Tempeh is made by a natural enrichment and controlled fermentation process that binds the soybeans into a cake form. Hello Tempey’s products are made from three ingredients: non-GMO soybeans, water and starter culture sourced from farmers in Madhya Pradesh. Because of its natural fermentation process, tempeh has a high protein count and “the world’s best-kept protein secret,” Ramasubramanian said.
“The capacity at our Bengaluru facility is currently 75 tonnes per annum. By December, this capacity will reach 150 tonnes at this unit and by January, we will have our second facility. We are currently looking at locations, but we expect That it will be somewhere in the west, somewhere in Maharashtra,” Ramasubramaniam told ET.
He said this is in line with the company’s expansion strategy. In March 2021, Hello Tempey, a plant-based protein-rich offering for nutrition and thriving in a vegetarian platter, was launched in Bengaluru. Soon after, it was launched in Hyderabad and later in Chennai. Ramasubramaniam said Hello Tempe will also be available in Mumbai and Delhi early next year.
“As we move to Mumbai and Delhi, our target and strategy on production is to try and create at least three hubs in the country, one hub in the north, one hub in the west and one hub in the south, and then opportunistically those Develop the centers or make the existing ones bigger,” he said.
Ramasubramaniam said the company is also working with the idea of another production facility in the south.
Interestingly, Hello Tempe is taking a two-pronged approach to development. One includes its range of ready to cook Hello Tempeh Natural and Spicy Products which are of four variants – Natural Tempeh, Simply Sriracha Tempe, Peppery Szechuan Chili Tempeh and Spicy Tawa Masala Tempeh. The plan includes expanding and expanding its line to various cities besides coming up with new marinade flavours.
The other aspect that the company will be aggressively targeting is the hotel/restaurant/cafe or horeka section where traditional Javanese food made from fermented soybeans is gaining a lot of interest as food establishments consider tempeh as the new vegetarian/vegan ingredient, Ramasubramaniam said. are used to connect. their menu.
“After the lockdown, we have launched several restaurants and cloud kitchens in three cities and are in the menu planning stage along with many others,” he said.
In addition, Helo Tempe may soon be introduced as an ingredient in the products of some FMCG companies, Ramasubramanian said as WeGolution India finds itself in initial talks and in the product development stage with about a dozen FMCG players. Is.