The COVID-19 pandemic has awakened the world to the importance of being fit and healthy. Over the years, changes in lifestyle and urbanisation have led to laying more emphasis on earning more money, and amidst this, self-care and healthy habits have taken a backseat. 

In fact, for people living in urban pockets, this trend holds true, where life is extremely fast so much so that one seems to be running against time all the time.

To help millennials keep up with this trend, as well as not miss out on their health, and daily nutrition, Mumbai-based Plix is offering its customers plant-based protein foods. 

Founded by Rishubh Satiya and owned Satiya Nutraceuticals Pvt Ltd. in March 2019, the company recently launched its Immunity Boosting Supergreens powder. Plix’s products are listed on ecommerce platforms like Amazon and its own website. It claims to fulfil a total of 6,000 orders every month. 

Without divulging the exact revenue numbers, the founder shares that the revenue of the company has grown 20x over the last one year. It is projecting a turnover of Rs 25 crore in the next financial year. 

Edited excerpts from the interview:

SMBStory [SMBS]: How did the idea of launching a plant-based protein brand come to you?

Rishubh Satiya [RS]: I completed my engineering degree from VIT, and pursued my Masters from IIT Roorkee. It was during my time at IIT Roorkee that I felt the massive need for nutrition as I was not able to hit my protein goals. That’s when I started working with a couple of technologists from the university on how to create a good plant-based protein source. 

Not long after, I worked for two years in consulting in Boston Analytics and Intellecap which gave me a deeper insight into the consumer space as I worked on go-to-market strategies for consumer brands.

During my stint at Intellecap, I decided to seriously look into my dream project of building a plant-based nutrition company. While there were a lot of brands that were catering to nutrition, most of them looked like bodybuilding brands. 

I realised that there was a huge gap in this market. I could not see any products that could be consumed for daily fitness, as well as appeals to millennials, and is made from whole-foods. That’s when I decided to start Plix with some savings from my consulting days.

SMBS: What is the USP of your brand?

RS: We use real ingredients in our products without any artificial additions. For instance, our ‘Immunity Boosting Supergreens’ powder is a product that contains 45 superfoods — a blend of 25 immunity-boosting herbs, 10 alkalising greens, and 10 super greens.

We want our customers to feel that they are consuming something natural. For instance, the coconut chocolate powder actually contains coconut oil.

Additionally, we source our raw materials from more than six countries. The proteins come from France and the cocoa powder from Ghana. We also launched a Vitamin C powder as an alternative to consuming tablets. All the products are manufactured in our manufacturing unit in Pune. 

SMBS: Does your brand have roots in kitchen science or Ayurveda?

RS: We are slightly different from Ayurveda as we have taken the plant-based route for manufacturing protein supplements. There are already many Ayurveda brands in the market, some of which are 20-30 years old. We compete with companies like Kapiva and OZiva. But we started with a clear goal to become a new-age company in the plant-based domain.

SMBS: Will your retail strategy continue to remain tilted towards online?

RS: Currently, we are listed on Amazon and also sell through our own website. We are not looking to go offline unless we have at least 10 products in our category. We are also planning to get listed on Paytm, Nykaa, and Flipkart in the future. 

We want to create Plix as the one-stop solution for any nutritional needs of millennials. 

Currently, we have four products that are priced between Rs 800 and Rs 2,600. 

SMBS: COVID-19 has made people more aware of fitness and the importance of being healthy. What is the change in consumer behaviour that you have seen?

RS: Our business and warehouses were completely shut down at the beginning of the lockdown. We also faced a lot of supply chain disruptions. However, protein is an essential component, and we bounced back quickly after getting the required permissions to function. In fact, we grew 2x in the months preceding. The sentiment towards nutrition has definitely improved in the wake of the pandemic. 

This has led us to diversify and do more research on the daily problems faced by millennials, who are too busy to take care of themselves. In the future, we will introduce products that will help tackle weight loss, haircare, digestion, detox, and more.