Utopian Smoothies: Your dose of health & fitness in a bottle!

Launched in June 2023, Mumbai-based Utopian Smoothies claims to have 40-57 per cent fruit and vegetable content, highest in the category and hence are sweetened naturally with fruits and honey. Superfoods are added to all utopian smoothies to give them that extra goodness and keep the consumers fit and healthy. These smoothies are a source of fiber, and help in keeping a healthy gut, which is very important for healthy living. These smoothies have a 6-month shelf life, without refrigeration and without any preservatives. They achieve this using Retort Technology. This technology also enables them to deliver these smoothies Pan India and currently they do same-day/one-day delivery in Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Delhi.

Speaking to Bizz Buzz exclusively, Abhishek Sarwate, CEO, Utopian Smoothies and Shweta Tare Sarwate, COO, Utopian Smoothies, points out that over the next 3-4 years, their focus is to be present across office cafeterias across metros, so that they can target white-collar and corporate employees. They also plan to tie up with Gyms and yoga studios as Detox and immunity are good post-workout drinks

Is this your maiden entrepreneurial venture? What prompted you to get into this business?

Abhishek: Yes, we are first generation entrepreneurs. Both of us were in our respective stable jobs but there was a point in time where we realized that there was a huge market opportunity waiting for us in the healthy beverage segment. Most of the products in the market today are offered by huge players where they just want to create a product that is cheaper and offers no other value than degradation of their health to our consumers.

From our own personal experience, we feel that the consumers have evolved today. They are on a lookout for healthier and better alternatives, but not much is readily available to them. They are keen to get convenient and healthy products. That’s where we decided to create a niche for ourselves, and make our brand a consumer-first brand where our main focus is offering tasty and healthy beverages.

How large is the smoothies/juices/juice mixtures market in India? At what rate is it growing?

Shweta: Healthy juice and smoothies Health F&B is growing at 20 per cent CAGR (1.5x of the total packaged F&B market growth). With growing awareness on the importance of clean eating, this market is surely going to see an upward surge in the upcoming years. Our life span has increased significantly with the advancements in the medical field but lifestyle related diseases are also on the rise. Now it’s our turn to choose healthier lifestyle and healthy eating to live life to the fullest.

What is your current market share in the western India market? (You are currently available only in Western India, right?). By when would you like to go national?

Abhishek: We are available online pan India, our offline presence is mainly focused in Western India. As a relatively new brand, our market share is relatively small, as we are catering to the healthier, gluten free, preservative free beverage market, but we are growing 3x month-on-month. We are confident that this category is going to be mainstream with increasing product awareness, amazing reviews and product benefits.

As and when you make your products available pan India, would that be through online model alone or would you follow physical retailing model as well?

Shweta: Our products are available online pan India. We are equally focused on retail as it builds a genuine trust for the product. Online model helps us reach even the interiors of Indian markets, where retail presence becomes a challenge for young startups. We already see a lot of orders coming from Assam. But it’s the feasibility and connectivity that allows us to supply all across Indian markets.

Where do you have your manufacturing facilities, currently? Would this suffice when you go national or do you have plans to have more such facilities in different locations for logistics purposes and otherwise?

Abhishek: Our current facility is in Surat, Gujarat. It’s a facility with all the latest and new equipment, which helps us maintain very high hygiene standards and very optimized processes. Although the facility is pretty big and would suffice us for a while, we would start with other manufacturing facilities once our expansion starts to other cities as it makes logistics and economic sense.

How much have you invested so far and what is the future investment plan like?

Shweta: Till now, we have invested our own money and some from our friends and family, and are now looking to raise our seed round for expansion and marketing. We already have a strong product. The future funds would be mainly used to set a strong distribution network to create a moat around our logistics and operations. Some of the funds would also go towards making this a Bev-Tech startup where we can easily manage our inventory, optimize our logistics and tell our customers the quality of fruits used its native and other details of the product along with it.

How do you propose to raise funds for your future expansion plans and by when?

Shweta: We are in the process of raising our Seed round. We are in talks with some angel investors and VCs. We have already received certain commitments and are now looking to close this soon.

How do you think your product stands out in the market and now especially when you have spent some time in the market already?

Abhishek: Our USP is a great tasting smoothie with the benefits of having at least 2 high quality fruits in a bottle topped with some superfood for that added nudge towards health. Our smoothies have a very high fruit content (60 per cent), which is highest in the market. We don’t need to add any refined sugars or artificial sweeteners as our smoothies are naturally sweetened with fruits and honey. We believe in keeping our smoothies natural and do not add any preservatives or artificial colours and flavours.

It’s very important to understand how a modern health-focused consumer behaves. They want to know the ingredients, they read the label and are well aware of the benefits of our offerings. Our products are simply great because of the ingredients, with no fortification or addition of any unhealthy chemicals to them.

How many flavours do you have currently and how many more would you like to add over the next 2-3 years?

Shweta: Currently we have 4 Superfood Smoothies namely Energy, Immunity, Tropical and Detox these are all designed based on the Indian taste preferences, Indian Fruits & Vegetables such as Alphonso Mango and Spinach as well as Indian Superfoods, Herbs & Millets such as Tulsi, Amla, Amaranth (Rajgira) and Ashwgandha.

Witnessing the popularity of these 4 Superfood Smoothies, we are soon planning to launch a few seasonal smoothies and some herbal non sugary drinks to deepen our reach with dairy free, vegan friendly consumer base.

How do you see the concept of consuming healthy/energy drinks picking up in India?

Abhishek: Healthy drinks are gaining steep popularity in India, driven by increasing health awareness, urbanization, and changing lifestyles. We witness this notable surge, among Millennials and Gen-Z also because of early onset of diseases like diabetes, obesity, thyroid etc. than that for previous generations. This differential age gap has intensified the interest in our superfood smoothies as younger individuals seek proactive measures to address health concerns arising at earlier stages of life.

Our Smoothies offer overall well-being, taste, and convenience. The Superfoods in our Smoothies pair great with fitness or sports culture, as it gives you the required energy, vitamins, minerals electrolytes with fruits providing time to indulge in your hobbies than being stuck in the kitchen.

How do you position your product in the market and what are your brand building plans?

Shweta: Our brand offering is simple. We help people increase their fruit intake and add fruits to their diet. We all know the importance of having fruits everyday and still most of us skip doing so or don’t consume enough. We are making it easy for our consumers and helping them have at least 2 servings of fruit with our 1 bottle of any SuperSmoothie. Once you start having them regularly, you can see the benefits with the extra energy, feeling lighter, glowing skin, and the amazing changes to your body by Utopian smoothies to make you happier.