The slide features the title "Shark Tank India Case Study – Spice Story," highlighting a business venture from the popular show. Its subtitle describes the brand's mission of bringing authentic Indian street-food flavors directly to homes.

Shark Tank India Case Study – Spice Story

Bringing Authentic Indian Street-Food Flavours to Homes

Source: Indian street-food stall blur, warm orange tones, chutney bowls, modern minimal overlay

--- Speaker Notes: Spice Story isn’t just a chutney brand — it’s about bottling India’s nostalgia. The founders wanted to make desi swad convenient, modern, and globally available. We’ll explore their journey, mission, challenges, and how they impressed the Sharks.

Spice Story is an Indian FMCG brand that specializes in bottled chutneys, drawing inspiration from diverse flavors across cities like Delhi, Agra, Indore, and Chennai. The brand is widely available on online platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, Swiggy Instamart, and BigBasket, while also being distributed in over 1,700 offline stores nationwide.

About Spice Story

• Indian FMCG brand specializing in bottled chutneys

• Inspired by flavors from Delhi, Agra, Indore, Chennai, and more

• Available on Amazon, Flipkart, Swiggy Instamart, BigBasket

• Distributed in over 1,700 offline stores nationwide

--- Speaker Notes: Every Indian dish has its signature chutney. Spice Story captures these authentic tastes in hygienic, modern packaging. Their mission: “Taking Desi Flavours Global.”

The slide introduces the founders of Spice Story and their motivations, highlighting Soumyadeep Mukherjee's 21 years of expertise in FMCG, business, and distribution to identify market gaps for packaged desi chutneys, alongside Gayatri's skills in branding and marketing to give authentic Indian flavors a modern appeal. On the culinary side, renowned chef Vibhor focuses on innovating and perfecting regional flavors to ensure authenticity in every bottle of their chutneys.

The Founders & Their Motivation

--- Speaker Notes: Soumyadeep found a huge market gap — modern kitchens lacked desi chutneys in packaged form. Together with Gayatri and Chef Vibhor, they built a brand rooted in culture and taste.

Indian households cherish chutneys but find their preparation too time-consuming. Hygienic packaged options are scarce, with supermarket shelves dominated by international sauces instead.

Problem Identification

• Indian homes love chutneys, but preparation takes too much time.

• Hygienic packaged chutneys are not readily available.

• International sauces dominate supermarket shelves.

--- Speaker Notes: Despite demand, no one had packaged desi chutneys like ketchup or mayo. Spice Story aimed to fill this convenience gap.

The timeline slide outlines the origin of a brand focused on modernizing authentic Indian chutneys under the vision "Desi Swad in Modern Style," starting with the founding in 2019 and early recipe experiments that initially struggled to capture regional flavors. Progress continued in 2020 with Chef Vibhor joining to refine recipes, culminating in 2021 with the finalization of authentic formulations using traditional methods and genuine ingredients.

Idea & Origin Story

2019: Founding Vision Established Launched with 'Desi Swad in Modern Style' to modernize authentic Indian chutneys. 2019: Early Recipe Experiments Initial attempts at creating chutneys failed to capture true regional flavors. 2020: Chef Vibhor Joins Team Culinary expert onboarded to refine and authenticate the chutney recipes. 2021: Authentic Recipes Finalized Each chutney developed using genuine regional ingredients and traditional methods.

--- Speaker Notes: Their first recipes lacked authenticity. Chef Vibhor rebuilt them using real local ingredients. Eventually, even the Sharks were impressed during tasting!

This slide highlights the unique selling points and features of authentic regional Indian chutneys, emphasizing their traditional flavors preserved without any preservatives or artificial additives for ultimate purity. It also showcases premium modern packaging for enhanced convenience and appeal, with products readily available both online and offline.

USP & Product Features

• Authentic regional Indian chutneys capture traditional flavors

• No preservatives or artificial flavors ensure purity

• Premium modern packaging enhances convenience and appeal

• Available both online and offline for easy access

--- Speaker Notes: Their USP = Authenticity + Convenience. It emotionally connects with Indian roots while looking modern and premium.

The slide highlights the company's market journey, showcasing sales growth from ₹1.5 Cr in 2019 to ₹4.1 Cr in 2022, which tripled revenue over three years, alongside an ambitious ₹9 Cr target for 2023. It also notes ₹4.7 Cr in investor funding and a wide distribution network spanning over 1,700 stores across 5 cities.

Market Journey & Achievements

• ₹1.5 Cr → ₹4.1 Cr: Sales Growth 2019-2022

Revenue tripled in three years

• ₹9 Cr: 2023 Target

Ambitious expansion goal

• ₹4.7 Cr: Funding Raised

Boost from investors

• 1,700+: Stores in 5 Cities

Wide distribution network

--- Speaker Notes: Their growth attracted investor confidence, reaching a ₹23 crore pre-money valuation.

The slide outlines key challenges in business operations, including high costs for marketing and sampling that strain budgets, as well as negative margins from heavy advertising. It also highlights disruptions from COVID-19 affecting retail sales and ongoing issues with cash flow and inventory management.

Challenges Faced

• High marketing and sampling costs strain budget

• COVID-19 disruptions impacted retail sales

• Cash flow and inventory management issues arise

• Negative margins result from heavy advertising

--- Speaker Notes: Quality wasn’t the problem — financial discipline was. Acquiring customers cost more than the revenue initially.

The slide's left column details the sharks' feedback, praising the exceptional taste, strong branding, and innovative concept while raising major concerns about the overly high valuation ask and weak financial controls that question scalability and profitability. The right column outlines the final deal, where Namita Thapar invested ₹70 lakh for 5% equity, yielding a post-money valuation of ₹14 crore and affirming the product's potential amid the issues.

Sharks’ Feedback & Deal

--- Speaker Notes: The Sharks rated the taste “10/10,” but questioned profitability. Namita saw potential and invested.

The slide's key learnings emphasize that a strong product alone doesn't ensure profits, highlighting the importance of execution, cash flow, transparency with investors, and blending authentic Indian ideas with modern execution for global success. It concludes with a thank you and a call to embrace desi innovation today.

Key Learnings & Takeaways

Good product ≠ guaranteed profits. Execution & cash flow matter. Authentic Indian ideas can go global. Investors value transparency. Desi Emotion + Modern Execution = Success.

Thank you! Let's embrace desi innovation today.

Source: Shark Tank India Case Study – Spice Story

--- Speaker Notes: Spice Story reminds us that strong cultural products can scale internationally — but only with proper financial management.