Eatopia
Considering our chaotic and hustling lifestyles, people have now understood the necessity of making healthy choices when it comes to food. But when snacking is considered, we often fall for products that are not only filled with unwanted preservatives, flavours, colours & other chemicals but also have negligible health benefits. Knowing the ardent importance of making snacking a healthy and delightful experience for everyone, Eatopia has taken the essential plunge. Founded in 2021, the brand stands strong on the pillar of ‘No Evil At All’ and offers healthy, nutritious, indulgent, and convenient meal and snack options that are high in quality.
Their products are free from refined sugar, preservatives, and additives, and are packed with 100% natural & wholesome ingredients. What makes the brand stand apart is that its products are only made with superfood ingredients, to ensure that people don’t compromise on health amidst busy lifestyles. The products are as natural as nature intended them to be without compromising the quality of the food. Eatopia has etched a mark of excellence with its magnificent line of products and fearlessly declares all its ingredients used so that consumers are completely aware of what they’re consuming. The brand is on a mission to curate sustainable, nutritious, preservative-free, and cost-effective snacks and spreads that support an enriching lifestyle.
To know about the brand’s inception tale, driving force, work values and ethos, and aspects of its work culture, we had the privilege of interacting with Mr. Jacob George- CEO and Co-Founder of Eatopia Foods. The industry-maven holds more than 15 years of experience in the food industry; Mr. Jacob George has taken Eatopia to commendable heights of success under the guidance of his dynamic leadership. The seasoned entrepreneur shared many pivotal nuggets about the company’s entire journey so far and also shared insights from the brand’s plans aligned for the future. We knew that the conversation will surely add immense value to the lives of our global readership panel and hence we took the opportunity of featuring Eatopia Foods under the exclusive segment of “Most Trusted Brands of the Year 2023”.
The Inception Story
Mcgill Foods branched out as an FMCG arm of Macworld, a Malaysian-based B2B company. The sole purpose of framing a new identity as Mcgill Foods was to disrupt the Indian market with a range of clean and healthy food products. Thus, was born ‘Eatopia’– the brainchild of Mcgill with a vision to bring forth healthy foods with a purpose. This young brand has a team with expertise that spans decades in the FMCG domain. Understanding the lacuna of healthy foods in the Indian market was brand’s biggest motivation. The aim was to spread awareness about healthy food lifestyle, one which does not compromise on taste and offers superlative health at the same time. The team imagined a world of food excellence, where only the best ingredients came together in perfect combinations to become packaged superfoods.
Creating Breakthroughs Amidst Challenges
Eatopia encountered a lack of awareness in its target audience around the concept of superfoods and snacks being healthy. Since its inception, the brand is continually working on building awareness around the importance of superfoods in daily life, the nutritional benefits of foods without refined sugar, and busting the myth around “healthy snacks are boring and not tasty”. The brand is also leveraging different channels like digital media, on-ground events, influencer marketing, etc to identify and reach the right audience.
Mr. Jacob George also quotes, “Back in the simpler days, there was a less-acknowledged need to identify food as unhealthy. Snacks and meals were nutritious preparations of locally sourced and fresh ingredients made with a lot of love by our mothers and grandmothers. Fast-forward to now there is a dearth of healthy snack options. Unfortunately, brands that offer tasty snacks compromised on the health and nutrition aspect of the food, and those that promised health came with high prices making it a difficult choice to inculcate. Also, in today’s fast-paced lifestyle and double-income household, time is of the essence.
Thus, we started Eatopia with a mission to create a world of healthy, fun-sized, delicious, and super nutritious packaged foods, made from only natural and superfood ingredients. Our founding pillars are making wholesome indulgence affordable for all and ‘No Evil At All’. Our products are specially curated with superfoods like honey, fruits, berries, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. They contain no refined sugar, fillers, added artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, or artificial sweeteners, and do not burn a hole in the pocket.”
High Focus on Building Impeccable Realms of Trust
The consumer goods market is saturated with brands claiming to offer healthy snacks. Consumers are caught in a dilemma of trust and confusion. Consumers know they want healthy snacks, but lack the awareness and ability to choose one. Eatopia identified this lacuna and worked its way to educate its target audience. The campaigns and marketing initiatives were designed on differentiating between healthy and evil ingredients. As Eatopia uses indigenous ingredients and superfoods, the team also organized seminars and meet-ups to educate consumers on their benefits.
