Bengaluru-based start-up Lil' Goodness, a kids' food and nutrition brand, is transforming the eating habits of 100 million kids in India from junk to yummy and healthy. The company is a brainchild of entrepreneur Harshavardhan and nutritionist Pariksha Rao, who share their vision and passion for touching at least 10 million kids over the next two years by solving two major problems - nutritional deficiencies and fussy eating behavior of kids.
According to Harshavardhan, co-founder and chief executive officer, Lil' Goodness is positioned as a 'daily dose of Goodness' for kids and their families. He believes, "The age group 4-15 is a fairly substantial opportunity both in terms of segment size as well as in terms of nutrition impact. The eating habits get formed in this age group. Hence, there is a need to influence them to make healthier choices for a healthier next-generation."
Lil' Goodness has come up with innovative, wholesome, and global food products sourced and manufactured in India. The company has been among the firsts to launch prebiotic chocolates and the ancient super grain teff in India. It has three main product lines including Multigrain puffs and veggie crackers made with real veggies; super grain teff with no trans-fat, palm oil, and added colors or preservatives; Prebiotic chocolates; B12 Jaggery and Teff flour. “Prebiotic chocolates as the best performer and the recently launched B12 Jaggery as the fastest growing product among our product portfolio,” says Harshavardhan.
The company has also launched a first of its kind tech-enabled precision nutrition platform which will use an algorithmic approach to personalize snacking options for kids based on their nutritional profile while at home.
In just a short time, Lil' Goodness has successfully made its place in the market. The increasing demands of its products vindicate the brands' increasing popularity among health-conscious families. He proudly claims, "We have a pre-order queue for about three weeks for B12 Jaggery as we went out of stock selling out within 40 days of launch. The multigrain teff puffs have also done phenomenally well within six weeks of launch. We have sold around 20,000 packs even with the restrictions around offline sales."
The products are available online at the company's website and eCommerce platforms like Amazon, Big Basket, and Flipkart. In addition, it has built an offline presence in over 200 stores in four major cities (Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad). “We are present in shops that are 'near' to consumers- within walking distance to apartment clusters. Most of these stores have a loyal customer base and unaffected by lockdowns. This strategy has allowed us to maintain our offline presence even in the middle of lockdowns."
Product prototyping to finished product
Harshavardhan shares that the product development at Lil' Goodness is an extensive process. It involves consumer preferences research- online and offline that leads them to develop prototypes for which the company does small batch production. The tested, stable commercial products are then sampled with consumers for quick feedback on the taste, texture, and pricing. This feedback is used to refine the products for larger commercial batches.
Once the standardization is finalized, the company works with contract manufacturers to process the final product. He explains, "The product trials are conducted in-house at our micro-facility, where the prototyping and standardization of recipes is done. Then, the standardized recipes are scaled up at contract manufacturers. We use a mix of processes for our products, including from blending and baking for the veggie crackers to high-end micro-encapsulation of palm jaggery for the B12 Jaggery product."
Harshavardhan understands the significance of food safety and quality control for running their business. Therefore, through audits, the company ensures that all its third-party manufacturers follow standard processes and quality controls established by the brand.
Strengthening digital presence
According to Harshavardhan, most of the immediate expansion will focus on strengthening engagement on digital channels, growing offline sales in existing cities, and creating a community of engaged mothers. He adds, "We relaunched our website in March 2021, and yielded fantastic results. We have scaled 25x over the past 12 months."
Pre and pro-biotics cookies - Launching soon!
The company plans to grow its offline presence 5x over the next year and has plans to invest in the latest technology. In addition, it is launching some exciting new products based on its consumers' feedback such as pre and pro-biotics cookies.
Harshavardhan adds, "We are working on curating an immunity box for kids where we will have tasty and healthy snacking options that boost immunity, with the addition of active ingredients like curcumin.”
He states that the company is raising funds for its expansion which will sustain them for the next phase of growth and enable them to enter key international markets where they have already identified partners.