Simply Grain is not a fitness brand. It's a food brand. We make honest protein bars for Indian guts — without the whey, without the chemical sweeteners, and without the corporate nonsense.
Raina was a national-ranked tennis player competing at the top 15 level in India. Like every serious athlete, she was taking protein bars and whey shakes before tournaments — because her coaches told her to.
The problem? She was experiencing severe bloating, cramping, and gut distress before every match. She thought she had a weak stomach. Her gastroenterologist told her the real answer: she was lactose intolerant, like the majority of Indians. And whey protein is dairy.
She searched for a lactose-free, gut-safe, high-protein bar. There wasn't one built for the Indian market. The ones from the West used artificial sweeteners. The Indian options were underpowered. Nobody was addressing the fundamental biological mismatch between Indian gut flora and whey protein.
So she and Kanishk built it themselves. In a Bengaluru kitchen. With zero food science background, but a ruthless commitment to reading every label and talking to nutritionists until the formula was right.
"I represented India. I had every reason to take protein seriously. But every bar I found made me sick before a match. I didn't have a weak stomach — I had the correct biology for an Indian. Whey was the problem. Pea protein was the answer. It just took us a year to figure out how to make it taste like something you'd actually want to eat."
70 crore Indians are lactose intolerant. The supplement industry knows this and still fills their bars with whey. We don't. Our protein source is yellow peas — high quality, highly digestible, completely dairy-free.
Maltitol, sorbitol, and sucralose claim to be healthy because they have no calories. They're not. They ferment in your gut and cause worse bloating than sugar. We sweeten with wild honey, dates, and jaggery.
We list every ingredient, in plain language, without fine print. If something is in the bar, you'll see it. If something isn't, we'll tell you that too. No "proprietary blends". No hidden fillers.
Not adapted from a Western formula. Not imported and rebranded. Built from scratch, in Bengaluru, specifically for Indian ingredient preferences, gut biology, and palate. If it doesn't make sense for India, we don't use it.
Palm oil is in nearly every processed food in India because it's the cheapest fat available. It's also deeply inflammatory and environmentally destructive. We use almond butter and flaxseed instead.
We keep our production small and local. Made in Bengaluru. Tasted by us. We don't outsource the recipe to a contract manufacturer who also makes 40 other brands. The bars taste like we made them because we did.
National-ranked tennis player (Top 15). The gut problem that started Simply Grain was hers. She leads product development, sourcing, and brand voice. She is the reason the bars taste like food, not supplements.
Builds the systems that keep the brand running. Supply chain, logistics, digital, and the obsessive label-reading that makes sure every ingredient earns its place. He is the reason the bars get to you.