Startup Originals Team
In 2018, brothers Akash Agrawalla and Ashish Agrawal from Raipur set out to reshape India’s spice industry. They launched Zoff Foods, a “pure masala” brand that combined hygienic processing with innovative zip-lock packaging. Over time, they shook up legacy players like Everest and Catch, and in FY24, the brand clocked ₹92.66 crore in revenue.
How the Journey Began:
- The Agrawalla/Agrawal brothers hail from a family that ran a steel business. After getting MBAs (from IIPM, New Delhi), they took over the family operations but soon pivoted their business direction.
- They observed key challenges in the spice sector: adulteration, heat damage in grinding, and lack of consistency. They decided to address these by launching a brand that emphasizes purity, automation, and trust.
What Makes Zoff Foods Different:
- Cool grinding & no-human-touch processing: To preserve aroma, nutrients, and flavor, Zoff uses air-cooled grinding and highly automated processes.
- Zip-lock packaging: When Zoff launched zip-lock packs for its spices, it broke away from conventional packaging in the market. This allowed better freshness, resealability, and user convenience.
- They focused on quality assurance and transparency, sourcing raw materials from reputed vendors, strict testing, and opening their processing unit for visits to build trust.
Growth, Challenges & Scaling:
- Zoff bootstrapped its beginnings, investing in a fully automated spice plant in Raipur. The brothers mention an investment of about ₹25 crore to build the facility.
- Later, they raised ₹40 crore in Series A led by JM Financial, to expand supply chains and new product categories.
- Penetrating a market dominated by heavyweights was hard. To build their brand, they offered attractive trade margins to retailers, used influencer campaigns, and introduced trial packs to overcome consumer hesitation.
- Talent acquisition was also a challenge. Convincing skilled professionals to move to Raipur and building a quality team in a Tier-II city required offering clear career paths and relocation support.
Revenues & Product Expansion:
- Their financial trajectory:
- FY21: ₹25.79 crore
- FY22: ₹58.18 crore
- FY23: ₹53.88 crore
- FY24: ₹92.66 crore
- In FY25 (unaudited), Zoff claims it crossed ₹100 crore in revenue.
- Going forward, they’re targeting ₹170–180 crore in FY26 by expanding into new geographies and deepening retail reach.
- Product portfolio has grown: whole spices, powdered spices, dry fruits, seasoning mixes, and ready-to-cook gravies and marinades.
What Lies Ahead:
- Strengthening the omni-channel presence, general trade (kiranas), modern trade, quick commerce platforms, and D2C.
- Further investments in low-temperature processing, residual standards, traceability, and packaging innovations to match global standards.
- Maintaining brand identity and consumer trust as they scale, especially against larger competitors who might ramp up similar features.
