From Corporate Career to Rs 250-Crore Snack Empire

Ahana Gautam could have had a conventional corporate career, thanks to her IIT Bombay degree, an MBA from Harvard, and stints at General Mills and Procter & Gamble. But a visit to a Whole Foods store in the US changed her perspective. The store’s focus on products free from artificial ingredients made her question the state of India’s packaged food market, where health-conscious snacking options were lacking.

This observation led Gautam to co-found Open Secret in 2019, a healthy-snacking company that has now grown to a Rs 250-crore business. Before venturing into entrepreneurship, she spent about four years at P&G and later worked at General Mills, firmly on the corporate track.

Open Secret’s success reflects Gautam’s ability to blend her corporate experience with a vision for healthier snacking options in India. The company’s growth underscores the demand for nutritious, packaged foods in a market traditionally tied to health and nutrition.