1. What made you reach out to chef Sanjeev Kapoor for the new launch category?
We firmly believe that if you want to be the best, you have to work with the best. Fast&Up is already the best in its category and class, and if we had to come up with the best healthy food, we had to work out with the best solutions. Chef Sanjeev Kapoor is as timeless, he looks young and he takes good care of his health and his “Khana is Khazana”. Nutrition is Khazana. So that was the sole objective of coming together and that’s how we reached out to him.
2. How was the conversation where you guys approached him?
It was very welcoming and warm. Chef is not just a maverick in the kitchen but he is also an amazing individual with open minded, young professional thought process. Some of the ideas he had for India, those trends will be coming and we are so happy to be bringing them before others do. It’s just like a match made in heaven as there is so much excitement to do something new in this category.
3. How does getting Sanjeev Kapoor help Fast&Up?
When you are looking at nutrition, it is no longer a medicine. It is not on the doctor’s prescription. It is more like a choice and the only way people will consume it regularly is when it starts tasting nice and easier to consume with food. With Sanjeev Kapoor, we have that expertise of food reality. It brings the experience of 10grams of protein into a bowl of oats or soups and it takes out palm oil, sugar and all that dirt making it taste amazing as well.
4. Ready to eat food has become more among consumers since it can be used to replace a regular diet and has a longer shelf life, making it consumable for later. What are your thoughts on how this sector with grow further?
According to me, ready to eat is a very large segment where you have snacks, meals, prepared food. The 2-3 steps to prepare food has gone down to only 1 step. The convenience should not affect the quality and that’s how this sector will evolve. Even till the 80s and 90s, convenience was the only factor. Then it became convenience with quality, availability, nutrition and taste. This is how we see the world evolve, nutrition has become much more important.
5. Post covid things resumed to normalcy, do you think RTE and RTC helped f&b businesses achieve formulations in these categories?
I think its too early to say. 80-90 % habits people had at that time during lockdowns, people were reluctant to leave, still left those habits. RTE and RTC are not covid dependent but are more lifestyle dependent categories. Our life is very fast paced nowadays so convenience will always be a part of our life.
With new food technologies coming and new packages coming in, RTE and RTC are getting closer to consumers, hence will evolve but has no direct impact.
6. What has been the growth of company so far and what are the plans for this year and next year.
Here on, we are growing close to 100% YOY and we are expanding to new categories and new countries successfully. We have a good success in countries like UK and Europe and expanding further into American markets next year. Within India, we will be launching new categories and further expanding GoodEatz.
