Nachika: Traded free batter for recipes from street-vendor grandmas for six months
Abdul Nasar (Nachika) · What Went Wrong Before iD Fresh Worked | For the First Time Co-Founders Tell Their Story · Jan 16, 2026 · at 27:41
Abdul Nasar (Nachika), co-founder of iD Fresh Food, explains how he iterated on the idli batter recipe before launching commercial production.
0:00 / 0:31exact quote · 31.8s
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube → 720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“Initial days, you know, it was a, there was no result at all. Then once we started discussing with street vendors, what I offered them, if you can give the, your recipe, I can give you the better. Freely. Then they started giving their recipe. That was also not that great. But, you know, our neighborhood you know, customers, some Tamil grandmas, They, once I started giving batter to them freely, They supported me to build the thing. They have given, ah, different ideas, and they helped to fine-tuning the batter. So it took around six months.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Abdul Nasar (Nachika)
Nachika: Founders chose potential shutdown over taking interest-bearing debt
“Then we decided to, if it closed, let it close. We don't want to take interest.”
Nachika: Unhygienic third-party batter packets sparked the idea for iD Fresh
“We used to sell around five, five, six packet per week, every week. But customer started asking the hygiene, the manufacturing date. There was nothing in the pack.”
Nachika: iD Fresh began with a 50,000-rupee initial trial investment
“So initially we have invested only 50,000 rupees in the trial and error time.”
Nachika: iD Fresh launched batter at a premium ₹20 over market's ₹15
“When people were selling 15 rupees, 16 rupees better, our price was 20 rupees. When we started with 20 every day.”
Nasar: Designed 100,000-square-foot Bangalore plant without external consultants
“So actually, when I say I have, I did my best, for example, the Bangalore plant, I did the biggest plant. It's almost one lakh square feet manufacturing center. There is no proper consultant for that plant. We, myself, I have done the layout. As per the layout…”