Upasana Parasrampuria Kagzi
After an illustrious sports career as a pistol shooter and a lawyer at a top Mumbai law firm, Upasana Parasrampuria Kagzi decided to pursue one of her passions - the world of food! A Natural Foods Chef, trained in New York, having specialized in health-supportive food, she co-founded gourmet retail brands Pink Harvest Farms and Bean to Chocolatier with her brother Devansh. Dishing out healthy dessert bakes, Upasana also runs a Mumbai-based bakery, Diet Tamasha.
Here, she tells From Around about her mission to shed a positive light on healthy foods and debunking the myth that it does not taste as good as its unhealthy counterparts.
The inspiration and passion…
Being a young lawyer employed in a Mumbai law firm meant two things - long hours and irregular eating habits. That’s when I realised the value of healthy, nutritious food in one’s overall physical and mental wellbeing. It reignited my lifelong passion for food, only this time it was focused on how to make ‘eating healthy’ as delicious as the plates full of junk I was so happy to consume before.
Changing the perception of healthy food...
Healthy food gets such a bad name with people often associating it with a bland taste, calorie counting or just something that’s too expensive or out of reach. We wanted to change that thought process. Our core philosophy is creating smarter foods that make a balanced and holistic lifestyle accessible in the modern world.
A little bit about the brands...
Pink Harvest Farms was started a generation ago with one simple goal - creating smarter foods that make a balanced and holistic lifestyle accessible in the modern world. Starting with a single acre, this has been a labour of love for both me and my brother, and today, we're proud to be a part of the global food community.
Spotlight ingredients...
Pink Harvest Farms promises sustainability, quality and above all - taste.
Starting with one product, Chia Seeds, Pink Harvest Farms is now one of the biggest, most innovative superfood brands in the country. Our incredibly versatile White Quinoa is the cheapest on the market without compromising on quality. We wanted to ensure that our pricing stayed accessible because a healthier lifestyle should never be out of reach for anyone. The brand also created its own category of protein-packed, healthy, single-ingredient pastas. Made using no rice flour, no maida, these noodles are the first of their kind in India. The gamble of bringing something so completely new to a country that loves its wheat was not a small one, but it paid off. In addition to that, we've also innovated with healthy instant meals of quinoa, "Quinoa Smart Meals" that come in 2 flavours; Masala and Chipotle - because why should convenience get in the way of health?
Bean to Chocolatier started with one simple thought - creating healthier, pure snacking chocolate without all the bad stuff. From grinding our own locally sourced beans to manufacturing them in small batches, Bean to Chocolatier is a pure couverture chocolate brand with no added oils or refined sugars. Every range also has a sugar-free variant sweetened with Stevia for diabetics or those with dietary restrictions. Our snacking chocolate range today has the most popular range of Bean to Bark (snacking slivers in various flavours), Bean to Berries (chocolate-coated pure whole berries), Bean to Nutters (for all us Indians who love their nuts) and Bean to Buttons (aka pure chocolate baking chips).
Below are some of Upasana’s recipes you can recreate at home using Pink Harvest Products.
