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Indian food brand gives Ayurvedic ingredients global appeal

Ayurvedic food brand Sattviko says it wants to spark an Indian superfood revolution by using traditional Ayurvedic ingredients in modern, convenient formats.

Indian start-up Sattviko was founded in 2014 as a foodservice chain but since 2016 focuses only on packaged food. Its product portfolio is currently made up of four ranges – popped water lily seeds, chickpea snacks, on-the-go breakfast pots and spiced tea – all of which are made with sattvic ingredients compatible with an Ayurvedic diet.

According to the non-profit Yoga Institute, a yogic way of life aims to increase an individual’s ‘sattva’ quality by nurturing consciousness through a healthy body and mind. A sattvic diet is vegetarian, featuring fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains, pulses and some dairy, and it raises the sattva.

Ancient ingredients, modern format

Arihant Dugar, business coordinator at the New Dehli-headquartered company, said: “A lot of households used to prepare and consume these kinds of foods that were positively impacting their health and helping them have a better lifestyle.”

“Sattvik foods […] are the original and purest form of food so we are now trying to reinvent those flavours and present those superfoods in a modern format for new consumers. We strongly believe these foods have the power to impact and change the way everybody lives. In a way, we are building upon this food revolution where we believe if somebody wants to change the way they live, they have to start eating right as the first starting point and gradually evolving towards a yogic way of life.”

Sattviko’s popped water lily seeds (known as makhana in India) are available in three flavours – pink salt, peri peri and mint – while its chickpea snack, or ‘plant protein shot’, is sweetened with organic jaggery (raw cane sugar). The breakfast pots contain sabudana (tapioca pearls), moon dahl, watermelon seeds, flax seeds, peanuts, chili, fenugreek and curry leaves. The pots are available in four flavours – chili lemon, masala, Szechuan and a plain version that is intended for periods of fasting – and are eaten as a savoury porridge.

In a bid to help consumers align their desired health outcomes with its product portfolio, Sattviko’s e-commerce portal allows people to ‘shop by benefit’, choosing products that are diabetic-friendly, protein-rich, low-GI or good for digestion or immune health.

Sattviko believes by using Ayurvedic ingredients in food categories that feature with increasing prevalence in people’s diets, it can reach more people and help tackle India’s growing incidence of diet-related disease, Dugar said.

“[This] is where the combination of those traditional health benefits of the superfoods and the modern taste culminate,” he added.

An Indian concept with international appeal

Sattiviko started out serving the domestic market but now exports to seven countries around the world – the US, Canada, UAE, Singapore, Germany, Australia, and Bahrain – with the US accounting for around just under one third of its consumers.

“When we started a year and a half ago with the exports, we had anticipated that the global trend towards healthy snacking with vegan, gluten-free, plant-based proteins [would] shoot up. We have received a very strong response. While two years back, we were doing around 70 to 80% of our business in India, now we are doing 80% on the international market,” Dugar told The Ingredients Network.

“The initial traction we got from the international market was from the Indian diaspora but in the last four to five months, we have seen a strong affinity from people who practice yoga. I think that is one of our major consumer segments now and that is independent of any ethnicity to which they belong. They just have a passion for yoga and Ayurveda.”

The products are organic and non-GMO certified, said Dugar, which are particularly important for targeting the export market.