The market is flooded with packaged foods that claim to be healthy and convenient. In such a scenario, how does Soulfull fit the bill?

Convenience was synonymous with packaged and processed food. But, it was wrongly perceived to be unhealthy if consumed regularly. Due to the presence of preservatives, people were hesitant to opt for packaged food. At this juncture, we decided to step in and health was our top priority. We came up with products that were healthy with high quality ingredients and without any chemical preservatives. When we started Soulfull in 2012, quinoa, Peruvian grain was a rage. Health conscious consumers highly preferred this grain. We did a thorough research on locally available grains. We found our ancient millets as the answer to all our requirements. In fact, millet are known to be healthier and affordable than quinoa. We developed millet-based products bringing back the tradition with a zest of the present.

Millets was not successful because it was not commercialised as a crop with high nutritional value. In fact, the energy level is high in millets compared to rice and other cereals as it disseminates energy slowly. Now, people have started realising that they should eat local and millet is the only crop that’s grown in every part of the country. We encountered another challenge when we entered the market – people still believed that breakfast cereals were unhealthy. We abstained ourselves from adding any chemical preservatives and we used the healthy ingredients and what we needed to compromise was on the shelf life. Instead of giving 18 months of shelf life, we reduced it to 9-12 month shelf life.

Can you give an insight into how in-store activities play a significant role in promoting the brands?

Activation plays a big role and the way our brand is built is purely on in-store promotions. When we launched we didn’t prefer ATL but we wanted get in-depth and we wanted people to understand the product, visibility and credibility. Sampling is the best way to connect with your consumers in a category like Soulfull. We have done brand sampling in marathons, corporate parks and flea markets. We have interacted with customers extensively. Through in-store initiatives, we have created awareness on chemical preservatives, nutritional value of millets and the importance of such ingredients in maintaining a healthy life. 

Our brand thrives on customer feedback as it helps us in product improvisation and development. Therefore we strongly believe in below the line activities. We have an in-house activation team that takes care of end-to-end solutions both at the in-store level and outdoor initiatives. In India, activation is not an organised business; there are many layers from design to conceptualisation stage which may affect the brand communication to the consumers. We discourage wrong information about the brand. Soulfull believes that consumer needs to be dealt with respect, dignity and with the right information.

How is Soulfull catching up with latest trends in this category?

What is your outlook for product development and market reach? In India, kids need healthy snacks to recede the evening hunger pangs. Now that we have made a mark in healthy breakfast cereals, it’s time to satiate the taste buds of kids. We have realised that there is a big gap in addressing kids’ needs and this is where Soulfull will venture next. We are going to launch a whole range of healthy snacks in India.

There are immense opportunities in the healthy packaged foods industry in India which is growing rapidly at 2025%. After the recent funding of Rs 35 cr by Aavishkaar, we want to strengthen our product portfolio. Right now we are in 5,000 stores and we plan to increase the distribution to 25,000 retail outlets by the end of this financial year. Currently, we are strong in Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Kerala and Chennai. Soon we will be penetrating into new regions such as Gujarat, Punjab, Pune, Nasik, Mysore and Hyderabad (and rest of Telangana).

To reach our target, we need to focus on right kind of products, right vision and strategies. The government of Karnataka’s initiatives in promoting millets is appreciable. We have good team of food technologists that helps in product development. We are the first brand to get an accreditation of smart food category. Since the inception, we are growing at a consistent rate of 1012% and we have 12% market share in the cereal packaged food segment.

We want to backward integrate with farmers, thereby looking at seed development, sourcing directly from farmers. Through these we can have larger production cycle to deliver the best quality product. In the coming time, we want to invest more in in-store activities. We believe in educating the consumer, which is the last mile. This last mile needs to be covered in the most efficient manner. For us everything starts and ends with consumer.