Sometimes, the very last bastion in the fight against bad eating habits is the unhealthy & high calorie snacks that tempt us and are eaten at different points of the day. Maulik Mistry director of Pure Snacks Pvt. Ltd. observed this on his return from America in 2014 and foresaw an opportunity to introduce nutritious snacks in the market. He launched the brand MojoBar in 2015 with a bid to capitalise on the shift towards healthy food and provide people with viable, more nutritious options to traditional snacks.

MojoBars have been developed after a lot of time and investment in research & development and are made with the intention of being a snack that does not compromise on taste. Convenient to eat and filling, the bars have been making a mark in the Indian market. Maulik envisions an India that eats healthier even as life gets faster. He aims to take his product nationwide to every store, railway station and airport.

In conversation with GlobalLinker (GL), Maulik Mistry (MM) shares the story of his company, the milestones achieved so far, and his vision for the future.

GL: Tell us about your business.

MM: After my return from the US in 2014, I noticed that Indians consumed indigenous snacks that were either fried, full of sugar or high in empty calories. That breakfast samosa, evening sev puri or turning to a packet of biscuits (with refined flour) and vada pav  for a quick snack, all eventually contribute to harmful lifestyle illnesses. Our bodies simply don't require these foods. What we do need, are nutrient-rich foods for real energy. Friends who were trying to lose weight turned to preservative-high ‘low sodium’ or ‘low-fat’ uncertified snacks that didn't even have real labels with ingredients. They didn’t know what they were actually eating.

Pure Snacks Pvt. Ltd. launched MojoBar in October 2015, a new healthy snack bar to cater to mass premium India. We currently have three variants/flavours: Choco Almond + Protein, Nutty Apricot + Fibre and Yoghurt Berry +Anti-Oxidants. Our bars are real food in every sense of the term; they are free of artificial ingredients, preservatives and even gluten. A MojoBar is all about balanced snacking – for instance, our bars have the right proportion of good fats, protein, vitamins, fibre and carbs recommended by nutritionists for in-between meals. They can be consumed by anyone and everyone – be it a busy student, time-strapped professional or stay-at-home moms.

GL: What are the challenges you have faced in establishing your business?

MM: The biggest challenge was to address our customer's desire for a healthy snack that did not compromise on taste. 

Our customers are part of a demographic that is aspirational, with fast-paced, busy lives. Keeping this brief in mind, our R&D team spent months trying to develop the perfect balanced snack that was delicious, ‘real’ (i.e free of artificial ingredients, preservatives) and convenient to consume ‘on-the-go’ with decent shelf life. We had numerous failures during the product development stage, and even some industry experts suggested us to take the easy way out. However, post numerous trials, focus groups and taste tests, we launched MojoBar in October 2015.

Having a startup comes with innumerable challenges. Here are some of the others:

• Building a young, dynamic team, including experts.
• Getting the right investors on board to back our ambitious vision.
• Pitching to the big retailers, who usually focus on high revenue products that consumers have been seeing for the last decade. Convincing them to sell/stock new products that are “ahead of its time” was and still is difficult.
• Working in an unorganised ecosystem where the supply chain isn’t accustomed for natural products that have a low shelf life.

GL: What is the USP of your business?

MM: We strive to provide a real food experience; our bars are convenient, nutritious and ready to eat on the go. However our USP from my point of view is that we use ‘ingredients that you can see and eat’.

GL: What are some of the milestones of your business?

MM: Well we are a very young company; having spent only 15 months in the retail market, so there is a long way to go.

However, to name a few of our smaller achievements:

• In less than a year (since the MojoBar launch), apart from Mumbai and Bangalore, our presence has reached growing metros like Pune, Goa and Kolkata. In our first year, even with limited resources, our monthly growth rate was 150%, with 1000+ points of distribution.
  
  
• MojoBar is about spreading the healthy snacking revolution pan India. We’ve shipped our product to all 29 Indian states via our online partner, Amazon. MojoBar has also been a #1 best seller in the ‘Cereal & Snack Bar’ Amazon category competing against well established brands that have been in market for over a decade.
  
  
• Last month, when demonetisation hit the retail market, MojoBar’s sales actually increased. Our strategy revolves around inducing trials, and since the category itself is in its evolving stage, we are strongly focused on building a loyal customer base.

GL: What role do you feel GlobalLinker plays in connecting and assisting SMEs?

MM: GlobalLinker is a great place to build your professional network via the power of social media. It also helps SMEs to increase exposure by a having a company profile page, where potential suppliers, employees and distributors discover new products and services.

GL: What is your big business dream?

MM: Next year, we plan to further expand to retail markets in New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Hyderabad, with a wider range of healthy snacks under the Pure Snacks umbrella.

Our dream is to make MojoBar available at every touch point in Indian life, be it all-day cafes, coffee shops, movie theatres, fitness centres, hospitals, airports, train stations, etc.

GL: What is your message to aspiring entrepreneurs?

MM: All I would like to say is: Don’t give up. You may come across what seems like insurmountable hurdles or moments of self-doubt and fear, but your idea and belief should be above all of that. If you have done your research and know what you are getting into, give it your best shot.

Disclaimer: This article is based solely on the inputs shared by the featured member. GlobalLinker does not necessarily endorse the views, opinions & facts stated by the member.