Raise your hand if you’ve ever started a weight loss journey, meticulously planned meals, but abandoned the idea after a few days because preparing food tailored to your goals became too time consuming.
Mumbai-based startup Food Darzee aims to take the hassle out of healthy eating, sending personalized meals to customers’ doorsteps.
In 2017, Dr. Siddhant Bhargava, Food and Nutrition Scientist, Anirudh Ganeriwal, Devaj Jhunjhunwala, Anik Bhandari, from the food space, realized that few startups were offering goal-oriented, calorie-counting nutritional meals.
The beginning
“The idea for Food Darzee was born when I was suffering from a rare debilitating disease called Lupus in college. During that time, I met these people who are also my schoolmates and wanted to do something in the food and nutrition space. As we were all food enthusiasts, we knew that combining these two genres of health and fitness would be quite fruitful and provide value to customers,” says Siddhant.
Food Darzee is a health and nutrition startup that aims to provide personalized diet plans. The company says it helps users achieve fitness goals through nutrition-related consultations and personalized meals.
“In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, our choices and lifestyles have changed. Food Darzee is serving people’s new needs by keeping them healthy through our subscription-based meals. After two years living in a pandemic, our meals, in addition to achieving physical fitness, have evolved to boost immunity and keep postbiotics at bay,” says Siddhant.
a hearty meal
At Food Darzee, once a person is on board, nutritionists map out a meal plan that could be vegan, low-carb, high-protein, or a personalized diet program. The platform keeps track of daily progress and provides suggestions on what to keep and what to change as clients progress toward their goals.
“With a team of 50 nutritionists, we have served over 50,000 clients and delivered over 2.5 million meals across India,” says Siddhant.
Starting from a small kitchen in the suburbs of Mumbai with the help of family and friends, the startup has grown to deliver around 120,000 meals a month in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Jaipur and Chandigarh.
“Today, setting a market fit for the last five years, when it comes to goal-oriented nutrition, we rank at the top of the industry. There is no stopping from here on out. We are constantly innovating and designing new products,” says Siddhant.
Health food is a Rs 10,352 crore market in India, according to a Nielsen report. And it’s growing at 10 percent each year.
According to other reports, the health conscious segment in India caters to around 50 lakh people in Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Chennai and is growing by 10 to 15 percent annually with market size. of Rs 12,500 crore. Ripsey and Yustrength are two other startups serving the healthy food market in India.
Differentiator and future
“The one thing that sets us apart from others in the market is the way we customize, personalize and deliver comprehensive nutritional guidance to our customers. Because it’s important to eat healthy, nutritious meals over a long period of time, our model provides four subscription meals per day,” says Siddhant.
In addition to this, nutritionists help clients throughout the journey. From planning diets to handling all nutrition and health-related queries, we do everything we can to help you achieve your health ambitions, says the co-founder.
As far as the revenue model is concerned, it is online only. People connect with the team through the website and social media platforms.
“For providing four meals a month we charge Rs. 29,700. Food Darzee’s key clients are famous Bollywood personalities, including other prominent figures from multiple fields,” adds the co-founder.
Food Darzee aspires to become one of the world’s leading health and nutrition companies.
“Our goal is to reach each individual and lead them towards a healthy lifestyle. I am also very excited to be involved in another new company, ‘FeetWings’, which has created a revolutionary new device that changes the way diabetes diagnosis and monitoring is carried out. Ultimately, as a social media content creator, I want to reach more people and motivate them to achieve their goals by providing accurate health and nutrition information,” says Siddhant.
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