Trupik Foods – Quality Is Benchmark

Setting a new benchmark, Trupik Foods, an ambitious startup, is gearing up to offer a plethora of healthy choices in grains, pulses, spices, coffee and tea to average consumers who value quality whether authenticity of products or packaging. The added plus of Trupik Foods is slated to be its bid to help consumers find out the source or origin of the product.

Transitioning from a food procurement official for major companies for over two decades to starting his own business in the same line with greater emphasis on health, nutrition and quality was a natural progression for Dr. Lokesh Dhanwantri, Managing Director, Trupik Foods Private Limited, formerly Trupik Foods.

“The company was founded in 2019 with the vision of offering “True Quality Food Products” and create awareness about food products, setting up a trustworthy brand “True Quality Grocery & Spices, Herbs & Oils” worldwide. “Keeping this in mind we lined up a brand in Jan 20 named “Trupik Foods”, states Dr. Dhanwantri.

Subscriber to the belief that “the sacred earth bears the foods of paradise”, the company has embraced organic farming to promote healthy living. TRUPIK Organic is an amalgam of wisdom, technology, safety & purity, from seed selection to fermented manures & organic wastes, to periodic crop sowing & managing crop rotation, the brand immaculately blends, tastefully handpicks and seals to maximum freshness -- the goodness of organic spices & herbs, oils & rice, pulses before offering you the gift of nature.

Scion of a business family of Punjab with deep roots in Ayurveda medicinal practices, it was natural for Dr. Dhanwantri to seek out the best produce and adopt best global practices when he decided to turn a food entrepreneur­.  

Realizing the enormous potential of India’s food ecosystem, Dr. Dhanwantri started by sourcing the best of spices, food grains, pulses, herbs, tea, coffee among other produces from northeast and Kerala. Embracing organic farming and dedicated to healthy living TRUPIK Organic is an amalgam of wisdom, technology, safety and purity   -- from seed selection to fermented manures and organic wastes, to periodic crop sowing and managing crop rotation, the brand immaculately blends and offers you the gift of nature.

Initially, the focus was on procuring only organic produce. “But since it takes farmer three years to switch from conventional practices to organic farming before the produce can be certified as organic, we have decided to support the farmers during the transition period by introducing non-organic range alongside our organic range, which bear all necessary certification,” says Dr. Dhanwantri.

Looking for a market share in both India and globally, the company has got proper certification from all food authorities in India, EU, US, and Canada, ahead of a proposed formal launch.
“Besides ISO 22000 food safety certification, our products have FSSAI, APEDA, LACON, USFDA and EU certification required for organic produce. Our products, eco-friendly packaged, also bear labelling enabling traceability and trackability to help customers know the source of each produce,” says Dr. Dhanwantri.

This ethos is reflected in the company’s name Trupik, derived from True Pick.  The brand was formally launched in January this year. By month end, the company plans to have its range of products on the shelves of prominent food stores and also become accessible through online platform even as it prepares to launch in the US and Canada before year end.
From an investment of Rs. 100 crore, the company has well laid out plans to achieve its objectives to become 5000cr company in the next five years.  

As a major investor Mr.Khalon has already joined Trupik  group. Dr. Dhanwantri says, “We will be a Rs 5000-crore multinational company by end of 2025, with over 3000 employees on our rolls. It is well within our reach, considering the huge Indian and global food market and our appetite to grow.” Trupik Foods believes in building a foundation with a strong and experienced people team. It’s people who build a company or brand. Trupik Foods is giving necessary training to its people on food sector and sales also. The company currently has 35 employees on its role, most with years of experience in the food sector, particularly quality control.

With his over 25 years of experience in the agriculture and food sector, Dr. Dhanwantri is also banking on his close association with major agriculture universities and leading research institutes to emerge strong in the competitive food sector without compromising on the quality. This objective is backed by an in-house laboratory where the products sourced from farmer producer companies and NGOs in Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Assam would be tested to ensure that they are chemical-free.

“The sourcing of the products will be directly from the farmers given our farm to the kitchen concept, and will avoid the middleman, the most expensive element of the Indian food ecosystem today. Packaging is another area where Trupik will be a gamechanger as we plan not to use plastics and instead use glass containers,” notes Dr. Dhanwantri.

The company’s current procurement of spices and Indian herbs and medicinal plants is around 50-60 tonnes each, rice (mainly basmati, Joha and black rice) around 200-300 tonnes. In spices, its focus is on turmeric, chilli, cardamom, pepper, dry ginger etc. Prime among the herbs sourced by it are ashwaganda, shatavari, bramhi, sage. The company’s product range includes essential oil and cooking oils including mustard, sesame, olive, coconut and groundnut. “All our oils are of extra virgin quality and are cold pressed,” says Dr. Dhanwantri. “We have very stringent processes for procurement of organic produce. We procure whole dried spices, which are ground as per our specific needs by the NGOs working with us. The process of grading and processing is done in green zones after which we test the produce for quality.”

Spices and other such products shall be packaged in glass packs to retain the aroma, texture and for the preservation for a longer of period of times. Even vacuum packaging, a pioneering step in the field, is being introduced to prevent moisture from getting into the food products and allowing its purity and preserving. The offerings are cost effective too, despite the packaging.

Trupik Foods are constantly researching and developing new product ranges along with refining the existing ones, developing existing sectors, maximizing every opportunity in the ethnic Indian markets as well as internationally. Trupik is committed to our delivering best quality food products enriching lives through supreme yet eco-friendly produces that nurtures and inspires the heart and mind. Past decade has not witnessed much change in dietary pattern in India except for marginal increase in fat intake. Poor quality diet (lack of dietary diversity) remains a greater threat to health than infectious diseases, and nutrient-rich foods would save resources used in industrial food fortification. Dietary intakes of children and adults in rural and urban areas show gross inadequacy of all nutrients and poor quality of protein.

Another major issue continues to be high salt intake. To offset its impact Trupik is promoting Trupik Pink and Rock Salts. Unhealthy diets in India wreaked havoc and it is time we turn our attention on quality and nutrition of the food rather than “Quantity of Food”.

Ahead of the brand launch, the company has set up an office in Canada. The company is also firming up plans for entry into European and North American markets. In keeping with its ambitious plans, Trupik is setting up a mega processing unit and a cold storage chain in Punjab, along with a world-class and pioneering packaging unit in the Manesar industrial area of Gurgaon.

The distribution is being done through a large and extensive network chain, which is already up and running in the northern region. Though the Covid-19 lockdown has temporarily slowed down the network expansion in the western and eastern regions, the work is gaining momentum again.

Alongside an ecommerce website called trupikbasket, the company is tying up with major ecommerce retailers. Targeting the middle-class consumers with affordable prices, the company is banking of “earning customer trust and loyalty by ensuring our brand’s reliability, consistency, and unmatched integrity.” Ahead of the mega launch market research have been conducted to garner consumer views. 

Trupik Foods believes in adding value to the products as per the consumer tastes and offering healthy choices that retain freshness. So, let’s come together to propagate health and wellbeing!