In his first job, Devang Shah turned around the fate of a textile manufacturing facility to a high efficiency, low-cost model. This facility was recognized on an international scale and he was interviewed by Stanford University for his work. He then went on to co-found a start-up in the education sector that facilitated internships for students all over the world. When things did not go as planned, he quit and joined his father’s textile business and churned out sales worth millions of dollars within a span of 14 months. While anyone else would have sat back and enjoyed this success, Devang decided it was time for him to pursue his dream. He went onto to do his MBA from Babson College, Franklin W.Olin Graduate School of Business. However, neither his great job nor his house by the river in Boston area could curb the entrepreneur in him. He moved back to Mumbai and founded Fabbox– your destination site for healthy snacking options.
Why a start-up on healthy snacking? “Being a foodie myself, I am often left in a dilemma when it comes to snacking. I found that very few options were available when came to healthy snacking. I had personally faced the perils of an unhealthy diet by gaining weight. I switched to a healthy lifestyle, lost a lot of weight and started looking out for healthy options. That is when I realized that there would be more people like me. Our target audience is people who have the thirst to switch to a healthy lifestyle, but cannot control themselves and reach out to a samosa. With our snack varieties, I want to make all the foodies out there happy, in fact, I want to make them super happy”.
When he was still in Boston, Devang came across a range of snack options that were healthy and tasty, which triggered the idea of Fabbox for him. He began researching the snack market in India and immediately noticed that there was a need for healthy snacks which were also tasty. He packed his bags and moved back to fill this void.
So what are the products that Fabbox offers? “You will find 5 categories of products on our site- Health bars, nuts, fruit chews, nutri mixes and cookies. The cookies are there more as an incentive. Eat healthy and we will reward you with a cookie!” Don’t we all need that- a small prize and a delicious one too? “We are very particular about our ingredients and make sure they are of the best quality. In fact, we source many of our nuts from California. Some of the fruits that go into making the dried fruit chews are sourced from Hong Kong or California. While the nuts and fruit chews serve as great munchies, the fruit chews are also added to cereals. Our nutri mixes are healthy combinations like the jowar flakes mix or the soya delight mix. We also offer health bars for a quick bite like cranberry bars or almond bars.”
Fabbox has a team of chefs lead by his friend Chef Parag Shah, who has been a part of this journey from its early days. While these chefs curate the Fabbox menu, the final decision of what stays on it is completely governed by customer feedback. “We track feedbacks and re-orders which have given us a good sense of what people would like to see in their snacks. We also don’t mind producing snacks that have a niche market. Even if a few of our customers like it a lot, we make small batches of those snacks just for them. We send out sample packs every once in a while for our customers to taste and give us a feedback about. It’s not a random procedure. We monitor feedback, and if a predetermined no. of our customers, plus our chef’s of course, give a thumbs up to the product it goes on our menu. We have monitored consumer feedback long enough to know that this is the magic number that gives us the right insight into a product.”
It seems like Fabbox has thought about everything that this journey could entail. That does not mean it was a cake-walk for Devang who had to do a lot of ground work before he could see the response that he is seeing today. “While there were many challenges, one of the first was finding the right chefs who understood Fabbox and its objectives. We give equal importance to health and taste, and it was imperative to find the team who shared this vision. ”
Despite all these hiccups, Devang is now on the track that he has hoped for with his venture. Customers having been sending in emails filled with appreciation for this concept. For e.g., Devang shares, how one customer from Bangalore wrote to him sharing his experience with their Honey Roasted Almonds. “He wrote to us about how he never ate almonds before this. But after tasting our Honey Roasted Almonds he says he eats them all the time. What is more humbling for me is when mother’s write to us about how their kids like our products. Instead of eating chips, they eat our snacks and this is a big relief for the parents. One customer even wrote to us about our Masala Makhana and how it reminded her of her grandmother. I really wanted create that impact with Fabbox and such responses make us want to do lot more.”
Fabbox also has a philanthropic mission through its snack boxes. For every box that you buy from them they serve one meal to an underprivileged child. “This is something that our whole team collectively believes in. In our meetings we always talked about how we should give back once we hit a certain target. But then we realized- why should we wait? In our own small way, we would like to make that difference today.” Definitely a thought worth sharing.
When I asked Devang for advice to all entrepreneurs in the making out there, he shared an interesting titbit about Fabbox. “I am not sure if I am at a position to give advice, but there is something that we have written in our kitchen and something that we strongly believe in. The sign in our kitchen says, “Unless a customer feels “wow” about your product, they need not have to pay for it.” We follow this motto. When someone writes back to us saying that they did not like a particular snack we give them a replacement for free. And yes, the feeling has to be wow”, Devang adds with a laugh, knowing that would have been my ensuing question.
What’s in store Fabbox in the future? “We will definitely keep giving people healthy and tasty snacks to looks forward to. But my ultimate goal with Fabbox is that I want 1 in every 4 desks in an office to have a Fabbox on it. I also want 1 in every 3 homes to have a Fabbox on their dining table.” An aim as precise, as everything else in Fabbox.
Stop by their website to get your dose of healthy snacks. Don’t forget to stop by their Facebook page to know what’s new in the world of healthy snacks.
Fabbox Quick Facts
Founder Devang Shah
Concept Healthy Snacks
Delivery Delivery across India
Website http://www.fabbox.in/
Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/fabbox.in/
Hot Now? Dried Blueberries
For Queries Call +919821596610
Images Courtesy Of Fabbox