Balasa Company has brought in some much needed innovations into the papad category, with new ingredients such as quinoa, chia seeds, and amaranth. The company plans to continue exploring new flavours to capture and strengthen its market position, basis customer feedback, prevailing market conditions and demand.
India is looked upon as a land with a diversified, rich cultured heritage and lots of opportunities. Indian food is very rich in culture and every region has its own varieties of food. To illustrate, a simple pickle has over 1,400 recognized varieties in India. Over the years, several traditional Indian foods being accepted across the globe, which are encouraging more and more entrepreneurs to explore nouveau ideas that excite customers and bring much needed dynamism in the processed food industry.
Balasa Company is one such fast growing start-up in the ethnic Indian food domain. Their go-to-market product is the Papad (Papadum), where they have created a strong niche for themselves. A papad is a thin Indian wafer, sometimes described as a cracker or flatbread. Often consumed as a cherished accompaniment to an Indian meal, papad is accompaniment to the Indian meal, papads are also the base of some very exotic and irresistible snack items. Some people also use them as croutons in soup.
Traditionally, papads are prepared with dried lentils as the base ingredients, seasoned by spices such as chilli, cumin, garlic, black pepper, etc. Balasa, on the other hand, has brought in some much needed innovations into this category. Their papads, besides using authentic ingredients, also pack in the power of superfoods like quinoa, chia seeds, and amaranth.
The word “BALASA” was inspired by one of the early childhood names of Lord Hanuman. Inspired by the story of the widely revered Hindu deity, the company aims to be the universal role model of service and loyalty. It envisions to become the most admired and integrated Food and Beverage company through exceptional service, sustainable value and quality products at economical prices. Their commitment to consumer satisfaction has made them a supplier of choice for households as well as B2B clients.
Off the beaten path
Balasa started its journey as a small papad manufacturing company, which sourced and prepared regular flavours. However, they quickly observed a severe shortage of reliable and traceable ingredients as well as weak representation of and poor regional flavour representation.
Sensing an opportunity to serve customers with an altogether new menu, Balasa diversified into innovative papad flavours using millets, vegetables and cereals. These products have experienced strong traction in the domestic market as well as the Indian diaspora.
Balasa Papad clients are consumers who like to savour authentic ethnic and artisanal papads, consistently round the year at affordable prices. The brand promises a rare combination of a nostalgic experience and new product varieties that appeal to the mind as well as the heart.
The right product at the right time
The international market is very similar to Indian market, with food connoisseurs always looking for innovation in ethnic food varieties, thereby making the company’s foray aptly timed. Balasa has been promoting and participating in various platforms to showcase its product line, using social media and digital platforms to display its product range.
Today, the company is selling its products across platforms, thereby reaching NRI clients as well. The pandemic has accelerated growth in usage of e-commerce platforms for grocery essentials. Buying patterns have shifted substantially from physical means to digital means. Given the changing trends, Balasa Papad now offers its entire range of papads on its website as well as on e-commerce portals such as Flipkart and Amazon, committing to deliver the products to the customers’ doorsteps.
The company plans to continue exploring new flavours to capture and strengthen its market position, on the basis of customer feedback, prevailing market conditions and demand.
This article is a part of TPCI’s Connect Initiative
