From a Jar of Pickle to The Ooragai Originals
Every year, Avinash and Sindhu looked forward to the same thing β a jar of pickle from their grandmothers.
It was something so simple, yet it meant so much. That jar carried the taste of home, memories of their grandmothers and the feeling of being connected to family, even from miles away.
Then, in 2020, COVID changed everything.
For the first time, the familiar pickle jar never arrived. That small absence made them realise how deeply food can connect us to the people and places we love.
They tried buying pickles from outside, but nothing tasted quite like home. Some were full of preservatives, while others simply couldn't recreate the authentic Andhra flavours they had grown up with.
They also noticed something bigger: the recipes themselves were slowly being lost. Pickles, podis and festival delicacies that their grandmothers had perfected over generations were no longer being passed down in the same way.
That led to a simple thought: What if we could keep these flavours alive and bring them to more people?
The dream was to build a brand that could become synonymous with authentic Andhra food.
In April 2025, Sindhu decided to turn that dream into reality. She joined hands with her cousin Harsha, who shared her entrepreneurial spirit, and together they started The Ooragai Originals.
But they didn't rush to launch. From May to September 2025, they spent their weekends at flea markets across Bengaluru, meeting customers, listening to feedback, testing products and understanding everything from flavours to pricing.
Five months later, they were ready. The Ooragai Originals officially launched in October 2025.
Around the same time, the brand was onboarded onto FirstClub after going through its product screening process, including restrictions on 200+ harmful ingredients such as artificial colours, flavours and preservatives. For the team, it was an important validation of the standards they had set for themselves.
There were plenty of doubts along the way β from why people with tech and MBA backgrounds were entering the food business, to whether a new brand could compete in a crowded pickle and podi market.
They chose to let the food answer those questions.
Today, The Ooragai Originals is #1 in the pickles and chutneys categories, has served 5,000+ D2C customers, and has grown to 10,000+ monthly orders within nine months of launch.
But this is only the beginning.
Our ambition is simple: whenever someone thinks of authentic Andhra food, we want The Ooragai Originals to be the name that comes to mind.
