Founder & CMO Niharika Joshi explains how Cumin Co is moving beyond cookware to build a health-first kitchenware brand through consumer-led innovation, premium design, omnichannel growth and material science
The kitchenware market has become increasingly competitive, with consumers looking beyond traditional cookware. What opportunity did you identify for Cumin Co, and how has your value proposition evolved?
Our thesis was built around a broader consumption shift. In developing economies, consumers first spend on themselves—fashion, beauty and personal products—and then gradually invest in their homes. Within the home category, the kitchen is emerging as one of the fastest-growing spaces.
What’s driving this isn’t simply aesthetics. Health and wellness have become major purchase drivers, especially with growing awareness around materials, microplastics and healthier cooking. Consumers are actively looking to upgrade their kitchens with products that are safer, more functional and thoughtfully designed.
We saw a gap because most brands focus on either design, health or functionality. Very few combine all three. That’s where Cumin Co positions itself—as a health-first kitchenware brand designed for modern Indian households.
Our ambition extends beyond cookware. We see ourselves building an entire kitchen ecosystem, whether that’s cookware, chopping boards, knives, spatulas or other tools that contribute to healthier cooking.
Building a consumer brand requires balancing innovation with profitability. How do you approach product development without compromising unit economics?
Everything begins with understanding the customer. Before building a product, we spend considerable time identifying specific consumer problems.
Different households have different requirements. A young parent, someone living alone, or a consumer looking for oil-free cooking all have unique needs. That consumer insight drives our product development process.
Interestingly, one of our strongest innovation sources is our existing customers. Around 60-70 per cent of our new product ideas originate from customer feedback. Our customer support team is deeply integrated into product development because they’re constantly hearing what consumers want next.
We also invest significantly in research and development. We’ve already secured three patents and have several more under review. Our philosophy isn’t to launch products rapidly but to enter categories only when we can deliver genuine value.
India isn’t necessarily a price-sensitive market—it’s a value-sensitive one. Consumers are willing to pay a premium if they clearly understand the value proposition.
Consumers today expect authenticity, transparency and convenience. How important is storytelling in building a premium consumer brand?
Storytelling is incredibly important because it’s often the first interaction consumers have with your brand. They experience your communication long before they experience your product.
Our objective is to ensure that our messaging remains consistent across every platform—our website, Amazon, social media, influencers and retail channels. Consumers should hear the same story everywhere.
That said, storytelling alone isn’t enough. The product has to validate every promise the brand makes.
For example, we didn’t launch ceramic-coated aluminium cookware and simply market it as healthy. We deliberately chose cast iron because it’s durable, long-lasting and genuinely aligned with our health-first philosophy.
Interestingly, we don’t actively market sustainability because we believe it should be inherent in product development rather than a marketing message. Products should naturally last longer instead of encouraging frequent replacement.
As founders, how do you divide responsibilities while scaling the business?
My co-founder is also my husband, so we’ve known each other for years before starting the business.
We both came from long corporate careers, having worked with organisations such as Meta, Microsoft, Uber, Mastercard and Parthenon. That experience helped us clearly define our responsibilities.
He leads product development and innovation, while I focus on brand, marketing and channel expansion. We contribute ideas to each other’s functions, but the final decision rests with the respective owner.
That clarity removes ambiguity and allows us to move quickly. Of course, discussions often continue outside work as well—we’ve had product brainstorming sessions at 2 a.m.—but it helps accelerate execution.
What is your long-term vision for Cumin Co?
We don’t see ourselves as just a cookware company. We want to become a complete kitchen ecosystem brand.
We started with cookware, then expanded into prepware and kitchen tools. Going forward, we’ll continue building products that influence every stage of healthy cooking.
Product expansion and channel expansion will happen together. Different categories perform better across different channels—whether that’s D2C, Amazon, quick commerce or offline retail.
Our long-term ambition is to become one of India’s most trusted kitchenware brands by owning a much larger share of the modern kitchen.
Ultimately, this category runs on trust. If consumers genuinely experience value, they naturally come back to the brand.
Cumin Co offers smaller cookware sizes compared to many traditional brands. What inspired that approach?
That came directly from observing how Indian households have evolved.
Traditional cookware was designed for joint families, where meals were typically prepared for five or six people. Today’s households are very different. Nuclear families, single professionals and young couples all require smaller cookware.
We therefore introduced products designed specifically for one- and two-person households. Smaller cookware also supports better portion control, reduces food wastage and works particularly well with induction cooktops and modern kitchens.
As consumer lifestyles continue evolving, kitchenware has to evolve alongside them.
