The Utopian Story: How Two Professionals Quit Their Corporate Jobs to Build a Clean-Label Beverage Brand

People today are becoming more mindful about what they eat and drink. Seeing this shift and searching for better options for themselves, two professionals decided to leave their corporate careers and build something of their own. In 2021, Abhishek Sarwate and Shweta Tare Sarwate founded Utopian, a brand offering clean-label juices and smoothies with no preservatives or refined sugar.

What began with just beverages is now growing into healthy snacking with new products like makhana. Their journey from spotting a real gap in the market to being featured on Shark Tank India shows how strong determination and purpose can help build a brand.

In this article, explore the story of Utopian, how it started, its founders, business model, funding, and more.

Utopian - Company Highlights

Utopian - About

Utopian – Good Things Only is a healthy food and beverages company that was registered in August 2021 and started its operations in April 2023. With 1.5 years of execution, the brand initially launched with smoothies and has since expanded into categories such as zero-sugar juices, zero-sugar aerated drinks, and makhana, all aimed at promoting a healthier lifestyle.

Utopian - Industry

Utopian operates in the fast-growing Indian health beverage market. According to a report by Technavio, this market is projected to grow by USD 3.87 billion from 2024 to 2028, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10%. Juices constitute a significant portion of this market, divided into sugary and healthy options. As consumers increasingly prefer healthier drinks, the healthy beverage segment is growing quickly and is expected to surpass sugary juices soon.

Utopian - Founders

Abhishek Sarwate and Shweta Tare Sarwate are the co-founders of Utopian.

Both founders come from corporate backgrounds and saw entrepreneurship as an opportunity to combine their strengths. Abhishek manages operations and finance, while Shweta leads sales, marketing, and product development.

Abhishek Sarwate, CEO, Utopian

An IIT Bombay graduate with a B.Tech in Chemical Engineering, Abhishek built a decade-long career in finance, working as Vice President at Deutsche Bank. His expertise lies in financial management, operations, and strategic planning.

Shweta Tare Sarwate, COO, Utopian

Shweta is a Petroleum Engineering graduate from MIT Pune. She has worked as a Developer at Cognizant Technology Solutions. With over seven years of experience, she brings deep expertise in technology, product development, and brand marketing.

Utopian - Startup Story

At around the age of 27, the founders of Utopian began prioritising health and found themselves constantly searching for healthier alternatives. The challenge became even more evident during office hours—finding nutritious, convenient food without unnecessary empty calories was a daily struggle.

During their work trips, they realised the stark contrast in food choices available abroad. Healthier eating habits were not only more common but also well-supported through readily available nutritious options, not just in restaurants but even in workplace cafeterias. This was a major gap in India, where healthy choices were often limited, particularly in office spaces and for on-the-go consumption.

Recognising this as an opportunity, they set out to create a brand catering specifically to health-conscious millennials and working professionals—individuals who prioritise wellness over fleeting taste indulgences. Market research revealed a growing segment of consumers making small but meaningful dietary shifts, such as swapping sugary sodas for no-added-sugar juices or choosing roasted makhana over traditional wafers.

With this shift in mind, the idea was validated through extensive consumer interactions, product sampling, and surveys. The response was overwhelmingly positive. People sought healthier packaged food options but struggled to find brands they could trust. This led to the birth of Utopian: a brand built on clean-label principles, free from preservatives, refined sugar, and chemicals, making healthy eating both accessible and enjoyable.

The Journey of Ideation, Design, and Prototyping

Utopian’s journey began in a small home kitchen, where the founders conceptualised and prototyped the smoothies. In the beginning, the founders started selling directly from home, using consumer feedback to refine flavours and recipes. The main goal was to validate demand, understand customer preferences, willingness to pay for convenience, and whether the brand was solving a real problem or simply acting on intuition. After engaging with over 500 customers, it became clear that there was a strong need for accessible, high-quality nutrition. The overwhelmingly positive response reinforced the vision: to make healthy choices effortless and accessible without requiring individuals to carry lunchbox meals everywhere.

