Happilo success Story: A Health-focused Gourmet Food Brand

By Soutrik BanerjeeMonday April 3, 2023

We are going to discuss the success story of the famous gourmet food brand “Happilo” in this blog.

Our concerns for health as a child were the only things that pondered our parent’s minds. We might remember the times they used to tell us to have dry fruits and nuts as they possess high values of nutrition.

It can be dried cranberries, apricots, cashew nuts, almonds, raisins, blueberries, walnuts, and so many others. In India, the traditional way to consume healthy dried fruits has always stayed in our routine.

The habit of consuming dried fruits comes from 1,500 BC during the period of Mesopotamia. Dry fruits have an age-old method of drying under the sun or being heated through wind tunnel dryers. In the current society, dry fruits are consumed in almost every part of the globe. Happilo is a brand from Bengaluru that offers products like nuts, seeds, dried fruits, and many more.

The health brands have made a reputation for themselves through their innovative business model. The brand also secured funding and delved into further scalability.

Who is Happilo?

Happilo was formed in 2016 as a gourmet food brand focused on offering healthy consumable products. The company is based in Bengaluru. Some of the products offered by Happilo are flavored seeds, trail mixes, walnuts, peanuts, berries, chickpeas, and many more. This range of extensive food items is tasty and also considered nutritious from the house of Happilo.

The company from the start of its journey has evolved as a brand offering a wide range of gourmet and healthy options snacks to its customers. Happilo’s innovative flavors catered with a dry roasting system without the use of additional oils have attracted a lot of health-conscious customers.

Happilo has an automated facility of manufacturing in Yeshwanthpur in Bangalore that operates with advanced systems allowing high rates of production. You can find products of Happilo in airport stores along with e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, and A-category general stores.

Which industry does Happilo belong to?

Happilo is from the FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) sector and is considered one of the most renowned brands in several e-commerce platforms. In 2021, the FMCG sector was valued at about $11,490.0 globally.

Reports indicate the sector should reach about $18,939,4 by 2031 portraying a 5% CAGR between the years 2022-2031. The rise in the global population has led to an increase in the growth of the FMCG sector. This is directly associated with more intake of consumer foods.

Happilo was founded by an Indian businessman named Vikas D Nahar in 2016. Vikas was born in Bangalore and comes from a family that is in the farming industry. His family grew products like pepper and coffee. Vikas completed his Bachelor of Science degree from Bangalore University in Computer Applications.

He started his professional life working as a Senior Import Manager for the Asia division at Jain Group Pvt. Ltd. Vikas also completed his Master’s in Business Administration from Symbiosis Center for Management and Human Resource Development in Pune in the subject of Marketing.

After completing his MBA degree, Vikas joined Satvikk Speciality Foods Pvt. Ltd. under the role of Managing Director.

In 2011, Satvikk Speciality Foods opened its first store in Bangalore, and Vikas worked at the health-focused food company for about 5 years. It is from the experience of Happlio that Vikas opened Happilo in 2016.

Amit Towary is the Chief Financial Officer at Happilo. Amit is also a Chartered Accountant and previously worked as a CFO at Nissin Food. At Nissin Food, Amit started as a Finance Controller (India) in 2017. Amit also worked as a Finance Business Partner at AstraZeneca, a Manager at Hindustan Coca-Cola, and an Assistant Manager at JSW Steel.

The business model of Happilo-

The journey of Happilo started in 2016 when Vijay wanted to launch a company offering healthy snacking options. Like any other company, Happilo also faced a lot of difficulties like finding the right investors and creating a consumer-centric company. Reports indicate that Vikas started with Rs. 10,000 from the investments made by the Government.

With time, Vikas got clarity on the objective of healthy snacks like dried fruits. Vikas had a childhood surrounded by a family working in the agricultural industry. But he wanted to go for a fresh set of ideas like offering dried fruits, roasted snacks, and many more.

These nutritional products will add some food value to any person of any age consuming them. The company launched ‘Trail Mix’ which was a mixture of all these fruits and nuts. This product gained a lot of popularity and has led to sustainable growth for the company.

In March 2023, Happilo raised funding of about $38.7 million and has a diverse network of distribution along with 200 channel partners. The mission of Happilo has always been to provide healthy snacking options to its customers. The name ‘Happlio’ comes from happiness and love and providing delightful snacks to consumers. The logo of Happilo has a smile on it and is draped with green color that stands for healthy things.

The business model of Happilo is based on the Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) system. The brand offers dried fruits, trail mixes, nuts, gift items, combos, and several other products. The cost of the products is set at an affordable rate to cater to the Indian market.

Products by Happilo include-

Fruit nuts like Cashews, Walnuts, Hazelnuts, Pinenuts, Piccanuts, Pistachio, and many more.
Seeds offered are from Chia, Melons, Pumpkins, Basil, and more.
Berries include Strawberries, Cranberries, Goji Berries, and several others.
Dried Fruits like Kiwi, Mango, Papaya, Ajneer, Apricot, etc.
Dry Fruits Health Bar
Peanut Butters
Berries Mix, Fruit Mixes, Roasted Mix for Parties, Nutty Mix, and more.

The company also offers several other products and has collaborated with e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart to ensure company growth. About 70% of the sales of Happilo emerge from online stores. Reports suggest that Happilo generates a monthly revenue of about Rs. 40 crores.

This famous gourmet food brand has sculpted impressive growth over the last few years and currently operates as one of the most successful providers of healthy snacks in India. Happilo saw impressive growth during Covid-19 when consumers became more health conscious and chose Happilo’s affordable yet high-quality products.

Along with a stellar marketing campaign, Happilo has partnered with the Indian Premier League. The company is also sponsoring the title of Rajasthan Royals. The advertising game is strong for Happilo. The company has onboarded celebrities like Siddharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani as brand ambassadors. The charming personalities of Siddharth and Kiara along with their recent marriage ceremony have gained a lot of attraction from consumers.

Some of the competitors of Happilo are Yoga Bar, Nutraj, Eat Better, and many others. The upcoming plans of Happilo are to expand their outlets and open several stores. The company is also planning to go international