TagZ Foods was founded in 2019, with the aim of healthy snacking options & leading a healthy life for GenZ & now is venturing into the overseas market.
When were you founded? What is the product/service you provide?
TagZ is an urban GenZ snack brand founded in 2019 that crafts innovative, lip-smacking, better-for-you, and planet-friendly snacking experiences.
We have 2 ranges of our Popped Potato Chips with 50% less fat that are the FITTEST potato chips out there!
One range of classic Indian flavors such as Masala, Cream Onion, and Salt and a range of premium Bar Snacks such as Beer N Barbeque, Italian Wine N Cheese, and Thai Vodka Tom Yum.
Along with this, we have 6 drool-worthy International Gourmet Dips and now premium Handcrafted Dark Chocolate CigarZ.
What is the company’s long and short-term vision? Where do you see your industry going in the next five years?
Our near-term plan is to build the largest premium better-for-you snacking brand across 4 categories – chips, dips, chocolates, and cookies.
Our long-term vision is to not only help our GenZ consumers snack fitter but also encourage them to lead a more active lifestyle.
We are deeply motivated to encourage our consumers to pursue their passions for travel, music, sports, and the outdoors. After all, life is a lot more than just being stuck behind electronic screens!
How did you get inspiration for the Company? How did you go about researching and validating the idea?
The light turned on when we recognized that India did not have any snack brand that focuses on teenagers and was both fit AND delicious!
Being the first popped potato chips brand in India, we spent an entire year developing the technology, building the infrastructure and expertise to make sure that our snacks were lip-smacking and guilt-free.
Is the company funded? If yes, how many rounds & how much funding?
We have raised around 1.5 million USD.
We had already raised 1 mn USD before Shark Tank itself.
Funds such as 9 Unicorns, Venture Catalysts, Agility Ventures, and Dexter Angels had invested in earlier rounds.
We also had a very successful round where customers directly invested in us through a CSOP which was oversubscribed by 756%.
How does the product work & What problems does it solve?
TagZ Foods focuses on superior tech-led innovation and a better consumer experience.
We fully understand the consumers’ need for taste-led snacking experiences while looking for better-for-you options.
Our goal is to provide customers with precisely this and various interesting and lip-smacking options.
What are your USP and innovation? How are you different from others?
TagZ is focused on crafting premium snacking experiences that are taste-first and better for you.
Our popped potato chips have 50% less fat, 50% less oil, No Trans Fat, No Cholesterol, No Gluten, No artificial flavours or preservatives. Our handcrafted chocolate cigarz is 55% dark and made from the finest cocoa from Ghana.
We also have 6 drool-worthy international gourmet dips. We are the only brand with a presence across indulgent categories such as the ones mentioned above across sweet and savory snacks.
What are some of your competitors & what advantage do you have over them? & Briefly explain your revenue model?
We have a lot of competitors in the snacking industry such as pringles, cornitos, Ferrero Rocher, Lindt, and wingreens farms, but, we are the only brand that ticks off the box in all of the following aspects:
- Product Innovation
- Taste
- Premium
- Better for you
- GenZ Positioning
- Affordable pricing
What difficulties did you encounter when you started the company & Were you impacted by the Covid outbreak?
As popped chips were a new category in India, we had to do all of the groundwork on our own.
Right from sourcing all of the raw materials, to the machinery, reaching out to vendors, developing the technology, ensuring the cost and margin are in line, there was a lot of research and leg work involved.
This spanned over a period of 11 months and was the most grueling but exciting phase. We launched our products just before covid in Feb 2020 and have scaled from strength to strength since then.
Current company size, work culture, Hiring Funda
TagZ Foods is a very lean team of only 19 young folks who have built this business thus far.
We are a small company filled with enthusiastic individuals who believe in the value of fairness and respect for each other.
We are highly motivated to build a capital-efficient business and want to leave the planet in a better state than we inherited.