Beyond Snáck

Beyond Snack is a Kerala-based snack food company founded in 2020 by Manas Madhu, with Jyoti Rajguru and Gautam Raghuraman later joining as co-founders. The company specializes in producing and marketing authentic Kerala banana chips, aiming to elevate the traditional snack into a globally recognized brand. The inspiration came to Madhu after a disappointing experience with low-quality chips, revealing a market gap for a hygienically produced, high-quality, and consistently branded banana chip.

Manas Madhu, an engineer with an MBA from Symbiosis Pune, had a background as a business consultant at Capgemini and IBS Software before venturing into entrepreneurship. His initial foray was into a jackfruit-based mock meat product, but he pivoted to banana chips, a product with a more consistent supply chain and established popularity. The company gained significant traction after its appearance on Shark Tank India Season 1, where it secured investments from Aman Gupta and Ashneer Grover.

The business operates on a direct-to-consumer and retail model, selling its products through major e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart, quick commerce apps, and a growing network of offline retail outlets. The company sources Nendran bananas directly from farmers in Kerala and processes them in a state-of-the-art, automated facility that minimizes human contact to ensure hygiene. Beyond Snack's products are distinguished by being thinner, crispier, and available in various flavours beyond the classic salted version, such as Peri Peri and Sour Cream & Onion, catering to modern consumer tastes. The company has raised significant funding, including a Series A round of $8.3 million, to expand its distribution network across India and internationally, enhance its supply chain, and invest in product innovation.

Keywords: Kerala banana chips, snack food, consumer packaged goods, D2C snacks, food processing, FMCG, Nendran bananas, ready-to-eat snacks, flavoured snacks, Shark Tank India, Indian snacks market, plant-based snacks, Manas Madhu, retail distribution, e-commerce food brand, snack manufacturing, food technology, venture capital funded, agri-tech, value-added agriculture