Wholsum Foods’ flagship brand, Slurrp Farm was born when Meghana Narayan and Shauravi Malik became mums. They wanted high-quality and nutritious food options for their own children but were unfortunately unable to find anything. Around the same time, they also began talking to other friends who were new parents and found that they shared the same sentiment – there was a lack of options that they could trust with their eyes closed. It became fairly clear to them that there was a giant-sized gap in the market and they were determined to do something about it.
Extensive market research, R&D, and some introspection showed them that the answers lay in the grandmothers’ kitchens. They dug into recipes that grandmothers favored, revisited ingredients like millets from their own childhoods, and found ways to make them tasty. At the same time, they wanted to create a business that could be a force for good.
“Our flagship brand Slurrp Farm currently majorly retails in India through our own website as well as through leading e-commerce and quick commerce platforms such as Amazon, BigBasket, FirstCry, and Swiggy Instamart amongst others,” stated Meghana Narayan and Shauravi Malik, Co-founders, Wholsum Foods.
“Our products are also available across select leading modern trade stores in India and the UAE as well as online in several markets including USA, Europe, Singapore, and UAE,” they further added.
Recently, Wholsum Foods has also launched the second brand under its portfolio - Millé: A Supergrain Co, which will tap into people of all age groups.
Explaining it further, they said, “Through Millé, consumers will experience delicious plant-based food options that combine millets with protein from lentils and legumes. Millé will have food with high protein, and high fiber, and that is naturally gluten-free. Currently, the brand retails through its own website as well as via Amazon. We will be scaling up the presence for Millé exponentially in the coming months.”
Marketing Strategy
From a marketing standpoint, for the first phase of Slurrp Farm’s growth, the co-founders focused on a mix of digital and offline marketing. Influencer partnerships, affiliate marketing, email marketing, and paid search advertising form the core of its marketing activities. The brand also collaborated extensively with a lot of like-minded brands and communities for offline events.
“2022 was a milestone year for us because we launched our first-ever brand campaign – ‘Yes Ka Time Aa Gaya’ featuring investor and brand ambassador Anushka Sharma. The three-part digital campaign highlights how mothers are constantly fighting a battle with the world to feed their children right. Mothers deal with a flood of opinions and options on giving their children the right kind of nutrition. Yet, they are compelled to constantly say ‘NO’ to their kids, to their families, to their community, and to harmful ingredients in processed foods. This is so that their children can have an early start to eating healthy. These constant moments of saying no often take the joy out of feeding children – one of the most nurturing parts of a mother-child relationship,” they explained.
“Each of the films focuses on such a moment in a mother’s life when she is urged to feed her children a seemingly healthy food option that she knows is actually packed with harmful ingredients. The films highlight her struggle to keep saying NO to these well-wishers of her children only to finally find an ally - in her own kids, in Slurrp Farm, and in Anushka Sharma,” they further added.
The campaign was amplified across multiple digital touchpoints including YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook, as well as via 2,500 leading influencers, amongst others.
Technological Innovations
Technology has been at the forefront of growth for D2C brands, especially in the past two years. A key aspect that determines growth - consumer experience – has been elevated to new heights, all thanks to technology.
“Technology plays a key role in guiding these decisions for us - whether it is live Whatsapp chats on our website, Instagram stories, personalized communication, etc.,” they stated.
“Apart from this, innovation is at the core of everything we do - whether it is the products (which draw inspiration from age-old traditions and yet are contemporary to suit the tastes of today’s generation) or our R& D processes which bring the consumer into the fold right from the stage of product ideation,” they further added.
Future Plans
Wholsum Foods has grown more than 10X since Covid in monthly gross revenue. The brand targets to reach Rs 1,000 crore annually by 2026.
“2023 is going to be an exciting year - it is the UN-designated International Year of Millets. Additionally, with the Government’s thrust on export, we are confident that the market for millet-based products will only grow exponentially. 2023 will also have us expand our international presence significantly,” they asserted.
Slurrp Farm is already present in 15+ countries globally including the USA, Europe, UAE, and Singapore. The brand has seen stellar growth in these markets and is committed to growing its presence in each of them by at least 30-40 percent in the next 12 months.
At present, Slurrp Farm offers over 50 SKUs across all categories – toddler and kids’ cereals, pancakes, dosas, upmas, oats, panjiri, noodles, pasta, milk mixes, cakes, natural sweeteners, and superfoods.
“Consumer centricity is at the core of everything we do – we are constantly speaking to consumers to understand what their experience with our products is, what their problems are, and how we can solve for them. In fact, all our recent launches are born out of customer feedback. We also have several new launches across categories in the pipeline for the coming year, all inspired by our conversations with consumers,” they stated.
“With the launch of Millé, there is immense scope for us to build awareness and generate demand for millet-based products,” they concluded.
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