FOR many Indian travellers, finding vegetarian food abroad can be a real challenge. Neha, a 38- year-old homemaker from Delhi, recalls,“Myhusbandwasalwaysstruggling to find reliable vegetarian food duringhisbusinesstripsabroad.There were timeswhenhewouldskipmeals justbecausehecouldn’tfindanything suitable to eat.” The searchfor convenient,healthy, and satisfying meals while travelling can often turn into a nightmare.With long flights and unfamiliarlocations, findingameal that is both nutritious and comforting is not simple. Whetherit’s students livingabroad, professionals on business trips, or even families away from home, the desire for a practical yet wholesome meal remains a difficult challenge.

 

Traditional ready-to-eat meals are often loaded with preservatives, artificialadditives,andsyntheticflavours, making them not only hard on the digestive system but also contributing to a range of health issues. Many people are on the lookout for a product that feels like home, a meal that provides comfort, is nutritious and does not compromise on taste. Amit and Shalu Murarka, a travelloving couple from Kolkata, often struggled to find vegetarian food options during their trips abroad. While they were on a journey to Switzerlandin2016,theycameacross the concept of dehydrated food. Amit recalls, “We saw someone travelling with a ready-to-eat soup packet. He simply added water and started eating.

 

He told us it was dehydrated food and he had been consuming it for almost four years.” Thisdiscoverysparkedanidea,leadingthemtocreateasolutionthatcombined convenience with nutrition. Birth of SpiceUpFoods:Delivering healthy and home-cooked meals Recognising the potential,the couple decided to turn their discovery into a solution that could help not onlythemselvesbutothersaswell.They set out to create Spice Up Foods, a brand focused on delivering preservative-free and home-cooked meals. Wonderinghowtheymakeallthispossible?Amit’sbackgroundasachartered financial analyst and Shalu’s experienceinorganisingcookeryworkshops laid the foundation for this unique venture. With their passion for food and an understanding of business, they realised there was a massive demand for healthy, ready-to-eat mealsthatdidn’trelyonpreservatives.

 

As Shalu tells, “We wanted to provide food that not only tasted like home but also maintained its quality and freshnessforalongtimewithoutcompromising on health.” While the idea of dehydrated food had been around for some time, the couple soon realised that the technique they wanted to use, freeze-drying, was a whole different ballgame. Unlike the conventional method of dehydration, freeze-drying removes moisture from food without compromising its structure, texture, or nutritional value. “It’s the same technique used to preserve food for astronauts, ensuring they have nutritious meals while travelling in space for extended periods,” explains Amit. The duo aims to bridge the gap between the convenience of readyto-eat meals and the need for nutritious home meals that don’t compromise on taste. They decided to create meals using only natural ingredients, the kind you would find in a home kitchen. Every product, from dalchawal to pav bhaji and schezwan fried rice, is carefully developed with the customer in mind.

 

Their journey began in 2018 with extensive research and development infreeze-dryingtechniques.Alongside Amit and Shalu, Amit’s sister, Madhu Goel, also became a part of the venture.By2020,SpiceUpFoodswasproducing small batches of their readyto-eat meals, initially sending them tofamilyandfriendsforfeedback.The keywasmaintainingthetasteandtexture of the meals after freeze-drying. “Each batch was tested for quality, with rigorous checks to ensure that the meals were preservative-free and would last for months without spoiling,” says Amit. Steps behind freeze-drying and its benefits The factor that differentiates Spice Up Foods in the ready-to-eat market is its use of freeze-drying technology. So how does it work? “The process begins with home cooks preparing meals using fresh ingredients, just like they would in their kitchens.

 

These meals are then brought to ourfacility and frozen at a very low temperature, around -40°C, which helps preserve the food’s texture and structure. After freezing, the food is placed in a vacuum chamber where the ice within the food sublimates (turns from solid directly into vapour). This process removes the moisturefromthefood,leavingbehind a light and dry product that can be rehydrated by simply adding hot water,” Shalu explains. The dehydration temperature is adjusted based on the consistency of the food. “For example, chutneys are dried at a much lower temperature than, say, dal or rajma. This control over the process ensures that each dishmaintainsthesametexture,taste, and nutritional value as it would if it were freshly cooked. As compared to traditional dehydration techniques, which can extract as much as 92 or 96 percent of the water content, freezedrying removes more than 99 percent of the water, so we decided to choose this technique,” she adds.

