Entrepreneurs Miss Rashmi Kushwaha and Mr. Saurabh Sonkar are trying to introduce a new healthy substitute of paneer to stop animal cruelty and launched Fit-O-Fresh in Modi’s (Indian PM) constituency in Varanasi. They plan to expand this startup covering North & South India and prepare to export their Okara flour to North America soon.
Fit-O-Fresh is a 15 kgwatt setup co-founded in India’s oldest city Varanasi. They are currently engaging more than 15 employees and planning to hire more for their other outlets.
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Fit-O-Fresh is not just a brand selling Tofu and Soy Milk, and it’s a new initiative to make society an animal-friendly place.
This company is trying to deliver a more healthy and nutritious product to the market. It produces animal-free milk proteins and paneer that provide the taste and texture of dairy without the environmental consequences of conventional animal agriculture.
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‘We want to make more nutritious and cholesterol-free protein products’, said Saurabh Sonkar, Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer of Fit-O-Fresh.’ We have to make sure that eating what’s good for us doesn’t come with sacrifice.’
THE DAIRY FREE PANEER IDEA
The idea for the startup came accidentally when Rashmi Kushwaha, Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Fit-O-Fresh, became freshly vegan, and it was tough to find TOFU in Varanasi Market…..The real question was how will we get protein and calcium without eating dairy products.
As she was wandering in the market searching for tofu, she got a call from Saurabh, her partner in Fit-O-Fresh, who is also vegan and was struggling to find animal-free dairy. The pair then joked about establishing their animal-free dairy manufacturing plant, and this is how Fit-O-Fresh got confounded by them in March 2021.
Fit-O-Fresh produces plant-based proteins made from soybeans. The ingredients have gained regulatory approval and provide the taste and texture of dairy minus the lactose, cholesterol, hormones or antibiotics.
Without cows, crafting dairy proteins requires less energy consumption, land usage, greenhouse gas emissions, and water consumption.
There is no aisle of the grocery store in Varanasi that you could go into and find non-dairy proteins.
Products featuring soy protein is labelled as vegan and has many health and environmental benefits.
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‘We’ve been able to create an extremely scalable, low-cost platform for making the best protein known to the world today,” Miss Rashmi said.” Now the sky is our limit.’
Fit-O-Fresh is set to announce additional products soon, including soy curd and soy flour.
The Food Waste Usage
Cookies, Tikki, Chapati, Cupcakes and baby foods are some products made from okara flour, an upcycled ingredient that Fit-O-Fresh is planning to supply. Okara is the fibre-rich pulp leftover from soy milk and tofu production and was previously discarded or used as animal feed.
Okara flour has more fibre, protein and calcium than white flour with fewer carbohydrates, yet the ingredient offers the same functionality, taste and price. According to Fit-O-Fresh, it may be used in sweets, pasta, cookies, biscuit mixes, sauces, pizza dough and many more.
Since its founding ‘Fit-O-Fresh’ has always wanted to be a next-level company that wanted to transform the food system by fighting against animal cruelty and bringing plant-based substitutes into the marketplace.
Tofu Vs Paneer: What’s The Difference?
You’ve probably tasted paneer and tofu in some of your favourite vegetarian dishes. They are both white, soft, and mild, and they provide many of the same nutrients but in different amounts.
Paneer is a type of cheese derived from animal milk. Tofu is made from soy and does not contain animal-based ingredients.
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Paneer has more calories, protein, and fat by weight.
However, remember that you may be more likely to consume paneer in 1-ounce (28-gram) servings and tofu in 1/2-cup (126-gram) servings. Your normal portion of tofu likely has more protein than your typical portion of paneer in a dish.
Both foods are also rich sources of calcium, an essential mineral that supports bone health. As shown, tofu contains more calcium than paneer.
Tofu provides more fibre, iron, and potassium than paneer. It’s also a source of beneficial plant compounds known as isoflavones that paneer does not offer.
Finally, tofu is an entirely plant-based food, while paneer is made from milk. Therefore, tofu can fit into vegan diets that exclude all animal products, while paneer can be a part of vegetarian diets but not vegan ones.
