IIM Grad Quits Job To Sell Healthy Veggie Powders - Builds Rs 1 Cr Biz

One of the arguments for fast food consumption has always been the ease and convenience that it brings with it.

“I had a long day, can’t cook dinner. Let me order takeout.”

“My mornings are busy. Let me just grab a donut and coffee on my way.”

“Evenings are for snacks. Who even cooks then?”

While it is actually easy, the only problem is that Indians are now at a higher risk of lifestyle diseases like obesity and diabetes than ever. 

While a clear shift towards healthy eating is on the rise in India, the country still has a long way to go in terms of nutrition awareness, calorie intake, and general food literacy.

Fortunately, Indian startups are plugging the gaps.

One of them is Koh Foods. 

Founded by Keerthi Priya, it is a health food brand based in Telangana that makes switching to healthy a ‘no-brainer.’ The brand makes 100% plant-based and preservative-free vegetable powders that are easy to mix up and consume.

THE EARLY DAYS

Keerthi Priya comes from a small village in rural Telangana. Her parents valued education and encouraged her to work hard.

And work hard she did!

Keerthi graduated in B.Pharm from BITS Pilani and later did her MBA from the prestigious IIM Calcutta.

Her career started by working in Janalakshmi Small Finance Bank.

Talking to Startup Pedia in an interview, Keerthi said, “At Janalakshmi, I was working in the CEO's office. Eventually, I moved out and decided to join a startup called Lokal. Then there was a small stint with a brand agency in Mumbai. Overall, my professional career has a bit of everything in it!”

So how did Koh Foods come into being?

Well, it all started when Keerthi’s mother would send her dehydrated veggie powders to consume while she was working in the corporate world.

“I used to get so busy that sometimes I would even skip meals. My mother immediately started sending me these homemade dehydrated veggie powders. I could store them easily for days and use them in my drinks, curries, and rice. These made my life so much easier. I instantly knew I wanted to do something with these and make the powders widely accessible to people. That was the start of Koh Foods”, Keerthi said.

In 2018, Keerthi began conceptualizing the brand and started it as a venture for her mother.

The market for quick solutions to eating was at a nascent stage at that time and a lot of research went into finding a product-market fit.

INITIAL CHALLENGES

From 2018 to 2020, Koh Foods was running on a purely trial basis.

Keerthi spent time identifying customer challenges and working on them. She also, along with her mother, worked on perfecting the product.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an uprise in local orders and Koh Foods finally found a big enough market to be able to think about scaling.

“In 2021, I was securing finance. We needed funds to establish a manufacturing unit. I got a loan from Standup India and a debenture of Rs 50 lakhs from Startup India” Keerthi stated.

Koh Foods was officially launched in 2022. 

Since Keerthi had quit her corporate career completely by then, she was met with apprehension from her parents. “I am the first generation of white-collar employee in my family. Also the first entrepreneur. My parents are very humble people who believe in conventional ways of making money and sustaining themselves. They couldn’t understand why I quit the safety net of a stable monthly income. But eventually, when they saw Koh Foods becoming a tangible thing, even they understood and supported me,” she stated.

Setting up a manufacturing plant was the first major challenge. 

At the time, Keerthi was only 26 years of age. She would go down to the rural village of Telangana, conduct assessments, understand the ecosystem, and make informed decisions.

Initially, farmers didn’t take her as seriously. But Keerthi persisted and eventually got in touch with progressive farmers who were looking to stop using pesticides in their farms and switch to a more organic and safe way of growing vegetables.

A manufacturing plant spread over 1 acre with a built up of 6000 square feet was finally inaugurated and Koh Foods began production.

GROWTH & SUCCESS

Today, Koh Foods partners with about 20 contractual farmers who grow non-water-intensive crops and follow a diversified method of farming. They use absolutely no pesticides and grow various vegetables like spinach, beetroot, carrot, and curry leaves.

The brand procures these vegetables and converts them into powders by using electrical dehydration to remove moisture in a controlled and monitored environment — at temperatures less than 60 degree Celsius.

Keerthi employs 15 rural women in the factory.

These veggie powders are 100% preservative-free and use no anti-caking agents either. 

Talking about marketing efforts, Keerthi said, “In the first few months, we did a lot of pop-ups. What we realized was that people didn’t know how the veggie powders are used. We knew demonstrating the use case in real time was the solution. Across Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Pune, we conducted live cooking displays and made colourful dosas, idli, and chai. Later, we also leveraged influencer marketing.”

Koh Foods’ product range includes Spinach Powder, Beetroot Powder, Carrot Powder, Moringa Powder, Dehydrated Tomatoes, and Dehydrated Green Chillies.

“The average order size is Rupees 600. And we serve approximately 1000 to 1200 customers every month,” Keerthi added.

In FY24, the brand clocked a revenue of Rupees 20 lakhs. For FY25, they've already clocked Rupees 40 lakhs and is looking to achieve Rs 1 crore.

LOOKING AHEAD

Currently, Koh Foods is working on scaling its operations in India and catering to a wider market across the country. The brand has also launched in the United States of America.

Keerthi signs off by saying, “Indian brands are drawing a lot of flak for using improper drying techniques. People aren’t even measuring moisture and ensuring that there is no microbial contamination. But at Koh Foods, since the beginning, we have a stringent processes in the manufacturing unit. The aim is to become a clean D2C brand that even people in the West can trust. Veganism is rising there - and vegetable powders are a huge potential market.  Koh Foods will always work towards making eating at home healthier, faster, and easier.”