A bowl of good health

Darcy and Company, Rashmi Naik 

Rashmi Naik
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Rashmi Naik loves breakfast and looks forward to it every day. “Breakfast is the new dinner. In fact, I would argue that breakfast is the little black dress of all meals,” says the founder of this Puducherry-based micro-bakery that specialises in making small batch breakfast cereals using high-quality ingredients. 

As a lifelong fan of Jane Austen, “such a wonderful role model for women,” Darcy and Company is named after the founder’s favourite literary character, Austen’s famous romantic hero, Mr Darcy. “There are things in the business to take seriously, but you should also have the opportunity to have fun. And Jane Austen allowed us to do that,” explains Rashmi, who recently introduced four limited-edition flavours of granola to mark Austen’s 250th birth anniversary to her product range: Longbourn & Pemberley (Shortbread), Chatworth House & Barton Cottage (Scottish Cranachan), Camden Place & Netherfield Park (Sticky Toffee Pudding) and Hartfield & Highbury (Chocolate Orange). 

Rashmi, who has a background in public policy, advocacy and communications, first began making granola in 2021, when she moved to Puducherry from Mumbai. In an attempt to eat healthier, she began experimenting with breakfasts of homemade granola and yoghurt, “along with fruit, which took care of more than half the protein we required for our breakfast,” she says, pointing out that while people are often focused on eating right, it also needs to be accessible and easy to put together.

For her, a bowl of granola with Greek yoghurt, a drizzle of nut butter and seasonal fruit is an easy lift. “It is satiating, guilt-free and competently does the job of hitting all the right spots. More importantly, it is sustainable; the chances of you getting bored or tired easily are low, and it can be had at any time of day,” says Rashmi, who finds this sort of versatility “most appealing.”

She started by sharing her slow-baked granola, crammed with ingredients like activated nuts and seeds, with family and friends. As demand for this “delicious” product, made with “clean ingredients,” increased, she finally decided to go the entrepreneurial route.

“The journey from a home-based enterprise to a commercial enterprise began with customised corporate orders and hampers in December 2024,” she says. Then, in early 2025, Darcy & Company sponsored a series of women’s cricket premier leagues in gated communities in Mumbai.

“All the sportspersons got to pick a granola from the menu, and that in many ways worked very well from a research and test marketing perspective,” says Rashmi, who went on to incorporate All Things Breakfast Pvt. Ltd, the parent company of the micro-bakery, in July 2025.

“We are a women-owned business; the other two directors are Monisha Advani, producer and founder of Emmay Entertainment and Rajeshree Naik, co-founder of Ping Network and India Food Network.”  

Today, Darcy & Company operates from a 3,500 square foot central kitchen located in Puducherry, with its main suppliers based in and around the area. While the current range includes flavours like Ancient Grains, Apple Strudel, Banana Bread, Cacao, a house blend- Classic, Gingerbread, Juniper Berries, Strawberries & Fresh Cream, Peanut Butter & Jelly and Tropical, more offerings are on their way.

“We are launching new innovations, including granola butters, a range of nut butters, and cereals made with heritage grains such as rye and buckwheat. The breakfast table is expanding, and Darcy & Company wants to be a part of that spread,” says Rashmi, who believes that the market for products like these in India is growing at a very decent 12-15 CAGR with more young Indians willing to experiment with food and take better care of themselves.

“While India has so much to offer from a culinary perspective, young India is looking for diversity in taste and hungry for brands that are look, feel, and are truly global,” she says. 

Darcy and Company’s granolas can be ordered online via their Instagram page, via WhatsApp (9820978346) and website. They are also available in The Spot, Puducherry. 

Safe Bee, Nidhitra Rajmohan

Nidhitra Rajmohan and Krithik Maknur Shivaram
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Special Arrangement

As a professional sportsperson, Nidhitra Rajmohan has been eating mindfully since the age of 15. “Because of tennis, I was conscious of cutting down sugar and processed ingredients,” she says.

As a result, she, with her mother and grandmother, regularly made many nutrition-focused snacks and cereals at home. During COVID-19, as more and more people began focusing on health, she and her family started offering the snacks to residents of their gated community.

