The New Delhi-based sports nutrition brand plans to launch 10 EBOs across Delhi NCR within this year
Bengaluru: Fitness and nutrition are more hyped up now than ever, driven by a growing awareness of health, wellness, and longevity. Social media, celebrity endorsements, and fitness influencers have made healthy living a trend, promoting everything from clean eating to high-intensity workouts.
New Delhi-based brother trio Shreyans Jain, Divay Jain, and Sharad Jain astutely anticipated this upsurge and founded Nutrabay, a direct-to-consumer (D2C) sports nutrition powerhouse. The enterprise transitioned from a mere distributor into a multi-brand online marketplace before ultimately curating its own exclusive private label.
Today, the company prides itself on a customer base of 1.5 million, with approximately 15,000 to 20,000 new consumers joining its fold each month. With over 3 million orders fulfilled across multiple channels monthly, Nutrabay continues to expand its footprint in the sector.
Journey of Nutrabay
The foundation for Nutrabay was laid during 2011-2012, when the founders identified certain issues plaguing the sports nutrition ecosystem in India.
“We observed a highly unorganised market rife with loopholes in both brands and distribution channels. The prevalence of counterfeit products and misleading label declarations was alarming, compounded by limited checks and balances to ensure product quality and accurate labelling,” said Shreyans Jain, Co-Founder & Executive Director of Nutrabay during an exclusive conversation with IndiaRetailing.
At first, they sought to tackle these challenges by acting as a distributor and reseller for top-tier brands. However, this strategy fell short, as it lacked the necessary control over marketplace logistics to effectively resolve the issues.
This realization led to the launch of Nutrabay in 2016, with the goal of ensuring complete end-to-end control over the brands and products they offered to consumers to guarantee authenticity and quality. The bootstrapped company was founded with an initial investment of Rs 1 crore, entirely sourced from founders’ own pockets.
In 2019, they identified another market gap—the need for quality sports nutrition at affordable price points, which prompted the launch of Nutrabay’s private label.
What Nutrabay delivers
The company offers a range of over 4,000 stock keeping units (SKUs) across its sales channels, including its direct-to-consumer (D2C) website, online marketplaces and exclusive brand outlets (EBOs).
These SKUs are spread across three main categories:
- Sports nutrition is Nutrabay’s primary focus, accounting for approximately 80% of its revenue. This category includes products such as protein powders, pre-workout supplements, and performance enhancers.
- Vitamins, minerals & supplements (VMS) category contributes around 15% of the company’s revenue. It comprises dietary supplements, multivitamins, and targeted nutritional products.
- Health food and drinks make up about 5% of Nutrabay’s revenue. This segment includes nutritional beverages, healthy snacks, and other food products designed for health-conscious consumers.
Nutrabay has recently ventured into quick commerce with its launch on Zepto.
The growing need for convenience is reshaping consumer shopping habits, as shoppers prioritise immediacy,” says Jain. “Quick commerce leverages purchase history to suggest relevant products, driving trials and experimentation. For example, it can recommend pre-workout drinks in the morning and post-workout recovery products in the evening through timely communication.”
Plans down the road
Recently, the company launched its first exclusive retail outlet in West Delhi and is preparing to expand further.
“Moving forward, we aim to open 10 exclusive brand outlets across Delhi NCR this year. By seamlessly integrating digital and physical retail, our goal is to improve accessibility and foster stronger customer connections,” said Jain.
Once the brand is well-established in the capital, it will expand into other regions. “With growing demand nationwide, we have seen increasing interest from the North to the South and the East to the West. In the past couple of years, demand has particularly surged in the Northeast, Jammu & Kashmir, and the Andaman Islands,” he added.
The startup reported a revenue of Rs 82 crore in fiscal year (FY) 2023 and closed FY 2024 at Rs 99 crore. Moreover, its private label achieved an 80% increase in the last fiscal year. Currently, Nutrabay is operating at an annual revenue run rate (ARR) of Rs 100 crore and has set a goal of reaching Rs 500 crore within the next five years.
