Eat smart, lose weight and gain health, says startup

Gachibowli: Doing its bit to bring in nutrition revolution in India by inducing Indians to eat right through easy-to-access healthy food, Greens & More, a city-based health and wellness food startup company, a quick service restaurant (QSR), designs meals based on the modern food pyramid to help consumers reach optimum levels of vitamins and minerals naturally through food. The food outlet is located in Gachibowli.

The food pyramid has changed what we have studied in school. The pyramid has evolved over a period of time. However, while our lifestyles have changed our food habits still remain the same. We are leading a sedentary lifestyle, without enough movement or much of exercise, sticking to the old food pyramid which is rich in carbs.

"I myself was overweight after giving birth to my two daughters. The process of pregnancy and childbirth took a toll on my health and I gained 20 extra kilos of weight and developed Sciatica ( back pain caused by a problem with the sciatic nerve). I spent almost three years after my post-pregnancy, going to regular aerobics classes. But I could not lose weight.

That's when I realised that losing weight is about 80 per cent food and 20 per cent exercise; so, I started researching and reading about various kind of fibrous diets and low-carbs diet and how they help. Then I started designing my own meals at home, as there weren't any healthy food options outside. Then, I drastically started losing weight within 7 months and I was back in shape. That's when I realised about the importance of diet in losing weight, and, after that I studied about modern food pyramids and researched about them," said Preeti Sinha, Founder-CEO of Greens & More.

"Our aim is to make innovative meals which are based on the modern pyramid. That's how we started designing green meals. Green meals include a lot of leaves, vegetables and food primarily in a raw format – complete in protein and good fat. We limit intake of processed carbs in our food.

Over a period of time, we launched this as a subscription model, which eventually over the period of time, we realised, was helping a lot of people with medical issues like edema, migraine, weight loss, inch loss, fat loss, diabetes, and thyroid. Basically, we are taking food as a medicine rather than something to give you satiety. People take vitamins and supplements to fulfil their protein needs. We are using food as a source to meet their needs," explains Preeti.

They have a weekly, thrice weekly and monthly subscription services in both veg and non-veg categories. Her weight-loss journey inspired Preeti to share her recipe among her family and friends. She distributed the salad for reviews during an aerobics class, and by evening her WhatsApp was chock-a-block with messages. They have an aim to open 100-plus QSRs in the next 2.5 years and to be the 'Subway of India' serving healthy food for all.

In the last 18 months, the startup claims to have achieved quite considerably: Designed and developed 55 nutritionally condensed recipes across different categories from drinks to deserts; Served more than 30k+ wellness meals; It registered customer retention rate of 68% and customer lifetime value of Rs 10k; Delivered 12 successful health case studies via Greens & More meals.

The thrust on micronutrients i.e. vitamins and minerals is seen to be yielding positive results. Green meal is a primarily raw or partly cooked food to retain maximum nutrition.

It has relied upon Banasthali University for the hiring of MSc (nutrition graduates) and National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality management for the hiring of chef and staff. Its recommended dietary intake revolves around smart foods to maximise nutrition. Backward integration is underway with farm-to-fork promise of fresh food with optimum nutrition.