Aria Ramsinghani, co-founder, Kind Lyfe speaks to My Startup World about her journey to successfully launch the gluten free vegan snacks in the UAE  

Please introduce Kind Lyfe to our readers.
Kind Lyfe is a clean Vegan snacking brand, that started in our home kitchen in Dubai with me, Aria – the Vegan with food intolerances – who was always on the hunt for gut-friendly delicious snacks. Struggling to find clean snacks that didn’t compromise on taste & texture led to my passion for baking & constantly creating new recipes. My husband Akshay and his sister Ruchika – who are super foodies are usually not too impressed with Vegan & Gluten Free treats, but these cookies hit the spot for them – and thus Kind Lyfe was born!

What made you venture into the vegan snack market and how would you differentiate Kind Lyfe from other similar offerings in the market?
Being a Vegan, I was always interested in trying new snacks in the market, constantly on the lookout for treats to satisfy my cravings. Also, having a sensitive gut meant that a lot of the Vegan snacks were not suitable for me, as the majority of them contained preservatives and chemicals which are gut irritants. We spotted this gap in the market and wanted to create a Vegan snacking brand that is not only clean but also free of other common allergens such as Gluten and Soy. All our products are also preservative and refined sugar-free – which differentiates us from other similar products in the market.

How did you raise the capital to fund this venture and what kind of challenges did you encounter in raising those funds?
We approached investors on the board of “Truebell Marketing and Trading” with a pitch of our passion project of an allergen-free snacking brand and got a great response. Since they don’t have anything similar on board and saw a gap in the market they were excited to take us on as a brand.

The challenges we faced were not raising the funds, but the unexpected mistakes we made in the initial stages of launching the brand. Creating a brand was new to all of us, so we definitely faced a challenge with our branding, in terms of how to appeal to the customer through packaging. When we first launched the brand the packaging we selected had no bright colors. This looked great on its own, but we noticed it was not standing out on shelves, which of course hindered our sales. We rectified this by improving our packaging by adding the bright green color, and immediately saw an improvement in sales. This was an additional cost that was not part of our initial proposal to our investors, so it was definitely a challenge to convince them that the improvement in packaging would improve our business.

Where do you see Kind Lyfe in the next 2-3 years?
We hope to see Kind Lyfe grow its portfolio of products, we currently have 6 Cookie SKUs, and eventually want to have a range of a lot more snacking products both sweet and savory. We also hope the brand to expand in the Gulf Region as currently, we are only available in the UAE. In 3 years our goal is for it to be recognized as an international vegan snacking brand.

What advice would you offer to other budding entrepreneurs?
My first advice would be to study the industry, get to know your competitors and all of their strengths and weaknesses, so if there is a gap in the market, you could potentially be one of the first ones there. When it comes to food it comes down to the taste & presentation but in order to first grab the consumer’s eye – it starts with the packaging! Getting creative with branding is where the fun and focus should be.

And, secondly understanding that experience is the best teacher, constantly talking to and questioning people in the industry. Thirdly, expect to make mistakes. When starting a business you almost have to embrace that you will make mistakes and they might be costly, but if you see it from an investment point of view, the lessons you can learn from them have a greater value, and can potentially help you from making even bigger and more costly mistakes in the future. Lastly, the network is your net worth. Invest in relationships with people that can help you grow – both professionally and personally.