How did we start?

It was one of those evenings in my earlier startup office - sprint updates, product releases, metric breakdowns. I had a late lunch, then coffee soon after, and then another one. Someone brought maida cookies and fried chips into the meeting, and of course, we hopped on to it. Only to realize it was messing with our energy, not just our hands.

That wasn’t just one evening - it was most evenings. And mornings. And sometimes weekends too. The truth is, in the middle of building things, I was breaking myself. The long hours weren’t the problem. It was what I was putting into my body to keep going. Coffee, chocolates, fried snacks - none of it could really keep up with my hustle. It didn’t just hit my productivity, it started hitting my health too. And that’s when I knew I had to take charge. 

It started with bringing better things to our pantry - protein bars, “healthy” chips, dry fruits, and nuts. For a while, it felt like an upgrade. But soon I realised something: in an office setup, with such diverse taste palettes, those dry bulky bars or bland chips didn’t really land. What people actually looked for was something familiar. And more often than not, that meant sweet. Because when you’re stressed, racing deadlines, or staring at screens all day, sweetness hits the right spot.

But not the kind of sweet that comes from refined sugar and crashes you the very next minute. What we needed was sweetness that could sustain and crash-free. That’s where dates, nuts, and dry fruits came to the rescue. Familiar, wholesome, and naturally energizing.

Another quick learning? People are busy. Too busy. They don’t have the time or patience for anything complicated. What they need is something quick, convenient, and easy to carry - whether it’s to a meeting, on their desk, or even in their bag on the go.

And that’s when the idea of FUELL truly clicked. Dry fruit ingredients rooted in familiarity, packed with natural energy, and crafted into something bite-sized, tasty, and convenient for the modern workday.

Looking back now, I can’t say it was a smooth road. Starting anything never is. But the reason behind FUELL was, and still is, simple: to give every hustler something better to power their day.

That’s how we started. Not in a boardroom. But in a startup office, where the hustle was real and the fuel was missing.