“Through WhatsApp, we would say that we were making this, and to let us know if anyone wanted it. Slowly, more and more people began asking for them and it grew from there,” says the Coimbatore-based Nidhitra, who, with her co-founder Krithik Maknur Shivaram, formally founded Safe Bee in 2023.

What started as a small, home-based lockdown venture now offers over 60 products and operates out of a 2,500 sq ft certified manufacturing unit in Coimbatore. All products in the range, including breakfast cereals, nut butters, nutrition bars, and dessert bites, are nutrition-forward, made with minimal processing, no added sugar, and lactose- and preservative-free.

“In terms of ingredients, one of our main philosophies was not to add anything we were not sure of,” says Nidhitra. They also wanted to keep ingredients minimal.

For example, their Cacao Almond Ragi Millet Muesli only contains one grain: ragi. “Most breakfast cereals have a lot of grains mixed in, and it always took a long time to digest before a training session,” she says, adding that their cereal range has a maximum of four to five ingredients.

“It is completely gluten-free and vegan. We also offer allergen-friendly, customisable options. For example, if somebody is nut-allergic, we can do it without nuts.”

Around 60% of Safe Bee’s ingredients, such as cacao, millets and some seeds, are sourced directly from farms, while the others are imported or procured from local dealers. “We don’t get anything processed from outside…only whole ingredients, which we process in-house. Even our chocolate is made from scratch,” she says. According to her, the products have “balanced macros and micros. I know there is so much focus on protein, which is good, but we need a balance of everything.” 

One of the biggest challenges of creating foods that are hand-screened and processed naturally is that it takes a few days to ship an order, an anomaly in the age of 10-minute deliveries. “Seventy out of a 100 are okay with slower deliveries, but some customers keep asking us why we are delaying,” says Nidhitra, who is working on finding ways to quicken the process. She is also excited to soon launch a new product line: “Pancake mixes with minimal ingredients. That is next for us.”

Safe Bee’s products are available at select stores in Coimbatore or can be purchased on the website. 

Hola Granola, Tracy Thomas 

Tracy Thomas
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Special Arrangement

Even as a child, Tracy Thomas did not enjoy a typical cooked Indian breakfast. “Dosa was okay, but nothing else,” says the Kochi-based home cook and founder of Hola Granola, which offers a range of small-batch, preservative-free granolas and snack bites.

Back then, the only cereal available in India was cornflakes, so she would often ask family living abroad to bring other cereals when they came down for holidays. “Even after I got married, whenever I travelled abroad, I would look out for niche brands,” says Tracy, who loves having granola for breakfast because “it is quick and easy.  I feel it is a no-brainer; you don’t really have to prep anything or think too much.” 

In 2021, during COVID-19, she started making granola at home and giving it to her close friends. “Everyone liked the taste, and asked me to consider doing it as a business,” she says. For almost three years, she operated out of her home, selling her product through word of mouth. “The products were not sold out of any stores. It took me a while to start doing it officially, getting the necessary licenses and things like that.”

Tracy experimented for a long time to arrive at the three flavours of granola she currently retails: The Classic, The Ultimate, and Cocoa Granola.  “It took many trials. I don’t like sugary things, so while I use jaggery as a sweetener, I use very little, just enough to bind.”

Tracy drew on the memories of all those granolas she had tasted abroad to reverse engineer what she had liked about those other brands. While some ingredients used in these granolas, like almonds and oats, are imported, many are sourced locally, including cashews, cacao, jaggery, and coconut oil, says Tracy.

This granola is different from anything available commercially, says Tracy. “While I’ve tried a few small-batch options in India, I’ve not loved anything, to be honest. That this is one reason why I started this.”  

While she continues to make the granola at home, Tracy has now established a separate kitchen for it and is experimenting with new flavours.

“Hopefully, I’ll be able to launch two more this year,” says Tracy, who believes that while people are more conscious about what they put into their bodies, the shift from mass-produced cereals to craft versions is slow.

“I feel the market needs a lot more education, in terms of looking at what’s on the label. Also, they need to realise that if a cereal has a year-long shelf-life, there has to be something in it,” she says, pointing out that products like hers still occupy a niche market. “Brands have to build awareness, meet people’s needs and be functional. We will slowly get there.”

Hola Granola’s products can be ordered online on their website. You can also opt for a subscription model