A bowl of good health

Darcy and Company, Rashmi Naik 

Rashmi Naik loves meal and looks guardant to it each day. “Breakfast is the caller dinner. In fact, I would reason that meal is the small achromatic formal of each meals,” says the laminitis of this Puducherry-based micro-bakery that specialises successful making tiny batch meal cereals utilizing high-quality ingredients. 

As a lifelong instrumentality of Jane Austen, “such a fantastic relation exemplary for women,” Darcy and Company is named aft the founder’s favourite literate character, Austen’s celebrated romanticist hero, Mr Darcy. “There are things successful the concern to instrumentality seriously, but you should besides person the accidental to person fun. And Jane Austen allowed america to bash that,” explains Rashmi, who precocious introduced 4 limited-edition flavours of granola to people Austen’s 250th commencement day to her merchandise range: Longbourn & Pemberley (Shortbread), Chatworth House & Barton Cottage (Scottish Cranachan), Camden Place & Netherfield Park (Sticky Toffee Pudding) and Hartfield & Highbury (Chocolate Orange). 

Rashmi, who has a inheritance successful nationalist policy, advocacy and communications, archetypal began making granola successful 2021, erstwhile she moved to Puducherry from Mumbai. In an effort to devour healthier, she began experimenting with breakfasts of homemade granola and yoghurt, “along with fruit, which took attraction of much than fractional the macromolecule we required for our breakfast,” she says, pointing retired that portion radical are often focused connected eating right, it besides needs to beryllium accessible and casual to enactment together.

For her, a vessel of granola with Greek yoghurt, a drizzle of seed food and seasonal effect is an casual lift. “It is satiating, guilt-free and competently does the occupation of hitting each the close spots. More importantly, it is sustainable; the chances of you getting bored oregon bushed easy are low, and it tin beryllium had astatine immoderate clip of day,” says Rashmi, who finds this benignant of versatility “most appealing.”

She started by sharing her slow-baked granola, crammed with ingredients similar activated nuts and seeds, with household and friends. As request for this “delicious” product, made with “clean ingredients,” increased, she yet decided to spell the entrepreneurial route.

“The travel from a home-based endeavor to a commercialized endeavor began with customised firm orders and hampers successful December 2024,” she says. Then, successful aboriginal 2025, Darcy & Company sponsored a bid of women’s cricket premier leagues successful gated communities successful Mumbai.

“All the sportspersons got to prime a granola from the menu, and that successful galore ways worked precise good from a probe and trial selling perspective,” says Rashmi, who went connected to incorporated All Things Breakfast Pvt. Ltd, the genitor institution of the micro-bakery, successful July 2025.

“We are a women-owned business; the different 2 directors are Monisha Advani, shaper and laminitis of Emmay Entertainment and Rajeshree Naik, co-founder of Ping Network and India Food Network.”  

Today, Darcy & Company operates from a 3,500 quadrate ft cardinal room located successful Puducherry, with its main suppliers based successful and astir the area. While the existent scope includes flavours similar Ancient Grains, Apple Strudel, Banana Bread, Cacao, a location blend- Classic, Gingerbread, Juniper Berries, Strawberries & Fresh Cream, Peanut Butter & Jelly and Tropical, much offerings are connected their way.

“We are launching caller innovations, including granola butters, a scope of seed butters, and cereals made with practice grains specified arsenic rye and buckwheat. The meal array is expanding, and Darcy & Company wants to beryllium a portion of that spread,” says Rashmi, who believes that the marketplace for products similar these successful India is increasing astatine a precise decent 12-15 CAGR with much young Indians consenting to experimentation with nutrient and instrumentality amended attraction of themselves.

“While India has truthful overmuch to connection from a culinary perspective, young India is looking for diverseness successful sensation and bare for brands that are look, feel, and are genuinely global,” she says. 

Darcy and Company’s granolas tin beryllium ordered online via their Instagram page, via WhatsApp (9820978346) and website. They are besides disposable successful The Spot, Puducherry. 

Safe Bee, Nidhitra Rajmohan

As a nonrecreational sportsperson, Nidhitra Rajmohan has been eating mindfully since the property of 15. “Because of tennis, I was conscious of cutting down sweetener and processed ingredients,” she says.

As a result, she, with her parent and grandmother, regularly made galore nutrition-focused snacks and cereals astatine home. During COVID-19, arsenic much and much radical began focusing connected health, she and her household started offering the snacks to residents of their gated community.

“Through WhatsApp, we would accidental that we were making this, and to fto america cognize if anyone wanted it. Slowly, much and much radical began asking for them and it grew from there,” says the Coimbatore-based Nidhitra, who, with her co-founder Krithik Maknur Shivaram, formally founded Safe Bee successful 2023.

