When nutrition is tasty too

With an intention to give the best nutrition for kids, Shauravi Malik and Meghana Narayan the co-founders of 'Slurrp Farm' conceptualised wholesome menu that is healthy and tasty.

They give an insight into how snacks and favourite kids' food can be nutritious too, using millets etc, and inspiration behind their enterprise.

Shauravi shares, "It started very innocently. Meghana and I met. We got along like a house on fire from the first time we met.

We had some fun business ideas, which we joked about, but we always went back to our jobs the next day.

At this point we were really living in the bubble - we both had dream jobs and entrepreneurship seemed too risky.

I am a BA in Economics graduate from Cambridge University and Meghana holds MBA from Harvard Business School."

All this changed when they had children. "We felt that as parents we were really short of options to feed our children, and at the same time it also felt like we really should do something about it.

And we also wanted to start a business, which could be a force for good. We are both mothers, and that is one of the primary reasons why 'Slurrp Farm' came into being."

On the ups and downs of being mothers and entrepreneurs, they share, "Being a mother in this very competitive landscape isn't easy.

But as you move forward, away from the ambitious 20's and to the tiresome 30's and 40's, if you patiently work towards your calling, during all the noise, you'll hear it.

With practice, we've both learnt some lessons that help create a symmetry in our lives as mothers and entrepreneurs.

It takes a village to grow a business, and we've both been fortunate enough to get all the support from our families, friends, and wonderful team of talented individuals in our workforce.

Starting this company was a lot like having another baby, and the energy and dedication required to bring it to where it is today was extraordinary.

We won't lie- we've struggled, we've juggled, worked long hours, and had disappointing days- but it's all been worth it when we see our kids, and photos and videos of kids from parents across the country, enjoying munching on our food products and absolutely loving it."

Initially the duo came up with the idea to make absolutely organic fruit and vegetable purée products for children, "We did all the recipes, branding, packaging and legwork and it was all ready to hit the shelves in literally record time.

Except, as we did more market research and tried samples - we realized there was very little demand for it. It would be something we could not scale beyond the affluent Indian parents.

So, we went back to the drawing board, did a lot of product R&D, a lot of thinking and decided to follow our heart.

We realized the answers lie in our own grandmothers' kitchens. We made cookies with a childhood friend; we dug into ingredients from our childhood but tried to make them tasty.

And every year along the way, we tried to be better than we were the year before, and hence have been always innovating to have the best product possible."

Slurrp Farm was launched in October 2016, with a mission to provide healthy snack and mealtime options for young children and their parents.

And in just over two years, what started as an experiment in their own home kitchens has now turned into a loved kids food brand; available at 600 stores across 8 cities in India, serving close to 5 lakh customers and have a 40% repeat rate on Amazon.

"This journey has been exhilarating! We don't come from traditional business families, and we have learnt a lot on the go.

Meghana jokes that both our roles are really co-chaser 1 and co-chaser 2, and this is what we spend most of our time doing; we are both very persistent," Shauravi adds.