The brand steered away from whitewashing and presented facts just as they were. Eatopia’s product labels proudly and transparently declare all the ingredients without any hidden disclaimers. Through its various channels of consumer reach, the team emphasized reading the ingredient labels and identifying what’s good from evil. The brand significantly believes that a well-aware consumer always makes the right choice and builds trust based on transparency. Hence, Eatopia forged trust amongst its audience by establishing transparency and educating them to make informed decisions.
Making the Disruption with its Unparalleled USPs
Eatopia follows a combination of B2B and B2C models. However, in today’s rapidly changing and fast-growing times, the brand is very agile. Since its inception, the team has witnessed several changes and adaptability to its business model based on external changes. However, the brand has always positioned its target audience and its demands at the core. The consumers demanded refined sugar-free and healthy products at pocket-friendly prices. Eatopia tapped on this insight and designed products with 0% refined sugar, made from natural superfood ingredients while keeping the cost-effectiveness intact.
Robust Marketing Initiatives
When it comes to strengthening the marketing perspective, Eatopia has implemented strategies like Performance Marketing, Digital Marketing, Influencer Marketing, Participating In Events, Sampling Activities In-Store, Content Marketing, SEO, Press Releases, Collaborating With Brands, Remarketing & Retargeting Campaigns, and WhatsApp Marketing.
Gearing up for the Future
Eatopia firmly asserts that prioritizing one’s health and well-being can be made easy and fun by choosing healthy foods. The brand is diligently working to provide its consumers with enticing and healthful snacking options. The team strives to motivate people to take a conscious step towards healthy living by choosing the right snack options and inculcating the right ingredients. Eatopia is actively working on different snack formats, both sweet and savory versions. The team’s primary focus is on integrating superfoods in their products, in as many ways as possible to create a wholesome snack for our consumers. Down the line after five years, the CEO and Co-Founder, Mr. Jacob George manifests to have a broader, loyal and ever-growing customer base satisfied with Eatopia’s 100 % natural products. It is the team’s supreme wish to see a pack of Eatopia in every household. Apart from that, Mr Abraham Thomas (Chairman) & Co-Founder Sachin Eapen – the experienced leaders within their respective disciplines collaborate to protect and grow McGill’s business success and shareholder value.
Exhibiting such remarkable persistence and combined efforts in bringing a dynamic drift in people’s mindset about healthy snacking, Prime Insights believes that Eatopia will surely become a market disruptor in the industry with its line of inclusive products.
Sterling Achievements and Recognitions
Eatopia was quite clear with its vision of preserving the joy of eating people’s favorite childhood snack without compromising on their health needs. Hence, the brand replaced refined sugar with pure honey to become the first brand in India to serve “Honey Jam”. This game-changing innovation disrupted the market and is Eatopia’s No.1 Hero Selling Product. While the honey market has existed for decades, there was never a categorization of Kids and Honey. Eatopia is the first brand to launch kid’s honey which typically is nectar collected by stingless bees (little bees) and as scriptures have it, it is dense in nutrition.
Eatopia’s Honey Jam success story has been captured by many press articles as well. The list of other awards includes-
- Gulfood Food 2023 for “Most Innovative Products” under the Best Sauces, Condiments, and Preserve Category
- Top Most Food Brands Award in 2022” from The Asia Food Congress & Awards
- Top 10 packaged food startups in 2022 by Industry Outlook.
Words of Wisdom for the Readers
As the fascinating read comes to an end, we asked Mr. Jacob George to kindly quote some words for our readers and motivate them to keep thriving for their dreams. The dignitary proceeded by quoting, “Working towards your goal with perseverance and hard work eventually reaps success, and sometimes, taking that leap of faith is a success in itself. Also, as young entrepreneurs, failures are inevitable but taking each failure as a lesson can make you grow faster in your entrepreneurial journey. To truly find the spark of your potential you need to come out of the shell, light that spark, and brighten the world.”