Fulva Story: Four Childhood Friends Turned A Gap Into ₹84 Lakhs Revenue

Kerala resident four childhood friends— Shabas Ahammed, Sanu Muhammed, Thesreef Ali, and Irfan Safar—generated ₹84 lakhs in revenue from a startup named Fulva, a foodtech company. This friends-to-founders journey started when they dealt with a disappointing experience. This experience led them to found a significant gap in the market.

With a ground-breaking idea, they set out to address this gap. The best part of their story is that instead of ignoring the gap, they saw it as a world full of opportunities and with a clear and unwavering vision toward authentic flavours of Kerala, they built a thriving business, generating ₹84 lakhs in revenue within its first year, with around 50% profit margins.  Now aiming to double their yearly revenue to over ₹1.5 crore.

Friends to Founders

The journey of these childhood friends began when the CEO, Shabas Ahammed, went to Kashmir and was asked by a local family to bring back Kozhikode Halwa, a well-known sweet. However, on his next visit, he was surprised to see the halwa!

He found that the sweet was poorly packaged and didn't look as good as it should have. This made him realize that traditional foods like Kozhikode Halwa needed to be better packaged and presented in order to meet higher standards and appeal to modern customers.

Shabas discussed this issue with his childhood friends—Sanu Muhammed, Thesreef Ali, and Irfan Safar—explaining that traditional foods like this needed a makeover in packaging and presentation for the modern world.

Seeing this as a world full of opportunities, friends started their entrepreneurial journey, launching their startup, Fulva. They aimed to bring the authentic flavours of Kerala, especially Kozhikode Halwa, to more people. They also wanted to help local artisans by supporting their work and connecting Kerala's traditions with the modern market. All these experiences led them to found their startup named "Fulva."

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What does Fulva do?

In 2023, Shabas Ahammed teamed up with his childhood friends Sanu Muhammed, Thesreef Ali, and Irfan Safar to start a food business in Kerala named Fulva. Fulva is a food company that sells authentic Kozhikode Halwa and other traditional sweets. It aims to bring the rich flavours of Kerala with people across India while also helping local food makers.

The company keeps the traditional flavours true to its roots by providing different kinds of Kozhikode Halwa to cater to various preferences. What began as a single product has now expanded to more than 20 different options, including one suitable for people with diabetes.

Fulva uses high-quality ingredients and modern packaging to give customers an authentic taste of Kerala. The halwa is made with ingredients like coconut oil, sugar, and maida, which are processed to make it lighter. After the batter is prepared, it rests overnight before being cooked. The halwa is then shaped into blocks, cooled for 10-12 hours, and carefully packed in containers that won't spill so it can be sent all over India.

Challenges on The Path of Entrepreneurship:

90% of India's sweet market is still unorganized but now it is growing quickly. According to a report, it is expected that by the year 2025, it will have a value of ₹84,300 crore. However, turning a concept into reality wasn't a cup of tea—it's a long journey fuelled by the collective determination of all the founders.

Initially, the friends faced their first big challenge when they tried to work with local halwa makers. But the friends stay motivated, with their strong will power to address the issue and bring a positive change in sweet industry. They didn't quit; just focused on teaming up with a local halwa maker and improving his workshop by adding quality checks, better methods, and high-quality ingredients.

Future Plans-Fulva:

The majority of their revenue (90%) is generated through direct sales on their website, while the remaining comes from corporate gift collaborations.

Their corporate gifting business is thriving, with six big corporations as clients. Fulva plans to increase this to over 40 clients by the end of the year. Additionally, they are also looking to sell in international markets, especially in Gulf countries, where there's a high demand for Kerala's packaged sweets.

They aim to double their yearly revenue to over ₹1.5 crores and expand their product range to 30 varieties, including fruit-flavoured halwa and options for kids. They also plan to sell their products on big e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart, get ISO certifications for their manufacturing units, and enter premium retail chains and fast-delivery services like Blinkit, Zepto, and Instamart.

It felt risky at the time but turned out to be a great decision. Fulva's revenue has been on a remarkable growth journey, generating an impressive ₹84 lakhs in revenue within its first year, with around 50% profit margins.  Now aiming to double their yearly revenue to over ₹1.5 crore.

What makes their story truly inspiring is that they pursued a solution instead of overlooking the problem and ultimately built a company, generating lakhs.

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