Parth Mutha (MET’24) works from noon in Boston until as early—or late, in his case—as 6 am the next morning to accommodate his coworkers back in India. Photo courtesy of Mutha

Business

A Family Recipe Turns into a Successful Vegan-Friendly Snack Company

Parth Mutha (MET’24) tinkered during the pandemic to create PROMUNCH, a soybean-based treat

As a vegetarian and a competitive tennis player, Parth Mutha remembers how difficult it was to find healthy, protein-rich snacks after workouts. He often munched on foods like potato chips and puffs, which were not healthful, and while delicious, didn’t leave him feeling satisfied.

During the COVID quarantine in 2021, with plenty of free time, Mutha (MET’24) began playing with several recipes to come up with a tasty, filling treat.

His creation was PROMUNCH, a soybean-based snack. The crunchy, protein-enriched balls are coated in Indian-inspired flavors like noodle masala and peri peri. Currently, the PROMUNCH combo packs of the soy snack are around $17.

Now Mutha, a graduate student studying global marketing management, is believed to be the first BU student to have a product featured on Amazon. “It’s surreal to see my products available on Amazon, knowing that this journey began in my kitchen,” says Mutha.

Once he told his family his plan, they became like Santa’s elves, taste-testing and helping with the production along the way. When Mutha’s grandmother told him his late grandfather used to make a similar snack—a recipe the couple came up with independently—it made him happy and proud.

He began selling PROMUNCH in person at the end of 2021, and eventually did so well that he moved to online sales. Mutha credits much of PROMUNCH’s growth to BUild Lab IDG Capital Student Innovation Center, a collaborative space that helps BU students develop business ideas. Jen Migliore, the director of external affairs at Innovate@BU, inspired him to expand the snack start-up after he attended the IDEA Conference at the Questrom School of Business last February.

Perhaps by fate or just coincidence, Mutha applied to the BUild Lab Innovation Pathway, a self-paced program supporting BU students’ business ventures on the last day they were available. Since then, Mutha has been laboring through the “run stage,” where he has to verify that PROMUNCH can be scaled larger.

PROMUNCH has increasingly gained customers, with help from word-of-mouth reviews, small business events, consistent social media marketing, and website sales.

“Witnessing the growth and success of students like him is why we do what we do,” Migliore says. “Their dedication and innovative approach serve as an inspiration to the entire BU community.”

Overcoming bumps

Despite the newfound success, the journey from Mutha’s kitchen to Amazon storefronts in India and the United States was not without difficulties. A pandemic baby, the PROMUNCH launch was initially delayed when Mutha contracted COVID, resulting in a several-months-long pushback on the launch date.

Parth’s younger brother Khush Mutha, who started as an intern for the company and is now PROMUNCH’s manager of special projects, says initial customer feedback had some criticism of the snacks, and they took those critiques seriously.

“A lot of people actually told [us] how they felt like [the snacks were] pretty dry, and we also noticed the size of the balls was not uniform,” Khush says. These issues prompted Mutha to tweak the recipe and upgrade the production machine used to make the snacks.

It may not be surprising to hear that the workday of an entrepreneur is very long, Mutha says. He works from noon in Boston until as early—or late, in his case—as 6 am the next morning to accommodate his coworkers back in India.

Now, PROMUNCH boasts a small yet mighty team of five people. In addition, the snack start-up is working with influencers and campus ambassadors who earn a stipend and free PROMUNCH snacks. Even with the help from family and friends, Mutha says, the challenges of running his own business take a toll. “On some days, you just feel like, is it really worth it?” he says. “You have…101 reasons to make you feel that your [effort] is not worth it.”

Mutha got a big lift when PROMUNCH was recently featured as Amazon’s Choice on Amazon India. The healthy snack was recognized for being “highly rated, well-priced and available to ship immediately.”

Customers have also fueled Mutha’s motivation to embark on his entrepreneurial journey. At a food-and-drink exhibition of over 1,500 attendees, one mother shared how PROMUNCH was a healthy alternative to her child’s old diet of junk food and noodles, which reassured Mutha that his product was encouraging healthier lifestyles.

He aims to continue making his snacks healthy and tasty. The company recently sent its second shipment of snacks to Amazon USA, and in the coming months, Mutha plans to add seven more flavors. He hopes to expand further into the US market, and then to Amazon United Arab Emirates and Australia over the next three years.

He reiterates that his goal for PROMUNCH is to bridge the gap in protein deficiency for vegetarians, especially for those back home in India. And if you’re wondering, Mutha does not assume the title of CEO or CFO. In fact, he is the self-proclaimed chief happiness officer at PROMUNCH.

“I have been known as the funniest person and most mischievous, so I’ve always been helping people [be] happy and bring out their best version of themselves,” he says.