However, convenience did not always mean the same freshness, flavour and familiarity associated with food prepared in India.
That observation eventually led to a larger question: why should authentic Indian flavour become difficult to experience once someone leaves India?
From a Travel Observation to a Larger Foodservice Challenge
The founders soon realised that the challenge extended beyond individual travellers. Indian cuisine has established a presence across international markets, with restaurants, hotels, catering businesses and foodservice operations serving Indian dishes in different parts of the world.
Yet preparing Indian food consistently can involve several operational challenges. Ingredient sourcing, preparation time, inventory management, wastage and access to skilled culinary professionals can all affect the final product.
For a professional kitchen, the question is not simply how to serve Indian food, but how to maintain consistency while making preparation more efficient.
This became the larger problem that the founders wanted to address.
Two Young Founders With a Global Vision
The second founder, Adwait, was also exploring the possibility of building something of his own. Both founders came from families with government backgrounds and did not have a traditional family-business ecosystem behind them.
They did not begin with years of experience in the food industry, an inherited business or an established manufacturing network. Instead, they started with curiosity, ambition and a willingness to learn.
Akanksha brought a background in design, basic cooking experience and a strong passion for food. Adwait began exploring the possibilities around chutneys and food products.
Their ideas gradually came together around an important insight: chutneys could be more than accompaniments. They could act as flavour foundations capable of transforming a wide range of Indian dishes.
Looking at Chutneys Differently
Green chutney, tamarind chutney and garlic chutney are deeply connected with the flavour identity of numerous Indian dishes. From snacks and chaats to kebabs, wraps and breads, these preparations can significantly influence the overall eating experience.
The founders began exploring whether these flavour components could be developed into convenient formats without losing the characteristics people associate with freshly prepared food.
The challenge was not simply to create something easy to store.
It was to create convenience without making the food feel like convenience food.
A Year of Research and Hundreds of Trials
Turning the idea into a viable product required extensive experimentation. The founders spent approximately a year researching food technology, ingredients, formulation and product development.
Hundreds of trials became part of the process.
Different formulations were tested. Ingredients were evaluated. Taste, consistency and preparation were repeatedly reviewed. Some experiments solved one problem while creating another.
The founders had to learn about food technology and manufacturing while simultaneously figuring out the business side of their venture.
One of the technologies they explored was lyophilization, or freeze-drying. The objective was to develop a dry format that could simplify storage and transportation while helping preserve important qualities of the food when prepared.
For the founders, technology was never intended to replace the food experience. Instead, it was a tool to address practical challenges around preparation, storage and distribution.
From Individual Travellers to Global Foodservice
As development progressed, the potential application of the products expanded.
The same challenges experienced by travellers could also affect hotels, restaurants, catering companies, airlines, cruise lines and other professional foodservice operations.
A product that could simplify preparation while helping deliver consistent Indian flavours could potentially support kitchens operating far from India.
This shifted the founders’ thinking from creating a conventional packaged-food product to developing a broader food-tech solution.
Building Chutneywaala From the Ground Up
The journey was not without uncertainty. Starting without a conventional business background meant that the founders had to learn through experimentation and experience.
There were financial pressures, failed trials, technical challenges and moments when the final product seemed distant from the original vision.
But each round of testing brought another lesson.
Eventually, the founders reached formulations and processes that aligned more closely with what they had initially imagined: products designed to offer convenience while retaining the flavour experience they were working to achieve.
That journey ultimately led to the launch of Chutneywaala.
Taking Indian Flavour Beyond Borders
Today, the ambition behind Chutneywaala extends beyond chutneys alone. The founders envision building a broader Indian food-tech platform capable of supporting the evolving needs of global foodservice.
Hotels, restaurants, QSRs, catering companies, airlines, cruise lines and institutional kitchens represent potential environments where simplified Indian food solutions could have practical applications.
The larger vision is rooted in a straightforward idea: Indian cuisine can travel globally without losing its connection to its culinary roots.
By combining Indian culinary traditions with food technology and operational thinking, Chutneywaala aims to make Indian flavours easier to prepare, serve and scale across different markets.
For two young founders who began with an observation during travel, the journey has evolved into an ambitious attempt to solve a much larger foodservice challenge.
The story of Chutneywaala is therefore not only about chutneys. It is about how a simple question, combined with experimentation and persistence, can become the foundation for a global food innovation journey.
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Website: https://cwglobalfoods.com/
