When Lisa Suwal visited her father’s family-owned sausage and meat factory as a child, she was awestruck by the long and detailed business processes followed on the shop floor. “Your product should be something you enjoy yourself; otherwise, there is no chance your customer will do so,” her father explained. Those words have stayed with her since then and are now part of the legacy that guides her as CEO of Prasuma, the ready-to-eat momos brand that she launched in 2019.
Prasuma’s momos have disrupted the ready-to-eat market that was saturated with fried snacks. Prasuma’s USP: authenticity and fresh varieties of chicken, prawn, mutton and vegetarian fillings, tried at several tasting sessions and made in its own facility. The price range, positioned between home delivery and a roadside cart, is ₹150 for a 10-piece pack of vegetable momos and ₹395 for 24 pieces of pork momos.
Frozen food is a $1.1 billion market. It is expected to grow to $3 billion in three-four years. “It is hardly niche anymore,” says Lisa. Still, there are challenges — shortage of storage and transportation infrastructure, limited freezer space and retailers’ hesitation in accepting a new brand, to name a few.
The secret of Prasuma momos is consistency in taste and its packaging, transportation and storage processes that have kept it ahead of the curve. Apart from this, latest freezing technology maintains absolute temperature control and nutrition level, the two important aspects for preserving taste and freshness. “It is the first guilt-free comfort food with teeming varieties of options to cook,” says Lisa.
Eventually, Prasuma aspires to be wherever customers are. It also sells direct to consumer. Upbeat about presence in Nature’s Basket, Walmart, Bigbasket, DMART and Reliance sales channels and 30% month-on-month increase in sales, Lisa says, “We are closer to reaching a million potential customers.”
As a second-generation leader in the family business, Lisa understands that sustainability is the key to spearheading the brand which has strong roots and generations of employees. Though boot-strapped with family funds, “we are a capital-efficient company,” says Lisa, adding that there is a lot of room for innovation to redefine the frozen food category. With the brand growing to 5,000 stores in 40-70 cities, Lisa is busy mapping Prasuma’s upcoming product categories along with expansion to 200 cities by the end of next year. — Vijayalakshmi Sridhar