Deepak's Musings #168: 🧬 Protein is finally having its moment in India

🧬 Protein is finally having its moment in India

Everyone’s tracking their intake, reading labels, and looking for high-protein foods. The protein revolution isn't just happening. It's here, it's sophisticated, and it's delicious.

As one of the seed investors in Epigamia years ago, I've had a front-row seat to this transformation. What began as a niche market has exploded into a movement reshaping how an entire nation thinks about nourishment. But here's the twist that few recognize: this isn't simply about consuming more protein. Consumers need to understand that better protein trumps more protein every time. The magic happens at the intersection of science and satisfaction, where the perfect protein-to-carb ratio meets low-fat content and high digestibility.

Through it all, my biggest takeaway is non-negotiable: India wants taste and will not sacrifice it for nutrition. The most protein-packed products will not sell and scale unless they are delicious.

Your challenge: Find a product that tastes better and has a protein-to-carb ratio comparable to Epigamia’s offerings.

☕ Nestlé’s coffee playbook

I like the simplicity of the Nestle coffee playbook for India and China:
1. More premiumisation,
2. More occasions, and
3. More consumers

And hot off the press: Nestle opens first Nespresso boutique in Delhi.

🍾 Premiumisation of craft beverages in India: coffee, kombucha, tonic etc

I have been backing craft beverage brands for almost 20 years, including brands like Sula, Raw Pressery, Goa Brewing Co, Brewlander, Chai Point and Simplee. This fantastic episode on Nikhil Kamath’s WTF features the amazing founders of some leading Indian insurgent brands: Blue Tokai, Svami, Subko, and Mossant. And here they are debating one of my favourite topics: the premiumisation of India’s beverage market.

In fact, at DSG Consumer Partners, we are seeing premiumisation across almost all consumer categories. The insights from this conversation have a much broader relevance outside of beverages. And so many simple but critical lessons from aspiring founders wanting to build #insurgent brands.

🐱 U$147 billion That is the TAM of the US pet market in 2023

And this is forecast to grow to US$151 billion in 2024.

Pet parenting is just beginning in India and Southeast Asia. Given the relatively small market size today, many founders, SMEs and large CPG companies are working on entering this nascent space.

🏎️💨 The Quick Commerce revolution: QComm cannot serve as the foundation for brand building

QCommerce (QComm) presents a compelling tailwind for brands, enabling faster customer acquisition and instant gratification-driven sales. However, QComm cannot serve as the foundation for brand building. Our analysis shows that while QComm platforms like Blinkit, Zepto and Instacart boost short-term sales, repeat purchase rates are often low compared to traditional e-commerce channels. Nielsen reports that 60-70% of QComm purchases are impulse-driven, meaning brand loyalty remains fragile. Without strong differentiation, customer retention, and direct engagement strategies, brands risk being commoditized within the algorithm-driven, discount-heavy QComm ecosystem.

What does a brand need to do?

Brand owners need to tread very carefully. The QComm platform has all your data and knows your customers. Brand owners do not. Given their relatively small assortment, younger brands are at risk of being delisted and having the QComm platform launch private label brands. Instead, brands should use QComm as an acceleration tool while investing in deeper brand storytelling, customer relationships, and omnichannel strategies for long-term equity. When building a brand, the fundamental truth is to create customer love and pull. If many people ask for a brand and do not find it and leave the platform, i.e. the brand is a basket breaker; the platforms have no choice but to stock you.

Founders must build their brands. QComm platform will never do that for you.

🏷️ It is a great time to be building insurgent consumer brands

𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 stood out among global CPG markets last year. Sales growth was slower than expected yet still relatively robust amid muted demand. Volume growth was among the highest in the world and higher than the global average. Value growth, at ~7.5%, aligns with international averages.

𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐚 also stands out with high volume and value growth.

With strong demographic dividends and per capita income poised to break out, India and Indonesia stand out as one of the few global economies that will hit an inflection point in the S-curve, where discretionary spending will explode in the coming decade. It is a great time to build insurgent consumer brands in India & Indonesia.

Bain’s report is focused on using generative AI and technology to rewrite their growth playbooks and reclaim their relevance with consumers. For the full report, click here.

🤝 The breakout insurgent brands will always attract M&A interest

There is too much noise around insurgent brands. I am proactively not using the term D2C as most brands will likely be omnichannel over time if they are not already. We at DSGCP have personally speak to the leadership teams at large CPG companies, global, regional and local. We have been doing this for over 15 years now.Their M&A strategy keeps evolving, but not once in the last decade have they said they are not looking to acquire brands that fit their platform and give them capabilities - be it revenue, manufacturing, distribution, agility and most often, access to a new and frequently younger customer base. This was the underlying thesis that led to the creation of the firm.

It is a journey; we are probably on day 1 of a 5-day test. It is still too early in the game to call out the winners and losers. But business fundamentals do not change. Every M&A head is looking for a brand with strong customer love, top-in-class unit economics, proven capital efficiency and is in a category that demonstrates tailwinds.

The majority of insurgent brands will not make it big—that is the nature of ventures. However, the few that build for the long-term will create tremendous value.

🌟 Bain & Company’s Insurgent Brand List 2025

43 newcomers from across CPG categories make it onto the 2025 List.

Bain defines insurgent brands in this context as those with a US$25M ARR in monitored channels that have grown more than 10 times their category’s average growth rate over the past five years and have sustained positive growth in the last two years.

What impact are insurgent brands making? LOTS.

One stat for you to ponder: While accounting for less than 2% of market share in the categories in which they exist, they accounted for nearly 39% of incremental category growth in 2024, compared with 17% in 2023.

Big CPG companies everywhere, including in my regions of India and SEA, are losing market share. And this trend will only accelerate. It is a great time to be building an insurgent consumer brand.

📰 Other consumer-related news: deals, funding, branding and more