Haryana Woman Quits Her PhD Midway To Start A Healthy Snacking D2C Startup; Her ‘Puffd’ Has Clocked ₹2.5 Lakh Revenue In Just A Few Months

In a country where snacking is almost a daily ritual, India’s crowded snacks market leaves little room for ‘one more brand’.

Yet, now and then, a skilled founder spots a sharp consumer truth and builds a startup around it—quietly, steadily, and with conviction.

That’s exactly what Nidhi Mittal has done with Puffd, a Hansi-based D2C healthy snacking startup that is turning everyday puffed rice into a modern, flavoured, mass-market product.

Founded in October 2024, Puffd has already crossed ₹2.5 lakh in revenue in just a few months of active selling. The brand has also sold over 650 units, signalling early product-market pull in a segment that is both competitive and brutally price-sensitive. 

In many ways, Puffd is also a story of personal reinvention—one where a young founder chose entrepreneurship over the conventional academic route.

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Founder’s Initial Journey: Love for Academics and then, a Big Pivot

Nidhi, 29, grew up in Hansi, Haryana, in a middle-class household.

Academically inclined since childhood, she completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in commerce, finishing her postgraduation in 2019.

That same year, she began pursuing a PhD—and alongside it, she also started tutoring her neighbourhood kids, driven by her long-standing interest in teaching and education.

But the seeds of an entrepreneurial mindset were always there. Like many first-generation founders in the Indian startup ecosystem, Nidhi carried an instinct to observe market demands, pricing, and everyday consumption patterns.

In February 2023, she got married while her PhD was still ongoing, and the months that followed brought a clearer understanding of household purchase behaviour—especially around snacks.

By the summer of 2024, she noticed two clear gaps. Mainstream snacks were unhealthy and not ideal for children or the elderly, while many ‘healthy’ packaged alternatives were simply too expensive for the average Indian consumer.

That’s when she made the tough call: in June 2024, after nearly five years of effort, she quit her PhD midway and began building Puffd

The Birth of Puffd: Spotting the Gaps in India’s Snacking Market

India’s snacking market is massive, but it is also deeply polarised.

On one side are cheap, mass-produced options—often fried, heavily salted, and designed for impulse consumption. On the other side are ‘healthy’ brands that typically charge a premium, restricting adoption beyond metro, high-income buyers.

Puffd’s founding thesis sits right in the middle: create snacks that are clean and genuinely better, without pricing them like luxury products.

The brand’s first bet was not on exotic ingredients or imported superfoods, but on something deeply Indian and familiar—moori, made from puffed rice.

Nidhi’s early journey of building Puffd began formally in October 2024 when she registered Puffd under Shree Shyam Kart.

Over the next eight months, she focused on compliance and fundamentals—securing FSSAI licensing, applying for trademarks, and creating the building-blocks for scale across online marketplaces.

Product Development: Challenges in Building a Clean-label Snack Brand

Puffed rice has always existed in Indian kitchens, but mostly as an ingredient rather than a separate packaged snack. Nidhi knew that if she could reshape consumer perception, she could build a new category inside familiar behaviour.

"Even though moori (puffed rice) has long been part of Indian snacking traditions, it’s usually seen as an ingredient for homemade snacks like bhel poori and jhaal moori—not a standalone product. Flavoured moori is rarely available as a packaged snack in the modern Indian market, despite being an excellent source of protein, iron, calcium, and dietary fibers," says Nidhi Mittal, the founder of Puffd, during an exclusive interview with Startup Pedia.

Nidhi started Puffd with three flavours—Turmeric Tadka, Masala Masti, and Smoky South Twist—positioned as flavored moori that is tasty, affordable, and natural. 

It was also designed to appeal across ages, from kids who want flavour to older consumers who want light, easy-to-digest snacking products.

However, the bigger challenge wasn’t the idea—it was execution.

“The early product development phase was defined by repeated experimentation and long hours of research and development. For us, the clean-label promise wasn’t optional. The brand was designed to be preservative-free, with no artificial flavors, and built around a simple ingredient base,” Nidhi explains.

But that also made product creation harder. Making a puffed rice snack consistently flavourful without damaging texture, shelf stability, or taste is not trivial.

‘Healthy’ is easy to say on packaging; it is much harder to deliver at scale, especially when you want consistent taste without leaning on additives, preservatives, or artificial flavour boosters.

Between July and September 2025, she distributed samples through local grocery stores and within her personal network to gather consumer feedback.

The response was encouraging but direct—some customers felt the flavour was mild, and the homemade masala didn’t stick evenly to the moori.

Instead of ignoring it, Nidhi built a simple fix into the product experience: an extra small masala pouch inside each packet, allowing consumers to adjust intensity.

It was a small operational change, but one that aligned with her promise of a flexible, family-friendly snack.

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Going Pan-India: D2C Website, Marketplaces, and Early Traction

Puffd’s full-scale commercial operations went live in October 2025, backed by an initial investment of ₹5 lakhs that came from Nidhi’s savings.

The capital largely went into product R&D, packaging, and early-stage marketing, reflecting a classic bootstrapped startup playbook.

Soon, Puffd scaled to a pan-India presence through its D2C website. Listings on quick commerce platforms are currently in process, alongside early conversations for corporate gifting partnerships.

Today, Puffd offers seven flavours in total, including newer additions like Black Pepper Burst, Tangy Trail, Chilly Chataka, and Classic Salt.

“We have built our own production facility here in the Hansi district. It is small for now, but it gives us total control over the quality and taste of our products. From the very beginning, the goal has been to create safe, healthy, affordable, and tasty snacking products for all, be it kids or the elderly,” Nidhi comments.

Pricing is positioned for mass adoption, at ₹299 for a 130-gram packet, irrespective of flavour.

The feedback from customers has been very positive and encouraging so far. The people who tried Puffd’s samples in the initial days are now returning as paying customers.

The Roadmap: USPs, Growth, and Vision

Puffd’s differentiation is built on simplicity and execution—variety, clean-label positioning, and pricing that doesn’t alienate middle India.

“Our key differentiators at Puffd truly set us apart in India’s crowded snacks market. We’re also very particular about our ingredient choices. No palm oil, and also our puffed rice is roasted rather than baked or fried, keeping the product light while still flavour-forward. For our growing consumer base that is looking for genuine health benefits, this matters a lot,” Nidhi Mittal elaborates to Startup Pedia.

So far, Puffd has remained fully bootstrapped, reinvesting cash flows for growth.

“We have not raised any investor funding so far and have instead reinvested our revenues to grow the company. However, in the future, we will be open to exploring strategic investment opportunities to compete in a very competitive D2C space,”she admits.

Her vision is ambitious but grounded in reality and execution; to build a healthy snacking brand that avoids ‘diet-only’ positioning.

“Our mission at Puffd is simple yet transformative: to revolutionize everyday snacking for Indian families with clean, affordable, and genuinely fun-to-eat products,” Nidhi Mittal concludes

The 2026 roadmap includes new products such as makhanas (launched recently) and chips, built around Puffd’s signature flavours, along with improved packaging designs.

With the Indian healthy snacks market projected to reach US$ 8.15 billion by 2033, Puffd’s timing appears favourable and full of potential.

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