Gujarat gets a huge plant manufacturing vegan supplements by venerated vegan company Unived

23rd August, 2022

As people around the globe grasp the true value of Veganism, the demand for plant-based proteins and vegan supplements is soaring. There is a huge market for such products across the world. Nevertheless, it has never been more important to focus on homegrown brands who offer plant-based products in India. One of the most venerated companies that first entered the vegan space over 12 years ago is Unived. It is led by Amit Mehta, Founder and CEO who is at the helm of the enterprise that’s taking world by storm with their exciting vegan supplements. In fact, Unived is launching a massive manufacturing plant in Gujarat to take their production and development to the next level.

In conversation with Vegan First, we have Unived’s Founder and CEO Amit Mehta who shared pearls of wisdom about the homegrown brand.

Uncover Unived founder Amit Mehta’s inspiring journey

Looking back at his childhood, Amit reminisces sports was an integral of his upbringing. There was also a strong emphasis on healthy food. When he moved into university, he had to sustain working two jobs, going to class, and also train as he was on the soccer team. He has clearly strived for excellence from an early age.

Amit Mehta, Founder & CEO, Unived

Offering an insight into his life as a young adult and what first sparked his interest in vegan supplements, he quips, “One of my jobs was an hour away and I’d cycle to it daily, so supplements were critical as it helped me sustain the physical endurance required to get through my busy schedule. I like to dig into products that I consume – so I nosedived into ingredients and formulations of the products I was consuming, and that’s what stemmed my interest in supplements, which along my love for sports led me to consider starting Unived.

An insight into how Unived grew when vegan products were new to India

Mehta had gone vegan a few years prior to starting Unived, so it couldn’t have been any other way.  The organization has been vegan since day one when it was incepted in 2010, even before Veganism flourished as an industry. Amit recalls how he started Unived 12 years ago and strived to create awareness about a product which was ahead of its time.

“We worked 7 day a week for the first 4 or 5 years. We’d go door to door, put up stalls at farmers markets, and do a lot of on-ground activation. We were way ahead of time and it’s been a massive uphill task.” He explains that the support and trust of their consumers kept them going. “They are our stakeholders. They are the reason we stand where we do today. We have so many customers who’ve been buying our products for over a decade, they’ve stood by us through a lot, they’ve been patient with our mistakes, they’ve critiqued and encouraged us – they drive us every day,” he smiles.

Furthermore, they continue to take risks. They have been bold with product formats and introductions, many of which have been way ahead of their time. Additionally, a little birdie tells us that they have several projects in RandD which they are excited about wanting to see through. Speaking of how his staff and team played a role in delivering success, he adds, “Most of them joined Unived fresh out of college, they’ve committed themselves, entirely, to our vision – I want to grow Unived to a success story for them, they deserve every bit of it.

Organic Growth Over The Years

While growing a business bootstrapped might take time, it's also a testament to a sustainable business model. It's refreshing and admirable to see a vegan business grow without institutional funding.

“We’re completely bootstrapped and we have managed to grow bootstrapped for over a decade due to one vision, one belief, one effort,” Mehta adds, speaking of the need to support home-grown companies. “All of us want a better India, for that, we need to buy Indian, and believe in young Indian companies that are innovating and value-adding in their respective industries.

Unived’s inventiveness knows no bounds

Interestingly, Unived was the first company to launch Pea Protein in India, back in 2015. Right after they did so, a plethora of vegan protein options mushroomed and several brands and companies today offer protein from peas, rice, quinoa, mung bean, and other vegan sources. Nevertheless, Pea continues to remain the cleanest and best vegan protein source, from all the options available. Pea protein isolate is available in 80% and 85% grades.

“All our protein formulations use only 85% Pea Protein Isolate. We’ve focused on value additions by offering different variations of our proteins with various supportive nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, probiotics, digestive enzymes, supergreens, superfoods, caffeine, and other nutraceuticals that tailor make the proteins for different use-cases,” confirms Amit. “Our Rise and Grind and Rest and Recover Protein formulations have been Certified for Sport by Informed Sport – the World’s leading anti-doping certification agency,” he clarifies. In fact, Unived is one of 3 or 4 companies in India to get this certification.

All about the brand-new plant in Gujarat and its product offerings

Spread across 20,000sqft, this state-of-the-art faculity shall be fully equipped with capsule, powder, and gel production lines, QC labs and RandD labs. Moreover, it shall have new product development rooms, sufficient storage for materials and finished goods along with a complete order processing and dispatch line, reveals the thrilled founder who tells us there is also to be office space at the facility. Touching upon all that the new plant will manufacture, Amit shares, “We will continue our capsule, powder, and gel manufacturing lines to begin with. In time, we will add new machinery to venture into new product formats. We are working on several formulations and new product concepts which we plan to introduce soon.

Unived's upcoming manufacturing plant in Gujrat

The growing need for companies to turn vegan on an organizational level

Sharing his two cents on the vegan movement in India, the industry veteran states, “Today, we have a massive Vegan umbrella which is protecting several brands and products. Broadly, I feel the movement has grown and it is good for Veganism in general. However, we’ve seen MNC’s and large FMCG companies jump the boat with their ‘vegan’ lines – pure capitalization on consumer-trends, with absolutely no commitment on an organizational level to being Vegan. Consumers are blind-sided by billboards and advertisements, and hence these big brands get away.

“But simply launching a vegan friendly product cannot be enough – an organization must wholly commit to being 100% vegan, and only then should they be permitted to market their products as vegan. Another downside is that ‘gluten-free’ and ‘vegan’ have become buzzwords, often attached to unhealthy products to attract consumers. This does take away from the emphasis on healthy slow-eating which is part of our plant-based lifestyle,” he elucidates.

Discover what sets such vegan businesses apart from other companies

For the uninitiated, a true Vegan business is one that is wholly Vegan. Mehta affirms that a business that merely offers Vegan and non-vegan products, is not considered a Vegan business and urges consumers to recognize this difference. After all, being vegan is a belief and a choice one makes on how they want to live their life. Speaking of his own company, he attests, “At Unived, we are wholly Vegan, which means zero animal-based ingredients at our unit, or in any of our products, and to a level where we do not serve milk tea, nor permit staff to bring any non-vegan food into our premises.

What the future holds for Unived

The founder revealed that in the coming term, apart from new products that they shall be offering, Unived is working towards opening up a B2B facet to their business. They’d like to offer their product development and manufacturing expertise to young wholly Vegan companies which may want to work with a 100% Vegan manufacturing unit. 

“As consumers we must be responsible and recognize wholly Vegan companies as different from those which have vegan and non-vegan product lines. The latter, can’t be considered Vegan organizations,” he says, signing off.

Like this? Read: Unived Launches Women-Specific Line of Vegan Supplements

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