Harsh Kedia was just 14 when he was diagnosed with type 1.5 diabetes. After being constantly told what not to eat as a diabetic, Kedia began spending time in the kitchen, cooking dishes that would not just appeal to his palate but also conform to the imposed food restrictions.
Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults, or LADA, also referred to as 1.5 diabetes, has qualities of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Unlike type 2, type 1.5 cannot be reversed.
While this was the beginning of his journey to establish A Diabetic Chef and Conscious Mithaiwala, his love for food began much earlier on in life, when he was 8 years old.
"I used to visit a friend's house. His parents were working and I used to see him cook food by himself, and I used to wonder what he was up to. And then, while he used to do that, I thought I wanted to give it a shot as well. So he extended a hand in his kitchen. I just thought it would be nice to learn how things are. And I gradually developed an urge to cook."
Kedia, now 26, founded A Diabetic Chef in 2013 and Conscious Mithaiwala Sugarless Halwai in 2023.
His company A Diabetic Chef produces and sell zero-sugar confectionery like chocolates and spreads. Conscious Mithaiwala, on the other hand, is a shop selling Indian sweets and confectionery.
"Necessity was literary the mother of invention in my case! I had to look up a lot of things that I could eat, couldn't eat. A lot of knowledge-sharing helped me. A lot of like, conversations and interviews with the American Diabetes Federation, a lot of diabetologist."
The doors of Conscious Mithaiwala Sugarless Halwai opened on Sunday, October 22, 2023. Kedia expects good revenue from his physical store.
Kedia said the actual sales and profit numbers could not be disclosed as both his brands are in the middle of raising funds for the first time. Since its inception, A Diabetic Chef has grown 150% year-on-year, he claims.
Before embarking on his entrepreneurial journey, Kedia had worked with Foxy Moron (social media agency), Le 15 Patisserie, Mooch Design Studio (stationary manufacturer), House Of Kedi (gender-neutral clothing brand), and Brand And Butter (branding, strategy and design consultancy). He is a two-time Forbes India and Asia 30 under 30 winner. Kedia was also a contestant on Master Chef India Season 8.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research – India Diabetes (ICMR INDIAB) study published in 2023, the prevalence of diabetes in the country is 10.1 crores.
(Edited by : Ajay Vaishnav)
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