January 22, 2020 • 7 mins
Nick Desai the CEO of Peatos joined KFI's Jane Wells to talk about his innovative new company that's taking on the junk food snack industry by offering a much healthy alternative to other types of snacks.
Desai describes his product as a crunchy puff snack (like Cheetos), made with peas instead of corn. The snack was born out of Desai's many visits to his grandparents' home in India, where he says he was introduced to the Indian world of junk food snacks.
"When we go to India, I was exposed to the India world of junk food snacks - also fried, also crunchy, also delicious," said Desai. However, he says there was a key difference between American snacks and the ones he ate in India - the Indian junk food snacks were made out of peas and lentils, which as it turns out, is much healthier for people than the ones made of corn or potatoes like we find in the United States.
When Desai examined the nutritional profiles of American snacks vs the ones made out of peas and lentils, he realized Indian junk food snacks had 2x the protein and 3x the fiber. The peas/lentils snacks were also non-GMO and naturally gluten-free.
While he had a great product, Desai says he still needed money and expertise to make his company succeed. To do that, he turned to the network he'd created during his time as an investment banker. After dozens of cold calls and some rejections, Desai found the money he needed to get his company off the ground.
Desai describes his product as a crunchy puff snack (like Cheetos), made with peas instead of corn. The snack was born out of Desai's many visits to his grandparents' home in India, where he says he was introduced to the Indian world of junk food snacks.
"When we go to India, I was exposed to the India world of junk food snacks - also fried, also crunchy, also delicious," said Desai. However, he says there was a key difference between American snacks and the ones he ate in India - the Indian junk food snacks were made out of peas and lentils, which as it turns out, is much healthier for people than the ones made of corn or potatoes like we find in the United States.
When Desai examined the nutritional profiles of American snacks vs the ones made out of peas and lentils, he realized Indian junk food snacks had 2x the protein and 3x the fiber. The peas/lentils snacks were also non-GMO and naturally gluten-free.
While he had a great product, Desai says he still needed money and expertise to make his company succeed. To do that, he turned to the network he'd created during his time as an investment banker. After dozens of cold calls and some rejections, Desai found the money he needed to get his company off the ground.
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