Soulfull,
Kottaram Agro Foods Pvt Ltd.
3rd floor, Madan Arcade,
1st Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur,
Bengaluru, Karnataka – 560071
In 2011, Soulfull was born out of a dream to reinvent millets. The company aims to develop healthy and tasty snacks and cereals with millets as the core ingredient. The first product, Soulfull ragi bites was launched in 2013. Further in 2015, the brand expanded to a range of ragi bites for kids as snacks. In 2016, Soulfull scaled out to 5 more states – Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, TamilNadu, Maharashtra and NCR – after its successful reach in Karnataka. In 2018, the brand launched 2 varieties of millet muesli to suit the Indian palette. In 2019, yet another product, millet smoothix, an instant shake made with 12 different grains was launched. Recently, the brand ventured into baked millet snack (ragi bites for kids).
Mr. PrashantParameswaran, Managing Director, SOULFULL Foods who have conceptualized and launched Ragi in interesting formats, said “India is a young nation, and trends have shown an increased awareness about health and nutrition. In the last couple of years, there has been a marked awareness on healthy eating across social segments. Evidence of this can be seen in increased consumption for health clubs, and improved penetration of nutritious food products. It is here that SOULFULL wants to make a mark by providing a good combination of breakfast innovations with a focus on health that tickle your taste buds.”
Prashant and his founding team, comprising Amit Sebastian, COO, and Rasika Iyer, CMO, pooled in around Rs 25 crore to get things up and running. Set up in Bengaluru, A lot of the investment went into starting an in-house R&D laboratory for quick and controlled testing and turn around time of millet products. This was followed by securing raw-material procurement channels and getting the factory ready for production. Soulfull also raised $5.3 million Avishkaar Bharat Fund in its first round of funding in 2018.
Packaged food start-up Kottaram Agro Food has forayed in the salty snacks segment for kids. The company, known for the brand Soulfull, focuses on ragi and millet-based packaged food products. The new launch, under the brand Soulfull Ragi Bites, will help the Bengaluru-based start-up to widen its kids’ product portfolio, which includes breakfast cereals and sweet snacks.
Prashant Parameswaran, MD, Kottaram Agro Foods said the company fast-tracked the new launch in line with evolving consumption trends. “As the country is grappling with the pandemic, children are confined at home, taking online classes and unable to go out and play. In-home consumption and frequency of snacking has therefore gone up significantly. Mothers are looking for healthy snacks and we believe with the launch of the new salty baked snacks range we are offering them a solution,” he added.
