Kerala firm wins Social Venture of the Year Award from Indian Institute of Millet Research

Fresh Start Wellness Cafe, along with its sister concern Y2K Tots Foundation, won the Social Venture of the Year award instituted by the Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR), the country’s premier institution on millets working under Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Govt of India. The award was given away during the International Nutri-Cereal Convention held at Hyderabad on Friday. The recognition marks the companies’ expertise in millets and the usage of millets-based food products to combat child malnutrition, specifically targeting underprivileged communities nationwide, including government schools, orphanages, anganwadis, and tribal regions. The award was received by Renjith George, Managing Director, Fresh Start Wellness Cafe and Founder of Y2K Tots Foundation from Mijanur Rahman, Senior Director R&D South Asia Pacific region, PepsiCo in the presence of Dr R C Agarwal, Deputy Director General, ICAR., Govt of India, N. Cheluvarayaswamy, Minister for Agriculture, Govt of Karnataka and Dr. B. Dayakar Rao, Principal Scientist, ICAR-IIMR and CEO, Nutrihub, IIMR among others.

The recognition highlights the two firms’ impactful initiatives, Good Food Thrive, which focuses on delivering millet-based nutrition to underprivileged children in marginalized areas and ensuring they receive vital nutrients for growth and development. The Nourish Their Future project focuses on school-based interventions, promoting healthier eating habits and replacing unhealthy junk food with millet-based alternatives for the next generation. Backed by the innovative Kochi startup FoodFlavours, which launched India’s first box-packed wellness diet food products in the year 2020, Fresh Start Wellness Café with its manufacturing base in Bangalore has been instrumental in leading this fight against malnutrition. They have supported the initiatives by supplying nutrient-rich, millet-based food items designed to meet the dietary needs of malnourished children.

Speaking on the occasion, Renjith George, the social entrepreneur behind the ventures said this Social Venture of the Year award is a testament to the power of millet-based nutrition in transforming lives. “Our deep commitment to using millets as a solution to malnutrition has fueled our mission to uplift underprivileged communities across the nation. Our commitment to millet-based nutrition is driven by the belief that no child should suffer due to lack of access to healthy, nourishing food,” he said.

Renjith had formed the fresh start wellness café in the year 2021 with his experience of launching India’s first box-packed wellness diet food products through his startup Food Flavours in the year 2020. And y2k Tots Foundation as the name indicates was started by Renjith in the year 2000 in Bangalore while doing his engineering studies. He said this national recognition serves as a powerful endorsement of their ongoing mission and highlights

the importance of millet-based solutions in addressing India’s malnutrition crisis.

The Fresh Start Wellness Cafe offers a range of innovative millet-based products that can be conveniently purchased online at www.thewellnesscafe.in. Every purchase made directly supports the efforts to eradicate malnutrition.

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