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Some people may think that their dream job after graduating from a prestigious university like IIT or Harvard is to work for a Big 4 company. Not so for Ahana Gautam, whose world changed after walking into a Whole Foods store in America. Whole Foods is a retail chain that carries only products that are free of hydrogenated fats, artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. At that time, there was no Indian company for this business. Indian food is hallowed, but the snack market is full of less-than-healthy ingredients. Thus began the open secret.
Open Secret is a company founded by Ahana Gautam that focuses on creating healthy snacks using the best ingredients. Before starting my startup, I held various roles at General Mills. She also worked at Procter & Gamble (P&G) for four years. Since then, she has been on a mission to rid the junk of Indian snack foods laden with refined sugar, maida, and artificial colors and flavors. Proof of her success is that the company recently reported a turnover of Rs 100 crore.
Gautam hails from a third-tier city in Rajasthan called Bharatpur, and like any other kid, he grew up with snack corners and gujas being his favorite. She became even more intrigued by its accessibility while in America pursuing her Master’s product, her Better for You products. During her time abroad, she worked on improving her lifestyle and realized how food plays an important role in our overall health. Gautam told us: “My niece was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was 15 months old.” Her sister-in-law was having trouble finding high-quality, healthy products in the snack market. . She refused to accept that in a country known for innovation like India, food options are limited when it comes to healthy snacks. She uses fresh ingredients in her meals and eats a balanced diet, but her snacks contain “palm oil and trans fats.” After seeing this, “I became passionate about solving the packet snack problem.”
Talking about his childhood, Gautam said, “When I was at IIT, it was my first time to interact with the outside world, which was so foreign to me, because I grew up in a very sheltered family. I was just amazed by the world view.” I took up theater because of the opportunity IIT gave me and I spent a lot of time outside the classroom. I acted in theater and fell in love with storytelling. I also learned about entrepreneurship through the Entrepreneurship Development Cell at IIT Bombay. “It was my first time interacting with founders and investors. To be honest, I didn’t even know how to spell entrepreneurship before I joined IIT.”
Gautam grew up loving math, so she revealed her company’s formula. “So I use this math equation: It’s the product you love, minus the junk, plus something nutritious, which is equal to eliminating the junk. It’s an open secret.” What sets her products apart is that “people who want to eat healthy don’t compromise on taste. Telling someone to stop eating their favorite snack won’t solve any problems, but that person’s It’s about understanding the simple concept of “gift your favorite cookies as a gift.” If you’re snacking without junk, meaning high-quality ingredients without palm oil, artificial preservatives, or artificial colors, you’re doing something. ”
Her products are a sight to behold thanks to smart marketing and great product design. A key element we focused on was the honesty in displaying the ingredients on the back of all packaged products. This small piece of information helps consumers determine the benefits of choosing an open secret product. The product is placed next to regular snacks in local stores as a sign of the company’s success. When asked about this, Gautam said, “When it comes to food, we don’t want to cause anxiety.” She explained that people know what is good for them, so they need to clearly state what they are offering.
On the business front, Open Secret recently clocked a turnover of Rs 100 crore while raising three rounds of institutional investors. It is backed by big names like Matrix, The Sixth Sense and angel investors like Paytm founder Vijay Shrika Sharma, Snapdeal founder Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal. Before concluding, I asked Ms. Gautam how many women employees she had and she replied: “I would say over 50% are women. In fact, on the shop floor, the majority of the people making these products are women. That’s why I made this product” at my own manufacturing site. ”
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