With sustainability becoming the buzzword, and the pandemic witnessing a sudden demand for healthier and organic food products, several startups have come up in the city catering to this segment.
For over two years, T. Anupama has been growing microgreens at home and using it in salads and recipes. The first thought of starting an enterprise of home delivering microgreens came to her when she saw a shift in people’s preference towards a wholesome lifestyle in the past one year. After much deliberation, she finally launched Greens by Anu. “The initial response has been very encouraging,” she says. She grows about 15 varieties of microgreens. Anupama was one of participants at the day-long Natural Living Expo organised by Women’s Wing of Vizagapatam Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Sunday at Hotel Palm Beach.
The past one year has seen a shift of focus on eco-friendly packaging and that has helped Visakhapatnam-based House of Folium to scale up its enterprise of selling eco-friendly cutlery. Founded by S.V. Vijay Lakshmi, a former software engineer, the company sells plates, bowls, forks and spoons made from sugarcane pulp.
According to her, there has been a gradual change happening across the food industry in the city with restaurants and especially home chefs consciously preferring eco-friendly cutlery over plastic ones. Over the past couple of months, House of Folium has also catered for parties of 200 people with their green products.
With smoothie bowls becoming a favourite breakfast option, Tanvi Somani’s food startup of Rainbow Bowls is already seeing a steady rise in number of subscribers since she launched it a month ago. The chia seed smoothie bowls come in various flavours and can be ordered through a five-day or monthly subscription basis. “Healthy food has been perceived as boring, but I have hardly ever felt that way. I wanted to address this space with smoothie bowls that are nutritious with no dairy products or added sweeteners. The response in the past one month has been truly overwhelming,” she says. Ms. Tanvi shortly plans to start dinner bowl subscriptions too.
D. Sirisha started making natural bio enzyme cleaning products a year-and-a-half ago after noticing that pet dogs were allergic to floor cleaning products with toxic chemicals. With the free time during the pandemic induced lockdown, she started experimenting and thus she started Eco Clean, her own brand of bio enzyme cleaners. The idea, Sirisha says, is to provide sustainable alternatives to everyday products.
“Eco Clean is an effective alternative to harsh chemicals in cleaning agents. It can be used for cleaning floors, vessels and also clothes,” she says. This is presently available in one litre bottles. The expo was inaugurated by GVMC Commissioner G. Srijana. Devina Jain, the president of Navy Wives Welfare Association (NWWA) was the guest of honour, for the event.