The natives of Kozhikode hold a reverence for the Kozhikoden halwa. And startup ‘Fulva’ is now delivering it across India.

The Kerala-based brand serves authentic traditional food products sourced from small-scale producers. It touched a milestone with a Rs 84 lakh turnover.

The simple blend of water, sugar, corn starch, coconut oil, citrus salt, and flavourings has a cult following.

The brand was started by four childhood friends — Shabas Ahamed N C, Sanu Muhammed C, Irfan Safar S, and Thesreef Ali P K, who gorged on the sweet while growing up.

Realising that the halwa boasts many more flavours than is made available in the market on popular demand, the friends decided to design the platform which would be an umbrella for the different varieties of the Kozhikoden halwa.

Recalling their first package, Sanu shares it was a box with 24 halwa varieties which included halwa flavours like dry coconut, green chilli, watermelon, kiwi, carrot, pomegranate, and passion fruit variety.

The brand sources from the halwais, ensuring that the authentic taste of the halwa is preserved while empowering them to earn.

As Sanu shares, “These small-scale manufacturers have underutilised facilities. While they have a big capacity, they do not have much time to meet the demand.” Their observation was that in the quest to cut costs, these bakeries usually slack on some hygiene protocols.

So, Fulva makes a deal with the halwai, issuing them a set of SOPs that must be met before the partnership is started.

“We insist on high-quality ingredients and the use of gloves and masks. We bear the cost of any excess requirements that are needed for the hygiene criteria to be met. This also includes renovating their facilities free of charge,” Sanu notes.

The startup also delivers abroad to the UK, Turkey, Germany and UAE.

The friends are attempting to go beyond Kozhikoden halwa and introduce authentic and traditional snacks prepared by homemakers and small-scale manufacturers that can be delivered to people’s doorsteps.

These will include samosas (a savoury pastry), Kozhikoden sweets, Kerala banana chips, and Malabar snacks like Kozhi ada (chicken bites).