TummyYums | Revolutionizing traditional snacking with healthier touches
- BySheetal Sidhu | May 12, 2021
“Focus and consistency should be constant, stick to a well-made plan without allowing your mind to get diverted,” Abhishek Tripathi, Founder, TummyYums while on an interview with Startup story.
Abhishek shared his incredible journey of building up TummyYums from ground up with Startup story, having come from a small place in Uttar Pradesh and moving into a metro city like Mumbai back in 2002. Abhishek found himself intimidated by the lifestyle and having completed his high school education in a purely Hindi medium background Mumbai was a lot to take in for him. But, as he quoted ‘destiny had something different in store for him’.
Laying the groundwork for TummyYums
Abhishek’s journey as shared with the Startup story was full of surprising turn of events. Abhishek began his journey like every average high school student to find a stable career option and so he landed into pharmacy medicine. But unlike every other individual he wasn’t ready to settle for the ordinary and having realized early on that he was meant to enter the entrepreneurial world he dropped out of his course and pursued his graduation from Mithibai College followed by Masters in Business. Remembering the very first job where he earned Rs10k in 2006 he had kept his change of career choice a secret from his parents until this point. Later, the monotony of the regular 9-5 working period was jinxing his innovative side which again wasn’t to his liking he said continuing to narrate his story to Startup story. He then was attracted towards the world of the internet and started working for an IT company and was awarded by NASSCOM. However, fate wasn’t in his favour at the time and he met with an accident while he was in the middle of starting his own company. But that did not stop him from getting back up and pursuing his dreams, like he quotes ‘Nothing should be allowed to distract you, focus is important’ .
One of his previous clients was highly impressed by Abhishek and offered him a place as a consultant at FMC. This was his first step into the food industry. Elaborating more about his work Abhishek told Startup Story that he was working with a huge and quality clientele for private labeling including Wal-Mart, Spenser’s, Haldiram’s etc. His work in the food industry served as the basis of experience for him to set up his own brand later.
Once the pandemic hit the world, his company also felt the blow and had to go through a layoff. Even though Abhishek was kept on board he took this opportunity to start his own business with a small funding from his friend as a part investor he set up a factory and launched TummyYums in 2020.
Launching the brand TummyYums
When asked about the lyrical name of his brand by Startup story, Abhishek after a chuckle said, being a foodie myself and having a son who enjoys snacks just as much, his son would usually say ‘yummy in my tummy’, which led to him naming his brand Tummy Yums all the same adding a personal touch to it.
Pondering on the concept of snacking and limited healthier products for the same, Abhishek wanted to switch junk food into products that were both tasty and healthy and so he started looking into items with health benefits at the same time keeping the flavour alive. As he explained to Startup story that his product ‘Cheezopino chia chips’ have a great combination of cheese and jalapenos and at the same time are healthy being chia chips. Abhishek told Startup story that he names his products himself and feels accomplished when his son enjoys his snacks on a regular basis.
Everything to know about TummyYums healthy snacks
When asked by the Startup story about why he chose the Food industry to this he replied that he was well- versed about most aspects of the industry also he thinks that ‘any entrepreneur should gather the insight on running a business first before the launch’.
Featuring his products he said that his products were preservative free which was what made them unique as compared to any other snacks. Since, anyone who is health conscious is always looking for options to avoid oil he has also launched vacuum fried chips which is an additional feature of his products. All his products are pack and jar allowing consumers to carry along their snacks and store them. Since all his products are original and there are no other companies selling products like his own, it immediately eliminates any scope of competition.
Future plans
Considering the growth of the health and food market, Startup story asked Abhishek his plans on expansion to which Abhishek replied; he was definitely looking for an angel investor. So that he could launch smaller packets of his products. As of now he said his company was growing tremendously with 15 outlets and 7-8 distributors throughout the country covering states like Chennai, Gujrat, U.P etc the company saw a turnover of around 8-10 lakhs. Abhishek launched TummyYums with only 6 SKU’S (stock-keeping units) and now the number has gone up to 33.
About the team and challenges faced
Abhishek says that he believes in a lean model and only has four in-house team members while everything is outsourced and not under a payroll. He believes in investing in products rather than in fancy and luxury offices. He firmly believes that ‘if your product is good, everyone is going to buy it’.
Initially, he said he was facing problems with logistics and his supply chain, dealing with queries etc but gradually he worked on the model and set up his e-commerce channel and introduced a third party tech including Delhivery and Shiprocket. He now has the proper technology and supply chain with highly satisfying reviews.
A message from the founder
“Focus and consistency should be constant, stick to a well-made plan without allowing your mind to get diverted,” Abhishek Tripathi, Founder, TummyYums
Follow Startup Story
Related Posts
