Mridu Jana and Srinivas Jana’s, Radix Nutritive®, a D2C startup brand, manufactures a range of Gluten free, Vegan, Specialty foods and Millet Products. Srinivas talks about their journey.
In 2011, while we were getting ready for travel to USA, I got diagnosed with gluten allergy, which cascaded into a host of other complications. It came as a rude shock to a family which had predominantly been a wheat eater for decades be it rotis, parathas or bhaturas.
It was then, that my wife, Mridu Jana explored several diet alternatives and based on my body responses, she designed a survival kit Having seen and survived the rough time, we thought of the idea to setup an exclusive gluten-free facility upon our return to our roots. That’s how Radix Nutritive® took shape to provide healthy, nutritious and wellness products.
Our vision to “BUILD A FOOD CONSCIOUS SOCIETY” took us to markets, farmers, research institutes, agricultural universities, trade fairs, and food parks. This conscious effort helped us to develop a comprehensive 360° view of a sustainable food chain and helped us to identify Millets as a clear winner. Moreover, they are non-GMO, as well.
Considering Indian staple diet, we envisioned to design “easy to cook” millet recipes so as to provide healthy and nutritious food alternatives without compromising on the taste. Keeping grandmother recipes as base, considering nutritional aspects, grain features, and nourishment, we try to keep food simple by avoiding cluttering of grains across various botanical families.
While envisioning healthy roti making, we included millet as a nutri-cereal, a legume for its high protein and dietary fiber content and a binding agent to come up with products like Radix Nutritive® Gluten-free Jowar Missi Plus Roti flour. Considering the rise of Diabetic population, we encouraged a multi-millet flour high on dietary fiber, low in glycemic index, and recommended for cardiac health
and came up with Radix Nutritive® Trinity Multi-millet flour. It can be added to dosa or idli batter, roti dough to enhance the nutritional quotient of the platter, and can be prepared as porridge. For white rice eaters, millets are a great alternative which can be cooked like rice and rice-based recipes like puliyogare, payasam, bisi bele bath, pulao. We enhance the shelf life of millets, organically by roasting. Our roasted millets can be soaked in water before cooking. Our sweet selection includes laddoos, burfis, dry cakes, muffins and cookies, with millets and jaggery.
Our Gluten-free Trinity Multi-Millet flour has largely helped our audience to normalize their blood sugar levels and consume it in ganji or dosas. Gluten-free Trinity Multi-millet Rawa makes soft and spongy fermented millet idlis, upmas, halwa. An Instant Idli mix can be easily fashioned into soft and spongy millet idlis.
We procure native, natural and unpolished millets, directly from Farmer Federation and market our products directly to consumers via social media, WhatsApp, Referrals, ecommerce platforms, conducting events at apartments and corporate complexes.
We are breaking stereotypes by spreading consumer awareness and letting them the chance to taste our ready to eat foods thereby challenging their hesitation and onboarding them in millet ecosystem Storytelling, sharing success stories, testimonials help to build consumer conviction.
Being a bootstrap Startup, we are looking for opportunities to scale up our operations and footprint. We would like to sell our products to Restaurants, Star Hotels, Event Gatherings, Package Tours, Wellness Centers, Airport Lounges, and Organic Stores in all major cities. We wish to start exports in the next two years and to be a listed company in the next 5 years with our valuation to be based on the number of people who got inspired by our entrepreneurial journey and those who benefited using our products
As part of our social responsibility, we WANT o revolutionize the platter by including Millets as a diet alternative among all age groups across all strata of our society We propose to support three villages, directly or indirectly in terms of employment or growth opportunities.
These are some measures we feel should be taken to popularise millets:
- Organic testing
- Training on Millet Processing Technology
- Spreading awareness of various govt schemes available for Food Processing Companies/
MSMEs including eligibility criteria - Unifying food operators (including restaurants) licensing under a single umbrella FOSCOS/
FSSAI. - 100% Gluten free foods should be labelled.
- Eliminate trade barriers with friendly countries including training on exports and ease of export
financing - Find ways of minimizing middle men in overall value chain.
- Food to be transported using Dedicated Freight corridor to keep the shipping costs at the bear
minimum - Chefs can play a crucial role by designing simple and authentic recipes, encouraging the
audience to incorporate millets in daily life. - By offering, complementary tasting options in restaurants, customer feedback can be
gathered in refining the dishes and thereby spread the awareness about different cuisines
using millets. A menu along with nutritional info will help consumers to make informed
decisions about their food choices. - Backed by continuous innovation food manufacturers can develop millets products easy to
cook and ready to eat. - Support No GMO foods
