After having seen success in Bengaluru, Vegolution’s Siddharth Ramasubramanian launches four variants of Hello Tempayy, a ready-to-cook brand of packaged Tempeh in Hyderabad
Protein is at the helm of the dietary world by virtue of its ability to foster muscle growth and become an integral part of the body’s evolution. In India, however, vegetarians are always victims of a protein-deficient diet in comparison to their non-vegetarian counterparts. Identifying this gap, Siddharth Ramasubramanian founded his Bengaluru-based venture, Vegolution in the year 2019. “Our venture was born out of a simple philosophy: to empower the huge vegetarian population with more protein choices and provide them something that is versatile in nature,” Siddharth says talking to Handi Talks. After careful deliberation, the Vegolution team introduced tempeh- made by fermenting soybeans, through their Hello Tempayy line in March 2021 in Bengaluru. Inspired by their initial success in the Garden City, the food start-up has recently stepped foot in Hyderabad.
Addressing the protein opportunity
With a desire to be a part of the restaurant business from a young age, Siddharth pursued post-graduation in Hospitality Management in the US. Since then, for the next two decades, he was part of the global hospitality and real estate industry. His desire to do something of his own brought him back to his motherland. He was quick to notice the opportunities the Indian food industry offered. Siddharth decided to launch Vegolution in 2019 to close the nutrition gap in the Indian vegetarian diet.
Ramasubramanian encountered tempeh for the first time in Europe when he ate it as part of an Indian dish. The new ingredient made him dig deeper and get to know it better. As he learnt more about it, he realised that tempeh could become an addition to the traditional options Indians vegetarians had. He first tried it at his home and everyone fell in love with it; that was when he chose to launch ‘Hello Tempayy’ into the Indian market. The launch he says has opened the ingredient to a huge audience. Some choose it because it is vegan. While others choose it because it gives them a protein-rich ingredient to cook various dishes with.
Hello Tempayy
Hello Tempayy offers ready-to-cook Tempeh currently available in four variants namely Natural, Tawa Masala, Szechuan Chilli and Simply Siracha. “We offer a clean ingredient and make it using Non-GMO soybeans, water and a fermentation culture. You can then cut it into cubes or slices. You can mince or mash it too. Being versatile in nature, tempeh can be used to make different dishes while delivering protein. The small air pockets present in it, absorb the flavours very well,” Siddharth says. All the ingredients used in the products are fully sourced from India, he adds. The product is up for grabs via online and will soon be available in supermarkets.
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Dishes made with Hello Tempayy
Observing that vegetarians and vegans are short of B12 and iron, Vegolution has fortified its products with the two nutrients. To ease the process of cooking, Vegolution provides a QR code on the Hello Tempay pack that when scanned gives consumers access to 14 recipes.
Next steps
Keeping the price affordable, Hello Tempayy aims to be accessible to the average Indian household. Currently available in Bengaluru and Hyderabad the company aims to expand further to other Indian cities. In addition to being a B2C brand, Hello Tempayy has entered the B2B segment by partnering with restaurants and fitness brands. Talking about his next steps Siddharth expresses his desire to launch more protein options and formats for vegetarians in search of protein options.
