren't quite kiranas, but neither were they supermarkets. These were mid-sized supermarkets that carried a wider range of products than just groceries.He believes that because few companies were operating in areas such as flax and sunflower seeds and morning granola, it was also simpler to persuade store owners to stock their products at lower margins. 

 

True Elements, which is owned by HW Wellness Solutions Pvt Ltd., currently operates in about 12,000 outlets and plans to expand to 20,000 by the end of FY22. In the breakfast and snack sector, the brand will expand into six to seven additional categories, up from the current thirteen.True Elements' production facility is in Pune, and it is backed by SIDBI Venture Capital and the RP Sanjiv Goenka Group. True Elements had several logistical issues because of the city, which was heavily impacted during the second wave of coronavirus. Although Puru and his crew of roughly 280 workers were able to operate the manufacturing units by generating bio bubbles, delays in delivering things to clients were created by a few store closings and transportation challenges during the lockdown.However, things have picked up since the unlock, and the business expects to generate Rs 80 crore in revenue by the end of FY22. 

 

True Elements presently competes with The Whole Truth, which is supported by Sequoia Capital India, Yogabar, which is backed by Elevation Capital, and Mumbai-based Snackible, among a plethora of other health food businesses. According to Crunchbase, the Pune-based firm has raised Rs 150 million thus far. True Elements is working on brand growth and brand recognition to stand out in a congested market. Puru demonstrates to his customers where each product comes from. To that goal, the business engaged Ved Agarwal, a former Amazon category head who joined the team in July and intends to differentiate True Elements' brand. They want to earn our clients' trust by showing them the whole farm-to-fork experience. As per Statista, the retail market price of organically healthy food is predicted to reach $8.43 billion by 2023.

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