Despite the growing focus on wellness, access to nutritious food in corporate environments remains limited. Many companies, even those with in-house cafeterias, pay little attention to the quality and nutritional value of meals offered. Utopian aims to bridge this gap by partnering with organisations like Sodexo and Google, providing a range of nutrient-dense, preservative-free products made from locally sourced Indian superfoods. Unlike many existing options that rely on fortification—often unsuitable for all consumers—Utopian emphasises whole, natural ingredients that deliver true nourishment.

By integrating better food choices into everyday routines, the brand seeks to redefine workplace nutrition and contribute to a healthier, more mindful way of living.

Utopian - Mission and Vision

Mission: Utopian is committed to redefining packaged foods and beverages by offering the healthiest options in the market. As a clean-label brand, it ensures that the products contain Zero Added Preservatives, Zero Refined Sugar, and Zero Chemicals. The brand’s mission is to make India's finest, nutrient-rich foods accessible to everyone at affordable prices while maintaining the highest quality standards.

Vision: To become a globally recognised Indian brand that sets a benchmark for purity, health, and innovation in packaged foods. Through a robust distribution network, Utopian aims to reach not just Tier 1 cities but also Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, ensuring that everyone has access to wholesome, natural, and safe food choices.

Utopian - Products

At Utopian, the focus is on creating good-for-you and better-for-you packaged foods and beverages. The beverage products have a six-month shelf life without refrigeration and without any added preservatives. Retort technology is used to ensure they remain shelf-stable.

Product Range:

Smoothies

Fruit- and vegetable-based non-dairy wellness drinks, enriched with superfoods. These products contain zero refined sugar, zero preservatives, and zero artificial colours, flavours, or sweeteners while also being a source of fibre. Naturally sweetened with fruits and honey, they are priced at INR 99 for a 200 ml bottle. Available on the brand’s website and across B2B channels, including corporate offices, airports, gyms, hospitals, and hotels. The range includes:

• Detox: A popular vegetable smoothie featuring spinach, cucumber, and orange, powered by superfoods, coconut water and ginger.
• Energy: A strawberry and banana smoothie infused with superfoods ashwagandha and green coffee.
• Immunity: A kiwi and pineapple smoothie enriched with superfoods tulsi and amla.
• Tropical: An Alphonso mango smoothie enhanced with superfoods rajgira (amaranth) and oat milk.

Juices

The most popular product range is tasty and refreshing, with zero added sugar. These honey-based juices contain zero refined sugar and zero preservatives, naturally sweetened with fruits and honey. Priced at INR 50 for 200 ml, they are available online via the brand’s website, Swiggy Instamart, Blinkit, and YouCare, as well as offline in 3,000 general trade retail stores across Mumbai and Pune. The range includes: Litchi Superrr, Guava Superrr, Orange Superrr, Mango Superrr, Lemon Superrr, and Mix Fruit Superrr.

Makhana

For those craving a healthy snack at their desk or on the go, the makhana range offers a tasty and nutritious option. Priced at INR 30, the range includes: Salted, Cream N Onion, Nimbu Pudina, and Masala.

Fizzy U Pop Range (Launching soon)

Understanding that customers love Utopian juices but struggle to cut down on sugary cola drinks, the brand identified a gap in the market for zero-sugar fizzy options. To address this, the Utopian U Pop range has been developed—delivering tasty, vibrant, and zero-sugar alternatives in the fizzy drinks space. Currently available offline, each 200 ml bottle contains only 3 kcal. The range includes U Pop Green Apple, U Pop Lemon, U Pop Watermelon, U Pop Classic Mojito, and U Pop Peach Mojito.

Utopian - Business and Revenue Model

The brand sells its products through three main channels:

• Offline General Trade: The largest sales channel until January 2025, with Utopian products available in 3,000+ general trade (mom-and-pop kirana) stores across Mumbai and Pune.
• Offline B2B: The brand’s first sales channel, supplying products to corporate offices, co-working spaces, hotels, hospitals, and airports.
• Online (Quick Commerce): The newest channel, with Utopian products available on Swiggy Instamart in seven metro cities: Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Delhi NCR, Kolkata, Chennai, and Hyderabad.

