Innovating a hearty personalized meal for patients!

Mysuru: A tasty yet nutritious meal can bring smiles on faces especially when they are provided to those who need it most. On such a noble mission is one startup company that is doing its contribution to create a better society.

NutriParadise based in Mysuru is presently working on therapeutic convenient products for cancer, gastrointestinal disorders and renal disorders. The company’s research and development team is backed by the CSIR-Central Food Technology research Institute (CFTRI) which guides them through the scientific research.

Being an Incubatee at the institute, NutriParadise is also associated with Karnataka Biotechnology and Information Technology Service (KBITS) where it has a team of scientists, food technologists and nutritionists working on specialized dietary products for hospitalized patients.

Story behind the NutriParadise

Founded in the month of June in 2015 by Mr Vijaysurya, Mr Kushal Srinivas and Mr Vishal Jain, the NutriParadise was founded to make patients lives easier and better.

The idea behind the startup can be commonly found around us. It is just that Vijaysurya relaized that how nutrition is taken lightly in India and the way patients suffer due to the lack of proper nutrition during their illnesses impeding their recovery. Vijaysurya decided to address these problems and began with catering disease-specific fresh meals to the hospitals. He invited his friends Kushal and Vishal to join him on this mission. They got inspired after serving 1.2 lakh patients who were happy with the service and it pushed them to get into research and to make it more convenient, accessible and affordable to the patients.

From 2013-15, the founders explored the international nutrition products. Vijaysurya went on to conduct surveys and carry out a profound research on nutraceuticals and health foods. He worked on how it can be implemented in developing convenient therapeutic foods which can aid in speedy recovery.
Then came the next stage of base production which was in the year 2015-16 and followed by beta testing in the hospitals during 2016-17. Their meals were launched in 2017.

Talking about the support from CFTRI in their incubation, Vijaysurya, Founder, and now the CEO of the company explained, “CFTRI plays a big role in our research and development. It has helped us speed up the research and reduced the time required for product development. We have been given proficient scientists as mentors and provided with world-class facilities to develop our products. CFTRI also shares its extensive technical knowledge which enables us to advance swiftly through our research.”

Nutrition for patients of dreaded diseases

The founders say that their motive is to make the nutritious therapeutic products affordable to all the patients across the country and globe. We implement advanced technologies to cut-down on manufacturing costs as well as to deliver the best quality products.

“We also explore ingredients with umpteen health benefits which are indigenous to us. We procure raw materials from local sources and practice contract farming to reduce costing,” informs Vijaysurya, “All our products have been developed after years of research. Each product has a vast scientific background and has been proven to be health beneficial. The team conducts clinical and animal studies to ensure the efficiency of its products.”

As compared to the commercial food, the NutriParadise’s food products are designed for specific disease conditions. They are functional in nature
and are manufactured under hygienic conditions. The concept of food synergy is employed to make them nutritious as well as delicious with therapeutic benefits. They are completely natural and additive free.

Since the company is a part of CFTRI, it has the best equipment and well advanced technology in its system to produce the best combination of tasty and healthy food product.  The making of products undergo a lot of tests such as sensory and nutritional analyses, storage stability studies, animal and human trials to ensure their safety, stability and efficiency.

Challenges galore

“We face challenges right from procurement to manufacturing. Procuring right kind of raw materials of best quality is critical for us and hence we practice contract farming.,” says Vijaysurya adding that breeding a cultivar and distributing it to farmers for raw materials is a laborious task.

As per Vijaysurya, each ingredient must be cultivated under ideal condition at a particular region to maintain the quality. “Developing a new variety required for our products demands years of research,” he mentions.

In this industry, after product development, the large-scale manufacturing can be a challenge as one requires latest machinery and equipment. The company is still working on development and outsourcing for production.

Aiming big 

Globally, the functional food industry is a 300 billion USD market. At the same time, the Indian functional food market comprises just 1.3 percent of global market.

The NutriParadise is aiming to capture the significant chunk of market in India and be a global player in the longer run.

“We are expecting around 80 percent growth in the first year and more than 200 percent from second year,” says Vijaysurya.