Growing up in a small town in India, the occasional treat of instant noodles or spicy, potato wafers was a luxury. Today, we are spoilt for choice. We aren’t dependent on trips to the grocery or the departmental store for our fix of snacks or treats. The ability to access flavours and tastes from across the country with just a few taps on a mobile device or clicks on a computer has opened up a new universe for food lovers and food businesses alike.
Traditionally referred to as the Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) business model, it allows food producers to manage every aspect of the customer journey, including product creation, pricing, branding, and the overall consumer experience.
In the pre-Internet era, very few companies had the wherewithal to grow their business end-to-end. With the aggressive digitisation, evolving supply chains and logistics, and social media outreach in the post-noughties, the D2C food business has never looked more exciting.
Some of the successful names in the sector are brands such as Paper Boat, ID Fresh Food and Vahdam. Licious, known for its raw & fresh meat and seafood, as well as marinades and ready-to-eat categories, achieved the coveted unicorn status in 2021 with a valuation exceeding USD 1 billion. But for food lovers, these brands presented unique offerings with a focus on convenience that were not readily available in the marketplace. Newer brands tap into gaps in flavour, health, and nutrition.
The most recent is the Mumbai-based condiments brand, Hotchaa! started by Anita and Alisha Shirodkar. The mother-daughter duo, who is also behind the success of The Belgian Waffle Co, saw a clear gap in the market for bold, flavour-forward condiments that celebrate Indian chillies with a global twist. “The D2C model allows us to connect directly with our consumers, share our story authentically, and build a community around the joy of food,” they say. This focus on direct consumer engagement and innovative offerings is a growing trend among Indian food brands.
Like Hotchaa!, Boba Bhai, a chain of outlets that offers bubble tea, Korean food, burgers, ice cream, fries, and more,leverages digital platforms to deliver diverse, trendy flavours to a wide audience. Beanly, a coffee brand addresses the demand for high-quality, hassle-free coffee without compromising on freshness and flavour. “Traditional instant coffee didn’t offer a café-like experience, and brewing from scratch wasn’t always practical for the average consumer,” explains Samayesh Khanna, Co-Founder, Beanly.
Indians are primarily driven by two factors when making purchase decisions—consumption difficulties and price. This is then followed by health. “The pecking order for an average consumer will be ‘what am I currently consuming?’, ‘what is the price?’ and ‘is it extremely expensive or marginally expensive?” explains Bhuman Dani, founder and CEO of WickedGud. The brand made a big impact with its nutritious alternatives to commercial instant noodles, chips, and snacks. The products utilise ingredients such as lentils, millets, and besan.
Indian consumers today are adventurous and globally aware, yet deeply connected to the comfort of familiar flavours. They may not be impulsive. This means that for unfamiliar products or new cuisines, brands must do the extra work of education and engagement to build trust.
“For products like Balachaung or Maung’s Chilli Garlic Paste, we needed instruction-led content and suggestions to give more information about how to use the products. So we created visual ideas, different pairing suggestions, and recipe cards that make these flavours more approachable,” says Ankit Gupta, Co-founder, Burma Burma, a restaurant that branched out into D2C, taking Burmese food beyond its restaurants and into different cities and is now also bottling its restaurant favourites.
Food choices in Indian households are often shaped by children, with mothers looking to include more nutritious, fuss-free options in their daily routines. But they aren’t the only decision-makers. As Dani points out, “There’s also a large segment of people who go to the gym and want healthier food options for cheat days and weekends. Then there are millennials and Gen Z consumers actively seeking healthier alternatives across categories but often struggling to find accessible, satisfying options.”
The biggest challenge in the food business, whether restaurants or packaged food, is that the focus on health and nutrition is closely tied to the decision-making process. Exposés by content creators like Revant Himmatsingka on the excessive use of sugar, the Maggi and MSG debacle, and the widespread use of palm oil in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and packaged foods have led to consumer distrust. “Consumers are beginning to question what goes into their food, and that shift is creating space for brands like ours to thrive coming out as incumbent challengers and pedigree challengers,” Dani says.
This does mean higher costs and tighter margins, but maintaining integrity is a non-negotiable. It is the one area where smaller D2C brands have the opportunity to change mindsets. “We use rice bran and olive oil instead of palm oil, skip MSG entirely, and use khandsari and agave instead of refined sugar. These aren’t just health decisions, they’re also taste decisions,” Alisha Shirodkar acknowledges.
Nikunj Biyani, co-founder of SuperYou, does not find the fearmongering fair. “Yes, there are brands that cut corners, but there are also many building with integrity, investing in clean sourcing, better manufacturing, and transparent processes. Like any industry, there are outliers, but they shouldn’t define the whole,” he says.
Consumers are more informed, asking better questions, and brands have to evolve to meet that standard. To meet these rising expectations, many brands are doubling down on research and innovation, not just as a differentiator, but as a way to meaningfully serve evolving consumer needs.
“Our R&D is led by a seasoned chef and backed by semi-automated, IoT-enabled kitchens that ensure precision and consistency. We don’t chase trends, we localise global formats with intention,” explains the founder of Boba Bhai, Dhruv Kohli.
The success of a D2C food brand hinges on a mix of strategic elements. One of the key aspects is to develop a balanced and strong storytelling approach, complemented by a strategic distribution network that spans company websites, marketplaces, quick commerce, and curated retail. Equally important is a strong focus on quality and consistency, both essential for building long-term loyalty. “From sourcing beans ethically to shaping a clean, relatable brand voice, we focus on creating experiences people want to come back to. Our strength lies in staying agile, listening closely, and adapting to how India wants its coffee,” Khanna shares Beanly’s strategy.
The same combination of factors is positioning India’s D2C food sector to compete confidently on a global stage. The infrastructure is improving with access to cold chains, co-manufacturing, and compliant packaging. “What we need now is policy support that recognises and accelerates this shift across smaller players too,” notes Kohli. Meanwhile, there’s a whole generation of consumers today who are not interested in what their parents consumed. “They want new formats, new flavours, and a fresh take on identity. They want to feel a sense of association with the brand’s voice,” Biyani adds. That shift has opened the door for modern Indian brands to emerge in exciting new ways.
