No Kidding! Healthy Snack Market for Children is Big Harshavardhan S, Co-founder and CEO, Lil Goodness on taking a bite in kids snacking space

Harshavardhan S co-founded Lil' Goodness in 2020 with a vision to transform kids' food and nutrition for 100 million kids and their families in India. In 2 years, LiL' Goodness has launched an exciting range of category-creating options such as prebiotic chocolates, super grain teff puffs, B12 jaggery, prebiotic milkshakes, etc. so that kids and teenagers get age-appropriate nutrition.

Known as the first company to launch prebiotic jaggery chocolate in India, the ever-growing nutrition-rich product portfolio of Lil' Goodness includes prebiotic chocolate, yogurt and milk squeeze teff puffs, etc. Harshavardhan has also led the company's customer base to grow to more than 200,000 with a strong digital engagement with the target customer segments and online and offline retail presence across the country.

Talking about his foray into this space, Harshavardhan S, Co-founder and CEO, Lil Goodness says, "I have spent 10 years in the healthcare, life sciences and wellness industry. The broad-based early exposure in this industry at Tata afforded me a strategic view - from the medical devices to healthcare and wellness services to genomics, which helped me formulate what I wanted to do in this opportunity space. The opportunity to impact millions of lives in the future generations of our country and their families through good nutrition is extremely rewarding and challenging. Good food always put a smile on the faces of people- this is the Goodness that we wanted to bring to millions of families through Lil'Goodness."

Kids usually resort to consuming junk foods to satiate hunger pangs and cravings in between meals. Such poor food choices lead to diseases like obesity. By offering nutritious foods in tasty formats, Lil Goodness aims to develop the habit of eating right among kids and teenagers. Lil' Goodness from day one has been an omnichannel kids and food nutrition brand which leverages the best of online and offline retail eco-systems. In fact, the snacking category demands a focus on digital as well as conventional retail. While the brand-engagement window in offline retail is extremely limited, it gives the consumers the opportunity to experience a particular brand and its products through trials. Therefore, digital engagement is a key pillar for Lil' Goodness.

Their full-fledged functions began in May 2020 after the nationwide lockdown. In the initial phase, it was all about penetrating new markets, strengthening customer outreach and competitive edge with an aggressive go-to-market strategy, and offering discounts and product trial opportunities to develop consumer traction. At present, the products are available at more than 800 retail points across multiple retail formats in various cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Lil' Goodness is presently positioned as a food and nutrition brand, offering yummy, healthy indulgences to kids and teenagers, the broader goal is to become the preferred option for the family. Its vision is to become an Rs.1000 crore brand by FY26.

Factsheet

· Bestsellers: Prebiotic dark chocolates, prebiotic milkshakes, Supergrain puffs.

· Total SKUs: 15

· Team size: 17

· Repeat customer ratio: 23%

· Online platform resulting in maximum revenue: company website

(65% of the total revenue)

· Split between offline and online sales: online - 70% and offline - 30%