Utopian - Funding

Utopian - Growth Strategy

The vision for the company began during the pandemic when smoothies were first sold from the kitchen. The first 100 customers came with the help of simple WhatsApp marketing and limited online promotions, with deliveries handled through direct channels at minimal cost. After reaching 500 customers, it became clear that there was a real demand in the market, supporting the idea that this could be a serious business opportunity.

The brand spends very little on marketing. Utopian products have received great feedback, resulting in a 10x ROAS on marketing spends. The team uses cost-effective marketing tools in both offline and online spaces to keep marketing costs low.

As of Jan 2025, Utopian generates a monthly GMV of INR 12 lakhs.

Utopian - Marketing Strategy

Utopian regularly conducts sampling and tasting activities in small retail stores, exhibitions, and flea markets. This has been one of the most effective ways to grow the business. Sampling and tasting activities help boost sales in stores where the products are available, while exhibitions create demand by introducing the brand to new customers. Awareness campaigns play an important role in helping people understand what makes Utopian different and where they can buy the products when they want to make a purchase.

Utopian - Key Tools and Software

Utopian is an FMCG brand that is tech-enabled, extensively using software such as Bizom, Zoho Books, WooCommerce, Haptik, and MS Office.

Utopian - Startups Program/External Support

Utopian has received financial support from Riidl, the Somaiya College incubator, through the Government of India’s Nidhi Prayas Grant, which assisted in R&D and filing a patent for its shelf-stable products. The brand also secured funding under the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme from IIM Lucknow EIC (Incubator for IIM Lucknow), which helped the launch of its products in the market. Additionally, Utopian was incubated by NSRCEL (IIM Bangalore) and CIIE (IIM Ahmedabad) early in its journey, benefiting from their mentorship and guidance in entrepreneurship.

Utopian - Challenges Faced

Utopian’s first challenge was technical—developing beverages with a six-month shelf life, without refrigeration, and free from preservatives. It took 18 months of research and development to launch the first batch of products. This process involved multiple rounds of laboratory and factory testing to ensure the products were both high-quality and safe. Every batch underwent rigorous testing before finalising the formulations.

The current challenge lies in introducing these products to customers without excessive marketing expenditure. Utopian employs cost-effective marketing strategies, such as in-shop branding, posters, banners, and events for offline brand discovery, while also utilising targeted ads via Meta, Google, and marketplaces for online reach.

Utopian - Achievements and Recognitions

Utopian was featured on Season 4 of Shark Tank India. It was a valuable learning experience, where the Sharks appreciated the products and provided feedback on the business and positioning.

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Utopian - Competitors

Utopian's biggest competitor in the healthy juice segment is RAW Pressery, which was acquired by Wingreens World in 2021. RAW Pressery primarily focuses on offline and quick commerce channels, selling coconut water and other juice products, catering to the premium segment.

Other brands, such as Storia, Paperboat, Real Juice, and Tropicana, operate in the broader beverages and juices category. While they are not direct competitors, they serve as indirect competition due to their presence in the packaged drinks market.

Utopian - Future Plans

Utopian aims to expand sales on Quick Commerce platforms. Currently available in the top 7 metro cities via Swiggy Instamart, the brand plans to scale up to the top 30 cities across all Quick Commerce players.

For offline expansion, Utopian will continue to strengthen its presence in Maharashtra and other metro cities.

In terms of product development, the focus will be on expanding the healthy snacking segment. While the brand currently offers four flavours of makhana, future plans include launching dry fruits, ragi chips, and jowar puffs. Additionally, Utopian will explore new categories in the healthy beverage space.

FAQs

Who are the founders of Utopian?

Abhishek Sarwate and Shweta Tare Sarwate are the co-founders of Utopian.

What products does Utopian offer?

Utopian offers healthy juices, smoothies, and snacks like makhana. All products are made without preservatives or refined sugar.

How does Utopian distribute its products?

Utopian sells its products through general trade stores, B2B spaces like offices and hotels, and online via quick commerce platforms like Swiggy Instamart.