Eating Healthy: Since 2018, Vijay has run Saladaa, a subscription salad start-up. He says the salad subscription helps customers increase their vegetable intake by just 50 grams to the recommended 300 to 400 grams per day. | Photo credit: AKHILA EASWARAN
In recent years, the concept of subscription meal services, popular in other cities thanks to the decades-old Dabbawalla services, has taken a healthy turn in Chennai with a healthy twist: salad boxes. Chennai residents sign up to receive fresh salads delivered to their door every day, depending on their weekly or monthly subscription.
Preeta Suresh is the founder of Freshlings, which has been serving salads, including Mexican, Mediterranean and Lebanese-style ones, for three years. She says her clientele has seen a noticeable change. “People in their late 30s and early 40s, who are more concerned about their life choices, are taking action now. This is because of the huge exposure in the city after the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Ms. Preeta, adding that Freshlings sources its ingredients from hydroponic farmers in Chennai.
“No commercial objective”
“Although it’s a salad startup, we don’t look at it from a business perspective; we want to provide real value to our customers and stakeholders. That’s why we use hydroponics,” she adds. If the start-up does not promote weight loss through its salads, Ms. Preeta emphasizes that its objective is to build a healthy lifestyle for long-term well-being through subscription packages of 12 and 20 days.
The idea of a “subscription salad” also gained momentum after the COVID-19 pandemic, say the founders of local salad brands.
Young mothers are on board
When Saladboy launched its subscription service in 2021, covering Sholinganalur, Velachery, East Coast Road and Medavakkam, its founder Anish Kumar expected many gym junkies and IT professionals to come up on board.
But the plot was completely different since most of its regulars are not business people. “It was mainly young mothers who took care of themselves through salads,” says Mr. Anish.
The brand has also modified the menu by adapting its salads to Indian tastes. She sends 80 boxes of salads a day, and with growing demand, she is preparing to expand monthly salad subscriptions to more areas of Chennai this year.
Vijay is the founder of Saladaa, a subscription salad startup in Chennai. He has been running it since 2018 with his wife and functional medicinal nutritionist Sindhu Vijay. Mr. Vijay says most of his regular customers are in their 40s.
“Opting for salads has become a lifestyle change for Chennaiites post-pandemic,” he says, adding that salad subscription helps customers increase their vegetable intake from just 50 grams per 300 to 400 grams recommended per day. “Even though healthy eating is becoming more common among older people, people in their 20s should start paying more attention to their diet,” he adds.
Published – January 12, 2025 at 10:45 p.m. IST
