Join our Waitlist for Expert Advice!

During Trekking, When Sampat Sisters Devised a Breakthrough Idea of Providing Energy Through Bars According to Suhasini, initially, they used to sell 2,000 bars, but now they are clocking 20,000 to 30,000 bars on an average, in Bengaluru.

By Sugandh Bahl

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

Entrepreneurs India

Back in 2014, when Anindita Sampat was in New York, working with Ernst & Young, and her younger sister Suhasini was pursuing an exchange program at Wharton Business School, they became obsessed with trekking. During such trips, they realized carrying energy bars was much easier than large packages of food supplies.

According to them, New York changed the way they looked at food. Visiting local stores, they saw there are so many healthy alternatives that suit the Indian palette too. "We decided to plunge into making healthy snack bars for Indian consumers," says Anindita.

The duo focused on packing high-protein bars with natural ingredients and zero preservatives. "There are several recipes available online and we almost tried all, before conceptualizing the final composition," she explains. The snack bars consist of whole grains, complex carbohydrate, seeds, nuts and protein boost. Meanwhile, the protein bars contain a high percentage of whole grains, including millets, nuts, seeds and proteins derived from whey, lentils and almond. They even roped few chefs and food consultants to further advise them. "Unlike other players - RiteBite and Nature's Value, we do not add cornstarch, additives or added vitamins," she adds. Post compilation, they distributed those among friends at their Yoga class. It was an instant hit. The Yoga enthusiast sisters named the bars as Yoga Bar. The initial challenge for them was to figure out how to go about the business, in terms of technical aspects that it involved. Also, it was really a tedious task to convince the retailers. This meant knocking on several doors. Suhasini recalls visiting the Google office to persuade them to stock Yoga Bar in their cafeteria. "They said, they weren't certain if they would. At that point, I told them that if a company like Google doesn't encourage start-ups, then who would," she further says. Today, they have a 100 per cent year-on-year growth and an average monthly sales of over Rs 50 lakh.

"The online acceptance helped us save certain shelves, in the modern day retail spaces," sighs Anindita. According to Suhasini, initially, they used to sell 2,000 bars, but now they are clocking 20,000 to 30,000 bars on an average, in Bengaluru. Of this, 30 to 40 per cent bars are sold online and rest 60 per cent of them through offline retail markets, such as HealthKart, Bigbasket, Nature's Basket and Namdhari's Fresh to name a few, along with giants like Google, LinkedIn and InMobi.

Their snack/energy bar sells at Rs 40, while the 20gm pack of the protein bar costs Rs 125 each. Lately, they have even bagged their first angel round from Fireside Ventures.

"The New York experience was an eye-opener. We decided to plunge into making healthy snack bars for our Indian consumers."

Sugandh Bahl

Former Feature Writer, Entrepreneur India Magazine

Journalism has been in my roots since my school days. Beginning with a content specialist at CRY organisation to landing up being a Feature writer/correspondent at The Entrepreneur Magazine, life has experienced ups and downs fairly well. A foodie by nature and pet over at heart, currently I am thoroughly enjoying my tenure at The Entrepreneur!

Starting a Business

She Started a Business With $300 After Getting Laid Off. It Made $300,000 in Year 1 and Became a Multimillion-Dollar Company.

Bobbie Racette wanted to revamp the virtual assistance space — and provide job opportunities for underrepresented communities at the same time.

Leadership

'If You're Not Improving, You're Stagnant': Amanda Lannert's CEO Playbook for Continuous Growth

Amanda Lannert, CEO of Jellyvision, discusses how to lead a team through a major company transformation.

Entrepreneurs

Breaking the Mold: An Inspiring Journey of Entrepreneurial Vision and Unwavering Determination

As the founder and CEO of Birbals Inc., Pawan Bangar is leading the way in digital transformation and AI innovation

Business News

Can Anyone Beat Microsoft at AI? The CEO of Salesforce Thinks His Company Can.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff calls Copilot "the new Microsoft Clippy."

Grow Your Franchise

4 Ways to Deliver an Authentic Franchise Brand Experience in a Brick & Mortar Space

Here are several scalable best practices for bringing your brand to life in a messy, imperfect world.

Business News

'Not Yet Fully Autonomous': Tesla's Optimus Robots Stole the Show — But Were They Actually Controlled By Humans?

Musk said the $20,000 to $30,000 robot could perform household tasks like mowing lawns and putting away groceries.