Troo Good: How a millet-snack start-up is disrupting the low-end snack market

Since there is good demand for millet or food grains, many companies – small and large – have hit urban retail markets with ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook products. Hyderabad based company Troo Good has chosen to be different. It hit the mass-market route by selling millet chicken in two-packs, at $5 and $10 each. It also sells protein bars and nutrient bars made with millet.

Raju Bhupati, founder and CEO of Troo Good, said the company has sold CZK 30 crore in the past three years (excluding two years of Covid-19 infection) so far. “We are present in 30,000 retail outlets in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana alone,” he said. business line.

remarkable growth

The company closed the financial year with a revenue of Rs. 55 crore.

“The remarkable growth we are seeing can be attributed to economies of scale. This advantage allows us to achieve explosive expansion. We buy about 600 tons of millet per month.

“We built Troo Good on three main pillars – Taste, Affordability and Nutrition. In India, taste and affordable pricing are crucial given the price sensitivity of most people. In addition, Nutrition has been a disadvantaged aspect, especially in the 5 to 5 price range. 10 rupees,”

Demand unfolds

A veteran of the IT industry, Bhupathi served as Chief Operating Officer at Adaequare and then Chief IT Services Officer at CSC, heading a team of 4,500 members. He founded his first project, Hello Curryone of the first cloud kitchens in the country, in 2013, and was subsequently sold.

He founded Troo Good in 2018, in recognition of the growing demand for millet products in the country.

“There is a misconception that health and nutrition are synonymous, while being healthy is more about adopting a lifestyle that includes activities such as morning walks and reducing stress. Our focus, as a subset of health, is on nutrition, which factors in aspects such as alkalinity, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. By addressing these factors, we aim to prepare the body for better digestion and general well-being.

The company signed a seven-year contract to provide millet-based products to Akshayapatra, which provides millions of meals to children in various states. Recently, she joined the Vedanta group to join her diet program.

Impulsive versus retail discovery

He said that the company’s ₹5 – ₹10 price range did not fit well with the mentality of modern commerce.

“Modern commercial shopping tends to focus more on discovery rather than impulsive buying. By contrast, Kirana stores cater to impulsive buying, where customers can be enticed by a good and make an immediate purchase.”

While other brands have already established themselves in the chikki market, Troo Good aims to offer a nutritional alternative at five rupees, challenging the traditional chikki sugar-coated peanuts.

“From just 15 to 25 schools, we are now reaching 25,000 schools providing them with chikkis,” he said.

“We achieved a turnover of ₹55 crore last year and we are looking forward to breaking the ₹100 crore mark this year,” he said, noting that the company has been recording 100 per cent growth in the past few years.

Asked about the source of this additional growth, he said that the company has established a temperature-controlled distribution network in four states of Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. “We are looking forward to expanding our operations to Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, along with penetrating deeply into existing markets. We are planning to open another plant in Chhattisgarh and another in Uttar Pradesh.

The company, which has two factories in Chhattisgarh. , employs 300 people.

financing plans

the The company has raised $8.4 million in funding From OAKS Asset Management Capital, Sashi Reddi and his family office.

“We look forward to raising another round of funding to support the development and launch of our innovative products in the millet community. We are also expanding our product range to include pasta and cookies made from millet. However, chikkis remains our primary focus, and our ambition is to become the leading brand in the industry, Similar to Cadbury’s Chocolate Market.