Revant Himatsingka Revolution as Foodpharmer on Packaged Foods

Whether you are ordering from grocery delivery apps or visiting grocery stores, we come across numerous packaged products that say “no sugar added”, “whole wheat”, and “cashew rich” labels. But wait, how much of it is true and how much of the claim is present in the product? Do you check the ingredient list? Or are you convinced by the label “healthy”? With all such doubts, Revant Himatsingka started a mission to expose the marketing gimmicks that fooled us. With a social media channel, he’s decoding food labels and revolutionising how India must eat. Was he successful? Let’s read how Revant, with a Wharton MBA, left a two-crore rupees job fighting a billion-dollar packaged food industry as Food Pharmer.

The Early Years

Revant was born and raised in Kolkata, West Bengal, in an upper-middle-class family. His mother was a homemaker, and his father ran a family business. He was a skinny kid who was bullied. As a kid, who wouldn’t love junk food? He, too, loved chips and sugary drinks. Even today, most adults care more about taste than health. Back then, he was just a kid who would obviously rule out health.

The more he grew the more more his thoughts toward healthier living began. After studying for a year at Carnegie Mellon University, he moved to NYU Stern School of Business where he double-majored in Finance and Management. Later, he earned an MBA in Operations and Business Analytics from Wharton. While pursuing his education he was learning and making himself aware of how cleverly the food industry manipulates consumers. Like every other influencer with goals to reform, revolutionise and potentially try his luck at content creation he started his influencer journey. One must choose a niche to move forward. He decided this while working as a management consultant at McKinsey in San Francisco. Revant was advising companies that were part of the problem he worked against. His consulting clients were the same corporations whose misleading marketing tactics he felt he must expose. I say this is a pretty bold, ethical and hypothetical situation he was in and he chose to turn them in.

What’s the Turning Point?

Revant became a certified health coach through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in 2015. This was a career shift for him. Around the same time, he began writing his first book, Selfienomics: A Seriously Funny Guide to Living the Good Life. It became a bestseller and earned him the title of the youngest Indian author, published by Bloomsbury.

However, his passion for health literacy took off when he realised he must do something about food labels during one of his grocery runs. The more he learned, the angrier he became, and he realised how companies use terms like “natural” and “organic” only to mislead consumers.

A controversy ghat on the giant.

He posted a video on Mondelez, the makers of Bournvita, for its overuse of sugar and claimed that it is a healthy energy drink for kids. The video took a world tour through Instagram gathering over 12 million views. Mondelez being a giant, got angry too and threw a legal notice at him, forcing him to take down the video. By the time he replied to the notice, the public understood what they could watch and listen to from Foodpharmer and even the Ministry of Commerce issued a notice to remove Bournvita’s “health drink” tag.

What Makes Foodpharmer Click?

Foodpharmer clearly and cleverly represents his belief that food is medicine. His mission? To make the entire 140 crore population of India health-literate. He’s come a bit close, with over 2.7 million followers on Instagram and 1.2 million subscribers on YouTube. His content uses humour and hard-hitting facts to teach Indians how to read food labels and make smart choices.

He stresses that the three main goals are ambitious and necessary to all of us.

• Stop FMCG companies from marketing junk food as healthy.
• Promote clean businesses.
• Teach Indians to read food labels.

Revant also addresses and demands the Government of India for school health education, warning labels of ‘high sugar’ and ‘palm oil’ on unhealthy foods and QR codes on food packets for multilingual accessibility.

What did Revant sacrifice and what did he achieve?

He left a high-paying job to deal with legal notices from multinational corporations. Revant survived even at great personal cost, while his family initially thought his decision was ‘crazy.’

Revant earns between $26,120 and $35,760 monthly, with an annual income crossing $400,000. His overall Instagram viewership has hit over 1 billion views.

Why do people like Revant matter?

It’s a wake-up call for a country that battles lifestyle diseases like diabetes and obesity. Isn’t it simple and better if we learn to read food labels than coding.

I say health literacy must start young, and parents must sow healthy habits in children. Personally, I feel kids must avoid junk food until they reach adolescence to prevent health issues later that seem silly but dangerous.

The next time you’re at the grocery store or scrolling through delivery apps, don’t just grab everything that screams healthy. Flip it over or open the image, read the label and make a wise choice. After all, whether you eat to live or live to eat, food is not just what you eat; it’s what you become.

Are you ready to join Revant Himatsingka’s revolution?

Follow him, spread the word in your circle, reiterate his content and get healthy!

Did Foodpharmer’s “Label Padhega India” Make A Difference? Click Here to Read