The Pros And Cons Of Covid-19

All said and done, the Covid-19 pandemic though devastating and cruel, has a silver lining to it. People have got the time for their personal growth, like never before. There has been an attitude of gratitude amongst people. People have realized that material things are not the most important things. Mental health improving in some ways – through yoga and meditation has happened. There has been less pollution compared to earlier and more time for leisure activities. People are visiting the hill stations and got into deep introspection. It has been life-changing for all of us. Social distancing got some people closer as they connected with technology. Looking within and connecting with their inner self, introverts were not too badly affected. Learning new things – online courses, baking, hobbies at home, gardening, reading, singing, dancing, exercising, painting, indoor games like Chess, Ludo. People are working on their wellness and weight loss and even though connecting more on an emotional level, they have become more independent.

Thinking about entrepreneurship and things at a business level it can be seen that the startups in the food industry have risen with mainly healthy eating as their ethos.

Arti Jain, Founder – Bakeart feels, “The Covid pandemic has brought into focus the need for enhanced immunity and a lifestyle that is beneficial to not just human beings but all sentient beings and the planet at large through a vegan lifestyle. To this end, Bakeart which functions from a fully vegan home-kitchen has continued to offer its patrons an entire range of food that is plant-based, organic as far as possible and free from added chemicals, preservatives and trans-fat. Bakeart also offers gluten-free, sugar-free, and oil-free food on request. The Bakeart focus is to showcase the best in quality vegan food that uses produce that is grown locally and organically without depending on traditional pastry ingredients that are animal derived and refined.”

Adding more meat to the bone, Sagar N Mehta, Founder & Partner, Vegandukan commented, “2020 has put questions to non-vegetarian food, unsustainable lifestyle that people were following for decades. People had started shifting to a Vegan and sustainable lifestyle during the pandemic and the recent scare of bird flu has added to this trend. We launched one of the biggest quantities of frozen and completely plant based mock meats on our website that replaces almost all forms of animal-based meats like chicken, mutton, salami, hot-dog sausages, fish, prawns and duck without altering the taste, and additionally spreading the message of no harm to animals. As the demand increased, we also came up with festive gifting category that included vegan products- sweets and chocolates made from nut milks, vegan ghee alternative, dry fruits, etc. We have witnessed a 50% hike in the demand of vegan products- especially mock meats and gifting category as people need alternative to satisfy their taste buds and fulfill their protein requirements while ensuring they don’t get sick.”

However, Aman Puri, Founder, Steadfast Nutrition added, “We are into premium sports and wellness nutrition offering organ friendly high-quality nutrition supplements to professional athletes and fitness enthusiasts. During the pandemic, people became more conscious about their immunity and the demand for immunity-boosting supplements to cope with the situation increased drastically. Acknowledging the demand, we focused on our wellness range and pre-launched a new product- HerbFizz. It was one of its kind product not only in terms of its composition but also the format- effervescent tablet. Each tablet contains the goodness of 9 -Neo-ancient herbs and probiotics to boost immunity. Effervescent form of tablet increases the bioavailability of nutrients and is easy to take, as you just need to add one tablet in water to consume. The demand for HerbFizz has been quite high across all sections of the society. We are a research based organisation and spend years before the launch a product, thus, HerbFizz was developed for increasing immunity and detox for stressful urban lifestyles. We launched it during the lockdown as we were receiving requests from our loyal customers for immunity boosters. Earlier our major customer base was from athlete clients but during the lockdown our customer base has shifted from athlete clients to wellness clients, which include general wellbeing seeking customers who are conscious about their health and immunity.”

Moving on “We at Blue Tribe foods want to help the meat consuming person to get the same taste and Better nutrition from plant based meat compared to traditional animal meat! , better for the consumer and much better for the planet.” said Sandeep Singh, CEO, Blue Tribe Foods

Adding to the quotes, “IN2 Nutrition, one of India's leading health & wellness startups were closely looking at consumer behavior within their industry and started seeing a trend shifting towards whole plant-based and dairy free diets across consumers living an active lifestyle. In order to fill the gap for a complete vegan protein shake we launched our first Vegan product IN2 Plant Protein followed by Plant Based effervescent tablets for vitamins and other functional requirements," said Pritam, Unlimited Nutrition

On the other hand, Gaurav Sharma, CEO, Greenest stated that, “With Greenest, we want to bring about a mammoth change in the way Indians consume protein and become the largest and most comprehensive portfolio of plant based meats in India.” Citing one of the most important things – “At Vegan First, we've been publishing on veganism in India and offering various solutions since 2016. Even though veganism in India is at its infancy, during the covid outbreak, we saw a growth spurt in enquiries for vegan foods, recipes, tips to transition on our platform. Several investors reached out to us with a keen interest in investing in plant-based and alternate protein startups during that time.” Palak Mehta, CEO, VeganFirst.com.

On a conclusive note we can say that the world has changed rapidly and so are people’s perspective towards themselves, others and life. It has been a very difficult time but we must see the glass half full.