Can Good Monk Take On Pediasure & Horlicks With Its Sprinkle-First Strategy?
Amarpreet Singh Anand was living the corporate dream — working with global giants like Mondelez and Diageo, building brands and enjoying the lifestyle that came with it. But destiny had something else planned for him.
During the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, he decided to abandon his high-flying corporate career to take the entrepreneurial plunge. The trigger? His kids and their equation with nutrition.
“The pandemic made me realise how hard it was for my wife to get our sons to eat anything remotely healthy,” Anand, told Inc42.
However, the real turning point came when he discovered something far more alarming — his elder son’s body mass index (BMI) was so low that it placed him at risk of undernutrition and poor physical growth.
Like any concerned parent, Anand consulted doctors, but they all gave him the same diagnosis — poor nutrition.
This made him immerse himself in the topic of nutrition. To start with, he spoke with numerous families, doctors, nutritionists and brands, but to no avail.
At this very moment, he decided to take the matter into his own hands. In December 2022, Anand and his wife, Sahiba Kaur, launched Good Monk, a health and nutrition brand, to help kids overcome nutritional deficiencies.
Today, the D2C brand offers science-backed, easy-to-consume nutritional products such as multivitamins, probiotic mixes and fibre supplements, and specialised nutrition mixes tailored for different age groups and needs.
While many brands offer supplements and protein powders, Good Monk’s unique proposition is its nutritional sprinklers for kids and the elderly.
The company has raised over INR 25.5 Cr in total funding since its inception. Its key investors include Multiply Ventures, RPSG Capital, Thinkuvate, and Sharrp Ventures.
However, what’s interesting is that when Anand decided to quit his cushy job to start up, he did not have any product in hand.
While Anand’s journey began with concerns about his kids’ nutrition, he soon realised it was a struggle shared by countless other parents.
“Over 80% of urban children in India are deficient in key micronutrients — vitamins D, A, C, B12, iron, zinc, calcium, iodine, etc. It was quite alarming to find that upper-middle-class families were worse off, due to fast food, packaged diets, and poor eating habits,” the founder said.
The findings broke his heart. Therefore, he took a break from his job to study the market gaps. During this time, Anand realised that most existing brands and solutions in the market simply didn’t work.
“They were either medicinal in nature, too heavy on the stomach or simply bad in taste,” Anand said, adding that he consulted several doctors and nutritionists and tried every brand they recommended.
The cofounder duo said that while the market was laden with brands like Pediasure, Bournvita, Horlicks, and Zingovit, none proved practical.
“Some were high in sugar and too filling, others had a strong medicinal aftertaste. Even gummies lacked portion control, as kids eat them like candies, making dosage difficult to manage.”
The founder duo kept groping in the dark until a parent wished for something that could enhance the nutritional value of meals.
“I wish there was something I could just mix into my kids’ food without them even knowing,” Anand recalled a mother as saying.
This proved to be the eureka moment for the founders. “Why not create something exactly that?” they thought.
However, having the idea was the easy part. The real challenge was the execution.
With little knowledge of the product offering, Anand registered a company under the name Superfoods Village.
He connected with experts who could mentor and guide him through the process. In April 2022, he found out that a near-namesake, Superfoods Valley, existed in the US. So, they started looking for a new name, paving the way for Good Monk.
With the name in place, it was now time for Anand to have a product in the Good Monk stable. Therefore, he reached out to industry veterans — people who had led nutrition divisions at major multinationals, worked with government bodies, and had decades of experience. Good Monk’s first hire was a senior nutritionist from Dabur and Nestlé. Soon, his wife joined as a cofounder and the duo built a team of six experts.
Once the initial team was ready, they decided to work on the product.
“I wanted to develop a low-calorie product that is free from artificial taste or additives, and most importantly, easy to mix into any food, whether it’s dal, curd, noodles, or sabzi, without kids noticing,” Anand said.
The vision was simple — to eliminate nutritional battles at the dining table.
To make that happen, the founders partnered with an external development lab, and they decided to invest INR 1 Cr.
After months of R&D, countless iterations and setbacks, they developed a formulation, but it was easy to detect. Instead of compromising, they went back to the drawing board, spent six more months and finally launched a new formulation in January 2023.
Anand sold more than 50 boxes on the debut day. “The early feedback was incredibly heartening,” he said.
What surprised them was how their product resonated with not only kids, but also adults. Parents started buying it for their elderly family members, especially those suffering from diabetes or digestive issues.
Unlike typical mixes that need to be dissolved in liquids, Good Monk’s nutritional sprinklers can be conveniently added to everyday meals without changing the taste or texture. This makes it easier for parents to ensure consistent nutrition, especially for picky eaters.
The brand also offers probiotics and fibre-based products for those who face gut health issues with protein or heavy products.
All its products are developed in-house by a seasoned team that is guided by a scientific advisory council. The brand drives 65% of its sales through its own website, 30% via marketplaces and quick commerce, and the remaining through 50+ modern retail stores across Bengaluru.
After building the brand, one of the biggest challenges that the founders faced was gaining trust. Just four months after their launch, they initiated clinical trials — a move most brands consider after spending decades in the market.
With monthly sales of nearly INR 3 Lakh, Anand decided to spend INR 35-40 Lakh on conducting clinical studies.
They ran a blood-test-based and questionnaire-backed trial with 72 participants in Bengaluru. “The results were incredible, micronutrient levels improved significantly, anaemic women reached normal levels, Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D levels shot up, and participants reported higher energy, better immunity, and improved gut health,” Anand said. With the advisory council delighted, the team members felt confident that they had a clinically proven product. Today, all its products are clinically proven, FSSAI-approved, and go through rigorous safety and ingredient testing.
Another big validation came after the brand appeared on Shark Tank in March. “We’ve grown more than 2X since. The exposure significantly boosted awareness and credibility for the brand,” said the founder.
On the financial front, the brand’s revenue grew 5X from INR 99 Lakh in FY24 to approximately INR 4.9 Cr in FY25. During the same period, its user base also expanded from just 16,000 to over 1 Lakh, with a customer retention rate of 51%.
Going forward, the brand is targeting another 5X growth in revenue. It plans to double down on quick commerce as a key channel and expand its overall presence across markets.
Operating across three core verticals, including add-to-food, water, and milk, the brand remains focussed on deepening its presence in the sprinkle format category. The founder believes this innovative yet simple approach could fundamentally redefine daily nutrition for Indian households by making it effortless and consistent.
While Good Monk may have enjoyed a first-mover advantage with its clinically validated, clean-label nutrition sprinklers, the nutraceutical space is heating up fast. A growing number of players such as FeedSmart, Bhava Earth, and Little Joys are in the market with their own kid-friendly nutrition formats.
At the same time, legacy giants like Pediasure, Horlicks, and Bournvita continue to dominate shelves with strong distribution and deep-rooted brand equity. With over dozens of brands entering the segment annually, it’s only a matter of time before more players begin exploring similar solutions. Can Good Monk defend its lead position in the nutrition race?
[Edited by Shishir Parasher]
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