Tag: Rohan Mirchandani

Business World

Deepika Padukone and Epigamia collaborate to create a range of Chocolate Spreads made from Ghee!

Apr 1, 2021 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Co-founder and CEO, #Deepika Padukone, #Epigamia, #Rohan Mirchandani

Mumbai, 31st March, 2021: Epigamia, Drums Food International’s flagship brand, and Deepika Padukone announced a fresh, preservative-free range of Chocolate Spreads made from Ghee. Deepika, a global movie star and strategic investor in Epigamia, wanted to create a product with her personal imprint. She challenged Epigamia to create one which married taste and health, and went on to craft this product from concept to market. The spread is available in two distinctive flavours – Chocolate Caramel and Dark Chocolate and Orange.

A healthier alternative to everyday spreads, this range replaces unhealthy fats with Omega-3 rich Ghee. The use of traditional and healthy ghee as a base for chocolate spreads makes it a guilt-free option compared to all other spreads.

The brains behind this range, Deepika Padukone said on the launch of the spread, “For as long as I can remember, Ghee has been a key ingredient in the food we eat. Not just for the way it tastes but also for its goodness. And who can deny being a chocolate lover?

So I challenged Epigamia to marry taste and health by bringing together two of my most favourite ingredients!

The journey of crafting these spreads has been absolutely incredible and reinforces my belief that taste and health can truly co-exist; without any compromise.”
Rohan Mirchandani, Co-Founder and CEO, Epigamia

Rohan Mirchandani, Co-Founder and CEO, Epigamia (Drums Food International), added, “At Epigamia, we believe in pushing boundaries. But Deepika really pushed us on this one. We hit several roadblocks while creating the perfect product for her and Epigamia. What you now know as Chocolate Spreads Made from Ghee, is the culmination of months of collaboration, ideation and innovation that’s been led by the amazing people, both from Epigamia and Deepika’s team!”

The unique flavours of chocolate with caramel and chocolate with a dash of orange are new to the Indian market. These flavours can be spread on anything from bread to idlis to parathas and are not restricted to any cuisine or recipe. Priced at Rs 350 and Rs 200 for a 250gm and 125gm packs respectively, these spreads can be purchased on craftedbydeepika.com as well as other e-commerce platforms.

Launched in June 2015, Epigamia currently available in 38 SKUs across Greek Yogurt, Artisanal Curd, Smoothies, Spreads Made from Ghee, a growing plant-based line containing Coconut Milk based Yogurt and Almond Milk. Available across approximately 14,000 touchpoints in 30 towns, including modern trade chains, e-commerce platforms, and numerous general trade retailers, the brand recently launched its Direct-to-Consumer online platform https://www.epigamia.com/

Business World

Epigamia partners with Shadowfax to offer agile D2C delivery across India

Mar 12, 2021 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Abhishek Bansal, #and CEO, #Co-Founder at Drums Food International, #Founder, #Rohan Mirchandani, #Shadowfax Technologies

Hyderabad, March 12, 2021: Shadowfax Technologies, the leading integrated 3PL services provider today announced signing up for exclusively managing the Dark Stores for Drums Food International – Epigamia’s newly launched ambient product line for its Ghee Spread and Almond Milk across 7000 + pin codes in India. Shadowfax has integrated its cutting-edge Warehouse.

Management and Last Mile delivery System with Epigamia’s demand management platform to help track customer orders real-time, which will ensure faster fulfilment and hence faster deliveries.

Shadowfax has expanded its warehousing space from 5 lakh square feet to 6 lakh square feet this month in response to increased demand from its customers. With the E2E Rapid service, Shadowfax will provide end to end logistics and warehousing along with express distribution for effective supply chain management, faster deliveries, flexibility with proximity to consumers, and real-time tracking of Epigamia products.

On the new acquisition, Abhishek Bansal, Founder, and CEO, Shadowfax Technologies, said, “Signing up Drum Foods is a big win for us as they are a recognized and loved brand in India. Our micro fulfillment centers or the Dark Stores, will enable faster deliveries along with our unique WMS which will help capture customer orders real time on the client website. We’ll be investing significantly in our WMS which will allow our clients to offer differentiated value offerings to their end customers. Further, we’ll also target on expanding our network to newer markets, in step with rising demand.”

Rohan Mirchandani, Co-Founder at Drums Food International said, “The onset of COVID prompted Indian shoppers to go online to shop and discover brands, while brands like us strengthened our online presence via D2C platforms. Though Epigamia is all about innovative offerings, our key focus has always been customer delight. We wanted to continue easing discoverability and maintain our presence in the lives of those who have already made Epigamia a habit.  That could only happen with a logistics partner who helps us deliver faster across India’s far corners. Along with Shadowfax, we will improve our existing customers’ experience and delight our new customers through faster, more reliable operations.”

