Co-founders Disha Bhattacharya and Prashanth Bhushan explain how Protein Pantry is targeting India’s protein gap with convenient, affordable and meal-ready vegetarian offerings, while betting on taste, lean nutrition and in-house manufacturing to build consumer trust
India’s protein consumption story is changing as consumers become increasingly conscious of nutrition, calorie intake and the quality of what they eat. Yet, while the market has seen a proliferation of protein powders, bars, snacks and supplements, convenient protein-rich options designed to form part of an everyday meal remain relatively limited.
Protein Pantry is seeking to bridge India’s everyday protein gap by making vegetarian protein more accessible, convenient and meal-friendly. In this conversation with BW Retail World, co-founders Disha Bhattacharya and Prashanth Bhushan discuss the consumer insights that shaped the brand, the limitations of India’s protein market, the importance of taste, affordability and trust, and how changing preferences around calories and sugar are influencing the category.
What was the consumer insight or market gap that led you to build Protein Pantry, and how has the core proposition evolved since launch?
Our starting point was quite structured. I come from a food and marketing background, so before we built anything, I spoke to around 200 consumers across different socio-economic groups and life stages to understand where the gap actually was.
There are plenty of protein products in the market, and yet people consistently told us that they were struggling to meet their protein needs.
Two insights emerged, and they became the bedrock of Protein Pantry. The first was that vegetarians have limited options. The protein sources most vegetarians have grown up with, particularly paneer and soya chunks, come with concerns around quality and consistency. While organised players have entered the paneer market, the range is still narrow.
Soya chunks, meanwhile, are not something people particularly enjoy eating. Tofu and similar products have also not become part of the everyday Indian diet. So, for many vegetarians, the feeling is that their protein options run out very quickly.
The second insight was that India has very few instant or ready-to-cook protein products. Outside India, there are plenty of options across vegetarian, vegan and non-vegetarian categories that you can take out of the freezer, cook in a pan and turn into a meal.
Here, the protein category is largely made up of powders, supplements or snack formats such as chips, cookies, ice creams and chocolate bars with protein added to them. They may be high in protein, but they can also carry a significant calorie load, so whether they are actually healthy becomes a fair question.
None of that solves the core problem, which is how to make everyday meals simpler and higher in protein. Anyone trying to eat better is trying to improve their meals, not add more snacks.
That thesis has not changed. What changes is which part of it we lead with, depending on the consumer we are speaking to. Making vegetarian protein more accessible, easier to cook and hygienically made is still what we are building towards.
How are you positioned in India’s increasingly crowded health, nutrition and functional food market? What makes Protein Pantry stand apart from the protein bars and powders already out there?
There are two key differentiators. The first is what you pointed out. The category is crowded, but it is crowded with supplements, bars, snacks and cookies. None of those are food that you can put on a plate and call a meal.
Dal, roti and protein chips is not a plate any of us have grown up eating. The existing options therefore do not address the real pain point, which is that cooking healthy food is hard, and cooking it every day is even harder. Building a healthy habit is not something you do once or twice a week. It has to be consistent, and there is very little in the market actually helping people cook healthy food.
That is what we are solving for. We are not a snack. You can eat our products as a snack, but they are built for main meals.
The second differentiator is pricing. Our cost per gram of protein is more competitive than that of a protein bar, so consumers get better value.
To extend that point, commodity prices are rising across the protein market, whether it is whey, concentrates, supplements or eggs. That has pushed the cost per gram of protein from supplements to levels that can be difficult to justify. That is a significant differentiator for us.
Protein is not a supplement; it is food. India is a country of foodies. When we speak to consumers, most would rather get their protein from their meals than add a supplement on top. Supplements can be expensive and are not always enjoyable to eat.
We believe protein belongs on the everyday plate, and we have formulated the range to fit into that.
Another issue is the calorie load of some products in the market. A typical protein bar may deliver around 20g of protein with 360 calories. For many consumers, 360 calories is effectively a meal in itself. What happens in practice is that people eat their 400-calorie meal and then add the bar on top. For anyone who is not burning a thousand calories a day in the gym, that does not necessarily add up.
Our products are designed to sit inside the meal instead. If you are eating three rotis, a sabzi and a dal, for example, you can replace one roti with four of our cutlets and significantly increase the protein content without simply adding another eating occasion.
Building a nutrition-led brand requires balancing taste, health benefits, affordability and, above all, consumer trust. How has Protein Pantry approached these while developing its portfolio?
Taste comes first. India is a foodie country, and taste ultimately prevails. That is where my training as a chef comes in.
I graduated as a chef and worked with some of the most prestigious hotel groups in India. That understanding of food and flavour has helped us protect the taste and flavour integrity of our products.
On nutrition, we worked with senior consultants who helped us establish guardrails and define the nutritional benchmarks we should be formulating towards.
We spent more than a year developing the products, and that reflects the level of R&D behind the range. On trust, there is a real trust deficit when it comes to food. That is why we own our manufacturing. We do not outsource a single thing.
Our sauces, marinades and the chaap itself are all made in our own factory. This gives us complete control over the product and the process, and allows us to maintain our quality standards.
How has consumer behaviour around protein and everyday nutrition changed since Protein Pantry launched, and how has the brand adapted its products and communication accordingly?
We launched around six or seven months ago, but the R&D and early work on Protein Pantry began in late 2024. The shift in consumer awareness since then has been remarkable.
When we started, calories were not a major consideration and we were not certain they would become one. Today, they clearly are.
People are actively looking for low-calorie options. They understand not only what protein is and how much they need, but also that their protein intake has to fit within a certain calorie budget.
That is a fundamental shift, and it is why lean protein has become the answer. We had not originally planned to put calories on the front of the pack. Today, they are on the front of every pack and are listed upfront on our website for every product.
Another change is that people have become much more open to new flavours and combinations. We never expected people to eat soya chaap for breakfast, but they do.
There is a third shift as well. In late 2024 and early 2025, consumers were still open to sweeter protein formats, whether that was a bar, muesli or granola.
What we are seeing now is that consumers who are health-conscious and protein-aware also want to reduce their sugar intake.
That has been a strong tailwind for us because our entire range is savoury. People are increasingly leaning towards savoury protein formats over sweet ones.
What is the larger vision for Protein Pantry over the next three to five years? Are you looking at expanding categories, strengthening distribution, entering new markets or building a broader nutrition ecosystem?
Yes to all of it. But the core idea is to build a brand that creates more vegetarian-forward protein options that are hygienically made and easy to use.
Ease covers two things. The first is reducing friction in the decision itself. Can I eat this? Can I trust it? Trust matters enormously, which is why we invest so heavily in our manufacturing and quality capabilities.
The second is making protein easier to cook. That means making it more delicious, more accessible in terms of price and literally easier to prepare. Microwave it, air-fry it, toss it in a pan, and the meal is done.
You should not have to be both a chef and a nutritionist to live healthier.
That is ultimately what we want Protein Pantry to solve for: making better, protein-rich everyday meals convenient, accessible and enjoyable enough to become a habit.
