Originally reported and written in February 2023, this story has been republished as part of our archival content.

Bengaluru resident Harshavardhan S was content with his well-paying job in TATA Health and TATA Industries Limited, until one day in 2017, when he became aware of India’s horrific diabetes statistics.

That year, his company collaborated with the Telangana Government and launched a programme in which nearly 1.3 million people from the state were screened for diabetes. It was found that 2,600 of them had advanced diabetes. Surprisingly, none of them was aware of the illness. Without the diagnosis, their condition would have probably resulted in a cardiac arrest within six months, informs Harshavardhan, which could have been fatal.

“The insights from the screening programme helped the government to take action in terms of medication and diet interventions at rural levels. The fact that we could diagnose so many people with diabetes and enable corrective action to prevent further damage was very satisfying. I also realised that so much more needs to be done at all levels of society, especially on nutrition to reduce the risk from metabolic disorders, which are very often ignored,” he says.

The screening programme results pushed Harshavardhan to start a business with a philanthropic objective, but the same year, he was blessed with a daughter. As a new father, he wanted to make sure his daughter is exposed to better food choices than what he had while growing up.

So, he decided to get into the food industry and produce snacks that are nutritious and can be consumed by everyone — be it kids, adults or even people with diabetes, which led to the brand Lil’ Goodness.

Adding health to taste

“During my college days, I also developed bad snacking habits. Back then, I didn’t know that regular chocolates, including the so-called healthier ones, spike glucose. I used to have higher sugar levels although I exercised regularly,” he........

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