The food industry got very good at making meals last. It hasn’t been as good at making them taste good over time. Shelf-stable food is everywhere, which makes the brands that get it right stand out even more.
Indian food has been on shelves for years. Good Indian food? Less so.
When Ragoth Bala and his co-founders looked at existing Indian food options, the same issues kept coming up: high sodium, seed oils, and food that lost its flavor the longer it stayed on shelf.
Packaged Indian food had a reputation problem. And they decided to fix it.
Instead of changing the dishes themselves, they focused on how the food was made. The Cumin Club uses freeze-drying technology to preserve flavor, nutrition, and texture. The result is an Indian meal you can make in five minutes that still tastes like something worth eating.
Opportunities aren’t just about white space. They’re about problems you can solve. Customers weren’t clamoring for Indian food. But they were complaining. About high sodium levels, seed oils, and products that tasted worse the longer they sat on-shelf. You don’t need to create demand. You just need to fix what’s frustrating.
Word of mouth still works faster than ads. The Cumin Club didn’t start with paid marketing. It started with Facebook groups, WhatsApp threads, and referrals. “It takes two or three people to be convinced for the group to be convinced. That's how we got to the half a million traction,” Ragoth says.
Let your product prove itself. “Authentic” is an overused word, and a hard one to sell. People won’t believe it until they taste it. “Even if they can’t explain what’s different, they know when something tastes better,” says Ragoth. “The food is more nuanced and complex than what they're used to. And I don't think brands should be scared about that.”
Your earliest customer may not be your biggest one. The Cumin Club’s first customers were Indian expats. But the biggest? Suburban moms. “They’re more experimental with our products. They’re finding their own ways to create fusion dishes and making it their own. That’s a big market opportunity for us.”
Buyers and investors look for the same signals: trends and traction. Clean ingredients, no seed oils, better-for-you… these aren’t buzzwords. They’re signs a brand is paying attention to where food is headed. But trends alone don’t mean much. Velocity and repeat orders are what change the conversation.
The hardest part isn’t the hours. It’s the mental load. “I was prepared for the brutal hours, but I wasn’t prepared for the mental health side of things,” says Ragoth. Early on, every high and every low sent him on a roller coaster. But over time, he learned to navigate the ups and downs. The work may not get easier. But you get better at dealing with it.
Market insight → Consumers expect convenience. But shelf-stable versions come with tradeoffs: high sodium, additives, flat flavor. The brands that last don’t just make it easy. They make it worth eating.
Made to last. And made to eat.
If this/then fix that
A QA check for shelf-stable, ready-to-eat food
If it only tastes good because it’s salty → Then the dish isn’t holding up on its own. Hold the salt and test lower-temp cooking, shorter cook times, or alternative preservation (drying, freezing, batching post-cook) until it’s flavorful on its own.
If you’re using seed oils for mouthfeel or richness → Then you’re compensating for texture loss. Rework the base (ingredients, hydration, cook step) so oil isn’t doing all the work.
If the dish tastes flatter over time → Then shelf life is degrading flavor. Taste your product at 0, 3, and 6 months and adjust the cooking method, moisture control, and flavoring process.
If you still need to add other ingredients → Then it’s not really ready-to-eat. Rework the recipe so it’s good enough to eat on its own. No sauce or seasonings required.