First-gen Foodpreneurs pack old vada in new pav

Several entrepreneurs are trying to change that by using global practices to sell Indian street food Green mangoes are hard.

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And no one knows this better than Neeraj Kakkar, co-founder of Paperboat. Hector Beverages, the makers of Paperboat, has been selling its aam panna drink (green mango juice flavoured with roasted masalas) for a while. Green mangoes are notoriously hard to process because they are tough, and Kakkar says his team had to innovate extensively to make Paperboat's aam panna flavour taste like its fresh, homemade version.

"So our biggest challenge is today our biggest advantage. Nobody has done this kind of thing before and it is difficult to replicate," says Kakkar. Paperboat now boasts an array of 10 distinct beverages including jaljeera, golgappe, kokum and chilled rasam. Many more innovative products are under development including coconut water and the juice of purple carrots. The company, which opened its biggest factory in Mysuru a few months ago, works with agricultural universities and farmers across the country to figure out best practices, as they break new ground on products.

Across the country, entrepreneurs are picking up traditional Indian food and beverage products to challenge Western imports like colas and burgers. In some cases they are reimagining the products and offering innovative variants. Mr & Mrs Idli and Idli Factory offer exotic stuff like Idli Manchurian, Kanchivaram Idli and Punjabi Idli. Faaso's, with funding from Sequoia and Lightbox, and Kaati Zone do a variety of Indian rolls, including Cheesy Corn Salsa and Chicken Mushroom.