With lockdown last year, many companies transformed their ordering platforms and strengthened their online distribution to reach their customers in the quickest possible time with faster deliveries be it a few hours, same day deliveries or next day deliveries –  the rise in this trend helped Shadowfax to sign-up with D2C clients across ecommerce, apparels, retail, consumer tech and offers their warehousing facilities to enable 2 models:

  1. Big box warehousing catering to clients who require pan India reach with space more than 10,000 sq ft
  2. Dark stores with same day and next day intra city deliveries with space requirements between 1,000 – 10,000 sq ft.
News

Epigamia launches Step-Up Initiative to provide access to food and water to migrant workers & village communities impacted by COVID-19 pandemic, with support from Danone Manifesto Ventures

Jan 14, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #and CEO, #Annapurna Movement, #CEO of Danone Manifesto Ventures, #co-Founder, #Epigamia, #Laurent Marcel, #Rohan Mirchandani, #Shievani Upadhyay Co-founder

Chennai: Epigamia has launched the Step-Up Program with a mission to provide food & water to communities impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Driven by a purpose to improve food & food systems within the country, Epigamia has set up many initiatives under this program, right from providing food to migrant workers, to improving access to water in villages around the country. Danone Manifesto Ventures, one of the investors in Epigamia, is supporting the Step-Up program through its global COVID-19 Relief Fund, which helps its investee companies across the world by supporting the latter’s community outreach programs to improve the lives of those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, among other initiatives.

Rohan Mirchandani, Co-Founder, and CEO, Epigamia, said, “The pandemic & subsequent impact on migrant workers in the cities got us going. We launched the Step-Up program in May 2020 and have donated and distributed over 7.5 lacs cups & bottles of yogurts. We have partnered with Danone Manifesto Ventures, who supported us for this initiative and provided some guidance on planning & execution. The Step-Up initiative is now a rallying cry in the organization with active participation from employees and our supply chain partners. Over 215 members of Epigamia’s team also stepped-up and donated a portion of their salary towards the distribution of cups”.

The first phase of the Step-Up program was completed in September through partners such as Robin Hood Army, Zomato Feeding India, Annapurna Movement, Rise Against Hunger, Akshaya Patra, and Goonj, to name a few. For the second phase, Epigamia is focusing on supporting rural communities across the country. Epigamia has partnered with Habitat for Humanity India to help improve access to safe drinking water, and help the communities through training and support for livelihood options including agricultural productivity.

“Since Day 1, Epigamia has been a very generous donor supporting Annapurna Movement’s on-ground food relief efforts. Through their Step-Up program, we could reach out to thousands of homeless children across Mumbai. These children who were only surviving on rice & dal meals finally had a chance to taste the extremely delicious & nutritional products from Epigamia! The smile on their faces has been priceless!” added Shievani Upadhyay Co-founder, Annapurna Movement.

Laurent Marcel, CEO of Danone Manifesto Ventures, said, “In 2020, we witnessed parts of the world suffer irrecoverable losses to their lives and livelihoods, and decided to support our portfolio companies’ initiatives to tackle unprecedented challenges through a dedicated COVID-19 Relief Fund. This led us to support Epigamia’s team and the frontline workers who fought the toughest of daily battles by aiding their financial, health, and safety initiatives. We are proud to assist Epigamia to fulfill their responsibility as a Corporate Citizen of the country in these challenging times”.

Danone Manifesto Ventures has also supported other projects led by Epigamia in the areas of People, Health, and Safety (focused on employment preservation by providing financial security and personal protective equipment) and Food Supply Continuity (ensuring frontline workers received hardship allowances). For this exceptional impact investment of approx. INR 5.23 crores in Epigamia made through its COVID-19 Relief Fund, which is outside of its usual investment activities, Danone Manifesto Ventures will be issued a special class of shares.

Launched in June 2015, Epigamia is currently available in 30 SKUs under Greek Yogurt, Artisanal Curd, Snack Pack, Mishti Doi, Smoothies, and Spreads – made with Ghee, Plant-based Coconut Milk Yogurt and Almond Milk. The brand retails across approximately 12,000 touchpoints in 25 towns, including modern trade chains like Reliance Fresh, Godrej Nature’s Basket, Future Group, Foodhall, Big Bazaar, and Hypercity; e-commerce platforms including Big Basket and Amazon; and numerous general trade retailers. Additionally, the brand recently launched its Direct-to-Consumer online platform available in Tier 1 and 2 cities in the country.