JOIN USWhen somebody is diagnosed with illnesses like diabetes, gluten intolerance or celiac, lactose intolerance and other food allergies, the first advice that comes an individual’s are a host of dietary restrictions.
When Pooja Kothari’s less than three- years old son was diagnosed with gluten intolerance, she faced a dilemma of what to serve him and what to avoid. He could not consume anything and everything from the long list of staple dishes that are regular at any North Indian household such as roti, halwa, puri, upma and other wheat
products.
She had a hard time finding gluten-free food products for her son which led to the emergence of her online venture foodbury.com around two years ago. The web portal offers food products that suit people with special needs like diabetics and those suffering with gluten and lactose intolerance and other allergies.
“I was a journalist earlier and had gone to America for training. After a fortnight my son was diagnosed with gluten intolerance. I noticed that almost every food store there had a separate section for people with special needs. Here sourcing such food products is very tough. My family was in trauma when we found that my son could not eat virtually anything. And I realised there were many parents who faced similar problems. That is when the idea of this venture came up,” shares Pooja, who runs this business with her
sister Aarti.
The portal offers more than 360 food products besides customised birthday cakes and breads that suit people diagnosed with gluten and lactose intolerance, diabetes and other celiac diseases. From breakfast to lunch and dinner, Foodbury has a wide range of products on offer for people who seek to lose weight, looking for food products which are
cholesterol, nut, egg and soy-free.
It reaches out to families in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore, some villages of Rajasthan and Silchar in Assam, with products like diabetic atta, vanilla cookies, almond dark chocolates, buckwheat flakes, desserts and breads for diabetics and gluten-free garlic bread, atta, samosa, chocolate wafers, biscuits, jams, honey, gulab jamun and even gol gappe. A majority of the packed products are imported from Australia, America, while some are sourced from Indian companies and bakeries who have an understanding of these illnesses.
“Even if a child is diagnosed with diabetes or gluten-intolerance, his birthday has to be celebrated but finding a cake for him is no less than a challenge. We have a networking with local bakeries who understand these diseases and make special cakes on order. These are basically mothers whose children are suffering with similar illnesses.
Dry cakes and muffins are sourced from a company in Jalandhar. They deliver directly to customers,” she says. There are other web portals too that cater to diabetics such as healthhoops.com, healthkart.com an health24x7.in but the variety offered is far less.