 

The duo spent approximately four years researching the optimal temperatures for the freeze-drying technique.Duringthisperiod,theyfocused solely on delivering within their local area and were not yet catering to a wideraudience.InApril2024,afterperfecting the consistency and taste and gainingvaluableinsightsfromnumerousroundsoffeedback,theylaunched a website to begin accepting orders across India. They also invested time and effort into sourcing the right freeze-drying technology to meet their specific needs. While it is not a new concept, particularly in industries like pharmaceuticals (wherepowderedantibiotics are prepared using freeze-dryingtechnology)andspacefood(where astronauts rely on it for long-term meals), it had never been customised for the ready-to-eat food category. Amitexplains,“WestartedresearchingintheIndianmarketforourfreezedrying machine after exploring various options in China. The machine we have is custom-made according to our requirements, specifically for our meals.”

 

The couple realised that the existing models for freeze-drying food were not tailored for the kind of ready-to-eat meals they wanted to create. To make this work,they had to work closely with the manufacturers of freeze-drying machines. “We had to ask the person who makes these machines to customise it based on our needs.Wegave himspecificmeasurements, temperature settings, tray sizes, and other precise details,” says Amit.Theco-foundersconnectedwith several suppliers for key components of the machine, including the drying chamber, vacuumpump, heat source, condenser, and trays. He continues, “We connected with around four or five different people for all the parts ofthemachine.Onceeverythingcame together, we had a freeze-drying machine built specifically for us, with all the right settings to preserve the quality of our food.” Helping homemakers become financially independent One of the key aspects of Spice Up Foods’successisitscollaborationwith homemakers. The couple, along with their co-founder Madhu, wanted to empower homemakers, especially those who were looking to make use oftheir culinary skillswhile alsoearninganincome.

 

As Amit shares,“When we started, we were cooking from our kitchen. My mother and Shalu would mostly prepare the meals. But soon, we realised that we couldn’t scale that way. That’s when we decided to bring in home cooks and help them turn their passion for cooking into a profitable business.” “Whenever we place a particular orderwithahomecook,wethoroughly inspecttheingredientsandvegetables before sendingittothem,” saysShalu. Once the food is prepared, it’s transferredintosteelcontainers, properly sealed, and transported to theirunitforfurtherprocessing. Home cooks with their own transport are encouraged to deliver meals directly to the unit.Ifnot,the team arranges pick-ups through Swiggy Genie or Porter. Amit says, “Our operations team manageseverythingfrompick-up to delivery. For larger quantities, like three kg of rajma, if the home cook doesn’t have suitable containers, we provide huge plastic boxes for them to fill and send back to us.” The startup offers two services to bring the warmth of homecooked meals to customers across India.

 

Thefirstfocusesonrecipe-driven meals, where home cooks follow detailed recipes to ensure consistency.Shaluexplains,“Wehaveworked hard to ensure that the recipes are consistent. We send our home cooks the recipe, and they must follow it step-by-step to ensure the right taste. Wealsoprovidemeasurementbeakers to make it easier for them to follow the quantities precisely.” The second service caters to familiesinKolkatawhowanttosendhomemade meals to children studying abroad. Amit shares, “We freeze-dry themeals sentby customers andpack them so their children can enjoy a taste of home even when they are far away. It’s a personal and heartfelt way for parents to look aftertheir children whenthey are separatedbydistance.” Both services follow strict quality checks. Before cooking, ingredients are verified for freshness, and meals arepreparedinsmallbatchestomaintainauthenticity.Shaluadds,“Wedon’t use any machinery in preparing the food. It’s all done by our home cooks, and once we are out of stock, we start production of the next batch.” Currently, the company works with around 10 home cooks who benefit from flexible hours, working from home, and a fair income. For homemakers like Alka, in her 50s, joining the startup has been lifechanging.Apassionatecook,shespent years honing her skills through workshops.

 

When her sons moved to Bengaluru forwork, she foundherself withfreetime.“JoiningSpiceUpFoods allowed me to channelmypassionfor cooking into something that not only broughtmeimmensesatisfactionbut alsogavemefinancialindependence,” she says. “For the first time,Ifound myself standing on my own feet as I could take care of my needs without asking for money.” More than just the financial stability, the work has given her a sense of purpose. Her husband, who always encouraged her to do something for herself, is proud of her achievements. “Hispride, combinedwithmyaccomplishments, hasmade the entire journey even more rewarding,” she adds. Servinghealthyanddeliciousmeals across India The startupoperateswiththehighest standardsofquality. It is FSSAIcertified, assuring that all food is preparedandpackagedaccordingtostrict food safety guidelines. Every batch of food is tested to guarantee there are no contaminants, and the company follows an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for every aspect of production.

 

The ingredients are sourced from trusted suppliers, and all meals arepackagedwithcaretoensurefreshness. Since launching its website in early 2024, Spice Up Foods has grown rapidly, earning Rs 30 lakh in revenue and serving over 15,000 meals across India and internationally. The meals, which range from Rs 180 to Rs 230, areavailableinsingle-servingtubs,and the company uses Blue Dart for domestic deliveries. For international deliveries, they connect their customers to DHL and Ship Global for shipment.