You are what you eat: Avani Davda

Godrej Nature's Basket, the premium gourmet retail destination for fine foods, has launched curated wellness range of Healthy Alternatives. It is born out of catering to bridging the need for organic food for the consumers who follow a busy and hectic schedule and aspire to have a better quality life. Hence, acknowledging the wellness aspect and retail presence of the brand Avani Davda, Managing Director of Godrej Nature’s Basket spoke to Restaurantindia.in.

While Godrej already has wide range of organic food products, what inspired you to introduce the new ranges?
It is said that people really want to lead a different kind of life, but as we move faster with technology I think somewhere health is left behind while it is consciously playing in our mind. And, Godrej Natures Basket wanted to be a choice of the brand that helps its consumers to choose better organic products. Therefore to cater to the need, we came up with Healthy Alternatives.

With the kind of innovation we drive at Godrej, Healthy Alternatives is yet a new chapter that we want to open for the Indian consumers.

What is the brand philosophy?
The brand philosophy is ‘you are what you eat’ and to stay inspired ahead in life we have to make the right choice. We are attaching this wholesome living and brand philosophy to the Indian consumers who value their time and live the busy hectic lifestyle. For us the entire journey of developing this brand has been with this philosophy and we will bring the finest well curated and researched products which would play a vital role in consumers life to make them more successful and healthier.

What is the product range that you are offering?
We are offering nutritious products such as organic grocery, super grains and flours, natural fruit chips, roasted high protein snacks, gluten-free super-grain pastas, Greek yogurt, black and red rice, forest elephant rice, floral honey, free range eggs, tea blends, cows ghee, canola oil, olive oils, seed and seed powders and more.

Tell us about the wellness aspect attached with the brand?
The range of Healthy Alternatives is suitable for everyone, whether you are diabetic, you have allergies or you want to live a wholesome life. It addresses different kinds of needs for different parts of the day. Every product has been well curated with a lot of research. These products have been carefully developed from handpicked natural ingredients that makes one feel energised and healthy.

We are offering over 88 to 100 products and this is just the first step. We are going to continue with offering more lifestyle products ahead.

What is the consumer profile you are targeting?
We are targeting consumers of all ages, whether it’s a working mother or professional executive or a young child. Godrej Nature’s Basket has huge loyal consumer base.

What would be the retail presence of Healthy Alternatives?
The brand will be present in all the 37 stores of Nature’s Basket in existing five cities. Through omni-channel we are servicing across India and that gives us the massive reach. Also, products of the brand have a future beyond Nature’s Basket, but we will take one step at a time. Also, we are looking at an aggressive expansion as we grow, but we want to do it thoughtfully. We will come up with several different brands and products.

According to you what is the size of the organic food industry in India?
We are talking to the consumers who really want to spend. Health industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the country, whereas food industry is growing in double digits and we are very ambitious about it. I think the industry is of billion of dollars because health is a way of life and food is very much a part of it. We see tremendous potential at different levels.