The Growing Appetite For Health Food

The number of startups offering diet food has grown exponentially, but investors are still not clear about the scalability.

- Debojyoti Ghosh & Deepti Chaudhary

Shreya Roy loves tucking into her paneer butter masala. But the Bengaluru-based content writer doesn’t have the time to cook it at home and she’s wracked with guilt about ordering a calorie-laden dish from a restaurant when she is trying to drop a few pounds. Luckily for Roy, there is a way out: neighbourhood food start ups that dish out a healthy, calorie-controlled version of the traditionally creamy paneer butter masala.

“I have experimented with various health food services offered by many of these start ups and zeroed in on some that suit me,” says 33-year-old Roy, who has a monthly subscription with an online food delivery service, which prepares food in a healthy manner with the right portion size and calorie count. “I can order paneer butter masala and dal makhani and still remain guilt-free as it is made without the butter and cream that’s associated with these dishes and not compromise on the taste. The set meals come with rotis, salad and a super food (high on nutrients such as chia seeds, quinoa, acai berries) dessert,” says Roy.

Health food isn’t just about bland steel cut oats and egg white omlettes anymore. A host of online and mobile health food services start ups in Bengaluru are increasingly offering the city’s busy urban population an array of nutritious but also wholesome meals. Be it a Keto brownie, high-protein teriyaki tofu salad, brown rice chicken biryani, or a good old