Tell us about your brand story before you got funding in 2015?

We have been involved in farming and we were progressing exponentially. We were the first player to launch potted herbs in 2008. However, the market wasn’t really ready for the product line back then. We started making basil pesto and retailed from Spencers outlet at MG Road, Gurgaon in 2011. Basil Pesto, which is widely used as pasta sauce, became popular as a dip because we were making people taste it with chips! Inspired by that, we launched various range of dips. By 2013, we were packing over 10 types of dips with a range of hummus, yogurt-based dips, salsa and pesto etc in boxes and retailing them across Delhi NCR. In 2014, we launched successfully in Mumbai and after getting funded by Sequoia in 2015, we expanded rapidly to become a national brand with presence in over 30 cities now.

You are present across both cold chain and ambient categories. How challenging is it to ensure visibility in cold chain category as you can’t do much at the chiller section?

Yes, dip is a challenging category as it needs to be kept in the refrigerated section or the chiller.  We manage our own cold chain and ensure the integrity is maintained right up to the retail store. We now have a presence across over 3000 GT and MT outlets in 30 cities and today, we hold 95% market share of the category. Over the last 7 years, we have built this category by continuously sampling our products in stores 365 days a year. Sampling is generally a launch practice for many FMCG brands, but we have made it a permanent part of our product proposition and business model with a large team of over 450 full-time store promoters.

Your packaging for your ambient category looks fresh and innovative. Tell us more about it.

When we evaluated the sauce category, we found that it had got commoditised with ketchup. We disrupted the category when we launched our sauces range towards the end of last year in tube packaging, which no one had done. And, we launched 12 different sauces in one go. To ensure ease of display, we made the primary carton lid in such a way that it doubles up as a stand, in which, over 30 tubes can be displayed. This
packaging itself has become an interesting innovation for GT visibility. Across sauces, mayo and chips categories, we have around 42 SKUs today. We launched our mayo range only last month and again, we used tube packaging for MT. Apart from our omni-present strategy of sampling, we have innovated in some fabulous range of FSUs, parasites and end caps. Our background as advertising and marketing professionals has helped us identify the missing links across all these categories and innovate accordingly.

What all product categories will Wingreens take part in near future?

When it comes to new product categories, we have huge plans ahead. We will soon get into sweet dairy and nut-based spreads, granola bars, healthy cookies, chocolate slates, ready-to-cook gravies etc, to name a few.