In Conversation With Prathamesh Krisang, Co-founder and Chief of Growth of Magicleaf

1.Tell us about the company? How and when was the company conceived?

You can’t start with the story of Magicleaf, without talking about it’s parent company Arboreal. Where the real groundwork was laid about 7 years ago. In late 2014, my co-founder Swati Pandey and Manish Chauhan quit their high paying jobs in Singapore and London in Investment Banking and moved to India to do something about making Stevia mainstream in India. The magical ingredient that has become the sweetener of choice for almost 40% of Japan’s and Korea’s sweetener market. At the time Stevia could hardly be traced in India. So we had to start from establishing a stable supply chain for procuring the highest quality Stevia originating from India.

This journey began from finding the best region to grow stevia that grows high quality Stevia leaves. After 3 years of growing this plant across the country, we settled on in the Himalayan region to grow the miracle Stevia plant, also known as Meethi Tulsi.

Next we had to figure out an extraction process that uses zero chemicals. Almost all the international players in the industry were based in China and were using chemical based processes to extract and refine the sweetness from Stevia. So we had to develop our own indigenous technology. We spent 2 years developing a completely natural organic extraction process which does not use any kind of chemicals. But that was not enough.

Pure Stevia Extract is 300 times sweeter than Sugar. So the next challenge was to perfect the art and science of applying Stevia to different food products and then innovating products and recipes that people can use to replace sugar based products in their kitchens.

We did 10,000+ trials over a period of 5 years to achieve this and we have just started.

Eventually, in late 2019, we decided to bring our innovations to people at large and we decided to go the D2C route with Magicleaf. Our vision is to accelerate the transition to the Post Sugar World.

2. What is the idea behind this venture?

Added sugar has penetrated almost every aspect of our life. It is not easy to avoid sugar if you want to live a normal life. People have now become aware of harmful effects of added sugar. But the alternatives are not yet very accessible.

People who use chemical based No Sugar Tablets have also started realising that those too have harmful side effects. These sweetener tablets are made from chemicals like Sucralose, Aspartame, Maltitol, Maltodextrin and a dozen more that are chemically produced in labs.

Infact, Sucralose was originally invented to be a pesticide. And its use as a sweetener has been a result of mishearing instructions and a lot of lobbying.

Gastrointestinal problems like bloating, gas, diarrhea and nausea are allegedly linked with Sucralose consumption and Aspartame has a whole book dedicated to it called the “Aspartame Disease”, a term coined by MD H.J.Roberts, that has 1000 pages of information on the negative effects of ingesting Aspartame in one’s body.

So we decided to take up this challenge and accelerate the transition to a healthy Post Sugar World. To counter these 2 major forces of added sugar and harmful artificial sweeteners, we needed innovation across the entire supply chain.

To do that, we turned to the King Of All Sweeteners; Stevia Plant, also known as Meethi Tulsi in India. Stevia Leaf Extract is natural, it is about 300 times sweetener than Sugar, has Zero Calories and Zero Glycemic Index. Which means, you can eliminate 3870 sugar calories in 1 kg of sugar with Zero Calories just by replacing it with 3.3 gm of pure Stevia Leaf Extract.

We started on our journey to develop a range of technologies and innovations to come up with products that taste as good as sugar based products and are infinitely healthier.

3. How is Magicleaf adopting technology to bring efficiency in the processes?

Our mission at Magicleaf is to develop 100% natural, sweet tasting and Zero Sugar based alternative food products. And make them as widely available as sugar based products. We also make sure our products are safe for diabetics, children & elders alike. We pride ourselves in developing products that we & our families can consume in our own homes.

After 7 years of research & development as well as 10,000+ trials, we have been able to develop a “clean tasting” Stevia which has been one of the most difficult challenges in the industry. With our proprietary organic extraction technology we have been able to extract stevia's sweetness and eliminate the bitter-aftertaste that a lot of people experienced when they tried other Stevia products in the market. We keep improving our product as we speak. And we are not going to stop until our products become as widely available as sugar.

We have silently done a lot of groundbreaking innovation across the entire supply chain with a goal to develop the technology to extract “clean tasting” Stevia based sweeteners.

4. Details about the products/services please.

When you are helping your customer live a No Sugar Lifestyle, you need to have a holistic approach towards eliminating added sugar from different aspects of their diet. Magicleaf has 3 major product verticals under 3 sub brands that will help people eliminate sugar from their lifestyle without sacrificing the sweet taste.

Our first sub-brand called Super Zero (make better food) is aimed at eliminating the need for Sugar in your kitchen with healthy ingredients. In this we have Everyday Sweeteners (Stevia Liquid Drops & Powder) for everyday use in the kitchen and Professional Sweeteners

(Dessert Sweetener & Cake Sweetener) for special recipes like mithai, desserts & cakes. We have also introduced Hot Chocolate & Lakadong Turmeric Milk Mixes pre-blended with the perfect combination of Stevia.

The second vertical called Sweet Switch (eat better food) is focused on Ready To Eat food products that are No Sugar alternatives to all the Sugar based products available in the market like Desserts, Snacks, Biscuits & Cookies. Under this, we have already launched the Desserts Category and are on our way to launch the rest of the categories in the next few months.

And the third major sub-brand called Power Up (be better through food) has products with functional benefits that will not just eliminate the side effects of harmful ingredients like sugar or chemical based sweeteners, but also enhance their health through functional benefits.

Under this we have launched Apple Cider Vinegar & Vitamin C. And our upcoming roadmap is very exciting for fitness enthusiasts. All of these products in the market have sugar or artificial sweeteners in them. And we are replacing them with a natural Stevia leaf based No Sugar alternative, one product at a time.

5. How is Stevia spreading its reach and benefitting a lot of people? Company?

The most important force that has been helping the spread of our magical Stevia based sweeteners is the endorsement by our customers themselves. Apart from that, doctors & nutritionists have realised the harmful effects of artificial sweeteners and have started recommending Stevia to their diabetic patients. Popular celebrities like Alia Bhatt & Jennifer Aniston & well known habit coaches like Ashdin Doctor have already replaced sugar with Stevia and are living the No Sugar Lifestyle.

We keep getting emails from our customers on how they have been able to reverse their diabetes because they could eliminate sugar and still enjoy the sweet taste in their food.

That being said, we have already sent Magicleaf’s products across the country to about 200,000 customers and have had rave reviews about our products with about 40% to 50% returning customers.

And this is only the beginning. A lot of people are yet to get introduced to Stevia. And we are at the forefront of this category defining phase.

6. What is the future plan of the company?

Relentless service to our customers by helping them replace added sugar in every aspect of their diet without sacrificing on the sweet taste. And make these products as widely available as sugar. That is Magicleaf’s core mission.

We have a very strong research and development team. And our goal is to keep innovating must-have products and categories that become a part of our customer’s day to day routine. That is the only way to accelerate our transition to the Post Sugar World. And escape from the tyranny of harmful added sugar & other artificial sweeteners.

We want to see the world free from all the sugar based lifestyle diseases like diabetes, PCOS, PCOD, Obesity etc. in our lifetime.