Health Sutra

Health Sutra is a packaged food brand operated by Fountainhead Foods Pvt. Ltd., headquartered in Hyderabad, Telangana. The brand converts Indian millets — primarily jowar (sorghum), bajra (pearl millet) and ragi (finger millet) — into modern breakfast and snack formats, including flakes, biscuits, idly and upma rava, beverage mixes, muesli, diet namkeen and popped jowar snacks. Products are positioned as gluten free and free from preservatives and artificial ingredients, and are marketed on the nutritional attributes of millets such as dietary fibre, protein content and low glycaemic index.

The company describes itself as sourcing millets directly from farms and applying its own processing technology intended to retain nutrition and taste while producing ready-to-cook mini-meals and ready-to-eat snacks. Product development has extended beyond millets: whole wheat biscuits were launched around 2017, with additional healthy snacks planned at that time. Manufacturing has been conducted from an in-house facility in Hyderabad, with a further processing unit planned in the Nacharam area of the city.

Founding story

Health Sutra was founded by Sai Krishna Popuri, an IIT Delhi alumnus who grew up in Narsaraopet in Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, in an environment where farmers and agriculture were part of daily life. After roughly six years of work experience he returned to that background and established the company in July 2013, with the stated aim of bringing India's traditional grains back into mainstream diets and of offering indigenous alternatives to imported health foods such as oats and quinoa, while creating demand for crops grown by local farmers.

Business model

Fountainhead Foods manufactures branded millet-based packaged food products under the Health Sutra name and sells them through retail distribution. Grains are sourced from local farmers and processed in the company's own facilities using its proprietary processing methods, with output sold as consumer packaged goods at price points described as affordable.

Revenue is generated from sales of branded packaged food products — flakes, biscuits, rava, beverage mixes, muesli and namkeen — distributed through retail stores.

Traction

Retail presence grew from more than 300 stores across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in mid-2016 to over 600 stores by May 2017, with one May 2017 report citing over 850 stores. Existing Hyderabad processing capacity was 15-18 tonnes of millets per month, with a new unit planned at 150 tonnes per month. Total disclosed funding is reported at $600,000, and the team was sized at 11-20 employees.

Latest developments

In May 2017 the company closed a pre-Series A round of about Rs 2.12 crore from Ankur Capital and Hyderabad Angels, with Saral Talwar of Hyderabad Angels joining the board and P. S. Sreekanth, Investment Director at Hyderabad Angels, joining as a board observer. Management stated at the time that roughly half the proceeds would go to a 150-tonne-capacity processing plant in Nacharam, Hyderabad, and indicated plans to raise a Series A of around Rs 30 crore (described elsewhere as about $4 million) within the following 12-18 months.