At DSG Consumer Partners, we believe iconic brands are born when relentless product passion meets bold thinking. KILRR embodies this spirit — with a founder who’s obsessed with flavour and a brand that brings a brave take to non-vegetarian cooking.

India’s ₹80,000 crore spice market is massive – but also sleepy. Large brands dominate the shelves with little innovation. Most products are made for everything… and therefore, excel at nothing.

KILRR dares to be different. It focuses exclusively on meat preparation – a largely ignored part of the category. While traditional masala brands offer a chicken masala or two as part of a wider range, KILRR starts with one clear mission: make home-cooked non-vegetarian meals exciting again. Their meticulous product development and branding has resulted in an incredibly strong word-of-mouth, within months of launch!

Why We're betting big on Non-Vegetarian Cooking Aids

Protein is hot, but cooking it well? That's where things get messy

Two consumer trends are reshaping how India eats: a rise in protein consumption and evolving family structures. Protein consumption in urban areas is skyrocketing— but preparing meat at home still feels complicated, inconsistent, and intimidating.

A Massive Market, Starved for Innovation

India is the "Land of Spices," producing 75% of the world’s supply and dominating exports. The domestic market is equally enormous: ₹800,000 million (USD 9.4 billion), with over ₹400,000 million (USD 4.7 billion) in branded products.

Yet innovation in this space has barely evolved. Most brands still focus on commoditized straight spices, and blended masalas for meat remain limited and outdated.

Meanwhile, the online segment— valued at ₹20,000 million (USD 250 million) — is growing at 30% CAGR, fuelled by young, digital-native consumers who crave flavour, convenience, and consistency.

The Flavour Gap in a Changing India

Today’s consumers are cooking differently:

• They’re adventurous: Fusion recipes like Schezwan Dosa and Butter Chicken Pasta are now mainstream
• They’re time-starved: With smaller households and busier lifestyles, the 50-minute home-cooked meal is giving way to ready-mix solutions
• They’re health-conscious: Processed and oily ready-to-eat meals are losing favour. People want control over what goes into their food
• They want consistency: Whether cooking themselves or relying on domestic help, consumers expect reliable, repeatable taste

Yet, the category hasn’t kept up. Spice shelves are cluttered with sameness. Meat-specific solutions are few. And most products still treat non-veg cooking as an afterthought.

‍Why KILRR Fits This Moment

KILRR is built for modern kitchens — especially those that want to cook more protein, more often, with more confidence.

Here’s what makes it different:

• Focused on meat: From day one, KILRR has doubled down on flavourful, preservative-free blends for non-vegetarian cooking
• Clean-label formulations: No oil, no preservatives — just potent, fresh, dry spice mixes that are pantry-friendly and health-conscious
• Experience-first: KILRR empowers users to “feel like they’re cooking” — without the mess or time investment of making spice blends from scratch
• Content-centric strategy: Hitesh is carefully crafting the brand tonality in all consumer-facing touchpoints like KILRR’s D2C website, Instagram handle and Whatsapp communication to customers. The brand's tone will be unapologetically non-vegetarian, accented with a touch of dry humor

The Founder Behind the Brand

Hitesh Bhagia, KILRR’s founder, is a second-time entrepreneur with deep content and brand-building expertise. At his previous venture, Home Veda, he scaled a 750k-subscriber YouTube channel. He’s also led content and brand at Byju’s and The Indian Express.

But what stands out is his passion for food — and the level of detail he brings to product development. Every KILRR blend is chef-tested, consumer-validated, and built with care.

We’ve seen this play out in markets outside India

The opportunity in specialized meat seasoning brands is validated by several success stories in global markets:

Shan Foods (Pakistan):Established in 1981, Shan has become a leader in convenient, high-quality spice mixes for non-vegetarian dishes. Their revenue jumped from USD 90 million in 2022 to USD 102 million in 2023, with 31% gross margin. With exports making up ~40% of their revenue, they've established the global appeal of specialized cooking aids.

Flavor God (USA): Founded in 2014 by Christopher Wallace, a former bartender with a passion for flavor, Flavor God disrupted the spice market with preservative-free seasonings specifically designed for protein dishes. Their direct-to-consumer approach generated USD 10 million in revenue within just four years of launch. During the pandemic, they exploded to USD 30 million revenues as consumers went back to home cooking. Their 2.7 million Instagram followers show that flavor and content are a match made in culinary heaven.

PS Seasoning (USA): Operating since 1986, PS Seasoning has built a reputation for distinctive meat seasonings with creative flavor profiles like "Big Kahuna Pineapple Teriyaki." By focusing exclusively on enhancing meat dishes and building strong relationships with meat markets, they've grown to an estimated USD 50+ million in revenue while maintaining strong profitability.

These success stories validate key elements of KILRR’s approach:

• Specialized non-vegetarian cooking aids with deep category expertise: KILRR offers powdered pre-mixes (oil-free and preservative-free) which consumers still use as an ingredient to make one-pot meals (eg: chicken tikka, chicken green masala).This allows consumers to feel like they are “cooking”
• Clean-label, preservative-free formulations which enable consumers to take protein (chicken, paneer) more regularly by adding taste to their protein component
• Unique, proprietary flavor profiles which offer convenience by reducing meal preparation time (does not prioritise reducing actual cook time). This is also a healthier option vs ordering in from restaurants on Swiggy/ Zomato
• Content strategy that makes people excited about cooking. This helps KILRR have a modern brand appeal, attracting new-age consumers

The global success of these brands provides a compelling blueprint for how KILRR can transform India's relationship with meat preparation. KILRR’s early traction has been exceptional, in a capital efficient manner. This validates both the market opportunity and potential for KILRR to disrupt the Indian meal preparation market!

Why we love KILRR in a nutshell:

A passionate founder with strong content & product capabilities

Hitesh is a second-time founder with robust content expertise. He possesses a clear vision for the brand voice and content strategy on how he wants to build KILRR into a premier non-vegetarian meal prep brand. Additionally, his passion for cooking and strong product mindset augur well for the business. He understands how to connect with an audience – crucial for a brand trying to stand out on a crowded spice rack!

‍Sharp positioning

While traditional spice brands try to be everything to everyone, KILRR focuses on making meat dishes exceptional – a focused approach for consumers who reward specialization. The brand also has a distinct tonality – ‘unapologetically non vegetarian’

‍Quality You Can Taste

KILRR blends their own proprietary, clean-label products. Their dedicated manufacturing facility ensures complete control over product quality, a rarity for early-stage food brands and a significant competitive advantage. This helps the brand always deliver on their promise!

‍Content-Centric Approach in an Instagram world & a very bold take at that.

Leveraging Hitesh's content expertise, KILRR has created engaging social media content that educates consumers about meat preparation while building unparalleled word-of-mouth at a very initial phase in their journey!

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We're excited to partner with the KILRR team as they build India's most distinctive meal-preparation brand for meat lovers to bring flavor back to a category that had forgotten what it tastes like! With the current fundraise, KILRR will expand its product portfolio, enhance distribution across quick-commerce platforms, and continue building a content ecosystem that positions it as the authority in non-vegetarian cooking. We believe this is just the beginning of a brand that has the potential to transform how India prepares and enjoys meat dishes at home!