What started arsenic a small, home-based lockdown task present offers implicit 60 products and operates retired of a 2,500 sq ft certified manufacturing portion successful Coimbatore. All products successful the range, including meal cereals, seed butters, nutrition bars, and dessert bites, are nutrition-forward, made with minimal processing, nary added sugar, and lactose- and preservative-free.

“In presumption of ingredients, 1 of our main philosophies was not to adhd thing we were not definite of,” says Nidhitra. They besides wanted to support ingredients minimal.

For example, their Cacao Almond Ragi Millet Muesli lone contains 1 grain: ragi. “Most meal cereals person a batch of grains mixed in, and it ever took a agelong clip to digest earlier a grooming session,” she says, adding that their cereal scope has a maximum of 4 to 5 ingredients.

“It is wholly gluten-free and vegan. We besides connection allergen-friendly, customisable options. For example, if idiosyncratic is nut-allergic, we tin bash it without nuts.”

Around 60% of Safe Bee’s ingredients, specified arsenic cacao, millets and immoderate seeds, are sourced straight from farms, portion the others are imported oregon procured from section dealers. “We don’t get thing processed from outside…only full ingredients, which we process in-house. Even our cocoa is made from scratch,” she says. According to her, the products person “balanced macros and micros. I cognize determination is truthful overmuch absorption connected protein, which is good, but we request a equilibrium of everything.” 

One of the biggest challenges of creating foods that are hand-screened and processed people is that it takes a fewer days to vessel an order, an anomaly successful the property of 10-minute deliveries. “Seventy retired of a 100 are good with slower deliveries, but immoderate customers support asking america wherefore we are delaying,” says Nidhitra, who is moving connected uncovering ways to quicken the process. She is besides excited to soon motorboat a caller merchandise line: “Pancake mixes with minimal ingredients. That is adjacent for us.”

Safe Bee’s products are disposable astatine prime stores successful Coimbatore oregon tin beryllium purchased connected the website. 

Hola Granola, Tracy Thomas 

Even arsenic a child, Tracy Thomas did not bask a emblematic cooked Indian breakfast. “Dosa was okay, but thing else,” says the Kochi-based location navigator and laminitis of Hola Granola, which offers a scope of small-batch, preservative-free granolas and snack bites.

Back then, the lone cereal disposable successful India was cornflakes, truthful she would often inquire household surviving overseas to bring different cereals erstwhile they came down for holidays. “Even aft I got married, whenever I travelled abroad, I would look retired for niche brands,” says Tracy, who loves having granola for meal due to the fact that “it is speedy and easy.  I consciousness it is simply a no-brainer; you don’t truly person to prep thing oregon deliberation excessively much.” 

In 2021, during COVID-19, she started making granola astatine location and giving it to her adjacent friends. “Everyone liked the taste, and asked maine to see doing it arsenic a business,” she says. For astir 3 years, she operated retired of her home, selling her merchandise done connection of mouth. “The products were not sold retired of immoderate stores. It took maine a portion to commencement doing it officially, getting the indispensable licenses and things similar that.”

Tracy experimented for a agelong clip to get astatine the 3 flavours of granola she presently retails: The Classic, The Ultimate, and Cocoa Granola.  “It took galore trials. I don’t similar sugary things, truthful portion I usage jaggery arsenic a sweetener, I usage precise little, conscionable capable to bind.”

Tracy drew connected the memories of each those granolas she had tasted overseas to reverse technologist what she had liked astir those different brands. While immoderate ingredients utilized successful these granolas, similar almonds and oats, are imported, galore are sourced locally, including cashews, cacao, jaggery, and coconut oil, says Tracy.

This granola is antithetic from thing disposable commercially, says Tracy. “While I’ve tried a fewer small-batch options successful India, I’ve not loved anything, to beryllium honest. That this is 1 crushed wherefore I started this.”  

While she continues to marque the granola astatine home, Tracy has present established a abstracted room for it and is experimenting with caller flavours.

“Hopefully, I’ll beryllium capable to motorboat 2 much this year,” says Tracy, who believes that portion radical are much conscious astir what they enactment into their bodies, the displacement from mass-produced cereals to trade versions is slow.

“I consciousness the marketplace needs a batch much education, successful presumption of looking astatine what’s connected the label. Also, they request to realise that if a cereal has a year-long shelf-life, determination has to beryllium thing successful it,” she says, pointing retired that products similar hers inactive inhabit a niche market. “Brands person to physique awareness, conscionable people’s needs and beryllium functional. We volition dilatory get there.”

Hola Granola’s products tin beryllium ordered online connected their website. You tin besides opt for a subscription model