Cereal filler

It’s one of those phone calls that could make a brand owner smile. When Vidur Gupta receives the phone call from a regular customer he thinks the order must have been delayed. However, he is surprised to find that this customer has called him for other reasons. The delivery man apparently gave the goods, but did not collect the cash. And now, the customer promises to send the money over to the office of Gouri’s, located inside a Central Mumbai industrial estate at the earliest. This is just one of the several phone calls that the mother and son duo of Gouri and Vidur Gupta are accustomed to getting quite frequently. “We are an uncomplicated brand that would like to give you a hug and be prepared to sit and chat with you forever,” says Vidur Gupta.

He feels that customer calls like the one above are the fruits of building a business purely on the basis of referrals. Gouri’s, the brand that makes cereals, energy bars and delicious bakes from natural ingredients, now commands a core customer set of around 4,500 customers across the country. These customers recommend the brand to everyone they care about. Another customer mentions that she had strongly recommended the brand to her daughter-in-law when she came on a vacation, from abroad. The daughter-in-law did stock up at the outlet. “We know most customers on a first-name basis. They come in as Mrs and end up becoming Aunties,” says the 24-year-old who trained to become an economist but has now decided to focus on taking Gouri’s the brand to the next level. In six years the brand targets to reach sales worth ₹100 crore and fight the big cereal brands on their own turf.

It was a passion for baking that Gouri Gupta nursed since childhood. When her family took a Sunday siesta, Gouri would sneak into the kitchen and bake something. “When they woke up, the family had a delicious cake to go with tea,” she says.

About a decade ago, Gouri was convinced of the curative powers of naturopathy when a family member was cured of a pollen ailment without any surgical intervention. The oats and almond cereal that she was making for the household had become a favourite. Now neighbours and friends were asking for regular refills. That’s when Gouri got a crucial insight from one of her inner circle of customers — they could have the cereal only when they were at home and could not carry it around. That’s when Gouri decided to create a bar from oats and almonds. “We call it the mother bar,” she says.

Since then the business has been on a steady path of growth. Being in regular touch with customers had its benefits as crucial feedback helped in adding or tweaking the product mix. Vidur points out that every product is free from processed sugar and the brand used honey as an ingredient to sweeten many of its products. However, that meant alienating a section of the customers — Jains would not buy products that used honey. On a trip to Goa, the Guptas hit upon a solution. Palm jaggery was available in plenty and the Guptas had found a ‘natural’ solution to their problem.

Gouri’s is targeting the customers who opt for health and convenience. Some of the products are even useful for diabetics. For instance, the Millet and Apricot cereal mix delivers a healthy diet of carbohydrates while being low on sugar. But even as it expands its franchise (the company will soon move manufacturing into a 10-tonne facility), the market for cereals and bars is abuzz with action.

In the Indian market for energy bars, Yoga Bar is present widely in the market, while Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali has recently released its range of six energy bars. “It’s great for us as it will help grow the category for us by leaps and bounds,” says Vidur. However, the brand opts to attract the upper end of the market. While a Yoga Bar would be priced at ₹30 for a bar, the average bar from Gouri’s would be in the range of ₹60. Its energy cereal is also priced between ₹1,250 and ₹1,600 per kg. While Gouri’s Ragi Oats is priced at ₹1,350 for a kg, any large brand manufacturing oats in the country would be priced between ₹175 and ₹500 per kg. Certainly, eating natural comes at a premium. Fortunately for Gouri’s, the number of customers who realise that is only growing.