Brands
Gramiyaa packs cold-pressed oils in cartons to preserve freshness
BENGALURU: India’s cooking oil aisle is getting a makeover. Gramiyaa, a Bengaluru-based producer of wood cold-pressed oils, has launched what it claims is the country’s first gable-top carton packaging for cooking oils—a format designed to keep oils fresher for longer.
The redesigned packaging, unveiled under the brand’s Fresh Drip campaign, swaps conventional plastic and glass bottles for fully opaque, nitrogen-flushed cartons. The company says this locks in freshness from seed to seal, preserving aroma and nutrition that typically degrade in traditional packaging.
“Packaging is only part of the story,” said Gramiyaa founder Sibi Manivannan. “We go the extra mile to ensure our oils stay fresh naturally.” The brand employs natural sedimentation and cotton fabric filtration to remove seed residue that can turn rancid and accelerate spoilage.
Each batch undergoes a three-step process: natural seed sedimentation allows particles to settle slowly; cotton fabric filtration removes residual sediments; and nitrogen flush sealing removes oxygen before sealing to prevent oxidation and nutrient loss. The carton’s multi-layer opaque design blocks light and air, whilst a double-seal provides an airtight barrier that locks in aroma even after opening.
All Gramiyaa oils are wood cold-pressed in-house at the company’s facility in Trichy, Tamil Nadu. Each carton features a QR code revealing exactly when and where the oil was pressed. The brand controls the entire supply chain—sourcing directly from farmers, manufacturing, lab-testing and packaging on-site.
“The cooking oil industry hasn’t changed its packaging in nearly a century,” added Manivannan. “We asked ourselves—if freshness is what matters most, why not design for it?”
The brand offers a range of wood cold-pressed oils, including groundnut, coconut, sesame and mustard oil, catering to diverse culinary traditions whilst preserving natural flavour and aroma.
As health-conscious Indians increasingly reject heavily processed oils, Gramiyaa is betting that what works for milk and juice can work for the kitchen staple that’s been sold in bottles since before independence. The real test will be whether consumers are willing to pour their cooking oil from a carton.
Brands
Faber-Castell India appoints Sunaina Haldar as director – marketing
With stints at Tata, SleepyCat and ADF Foods under her belt, Haldar is primed to redraw Faber-Castell’s brand story
MUMBAI: Faber-Castell India has poached Sunaina Haldar from ADF Foods, appointing her director – marketing as the German stationery brand looks to muscle up in a category that is rapidly reinventing itself around creativity and self-expression.
Haldar hit the ground running. “My first couple of weeks have been incredibly energising, understanding consumers, visiting markets, engaging with retailers and immersing myself into the world of Faber-Castell Group,” she said.
She arrives with considerable firepower. At ADF Foods, Haldar ran marketing across India and international markets for a portfolio spanning Ashoka, Aeroplane, Camel and ADF Soul. Before that, she was vice-president – marketing at direct-to-consumer mattress brand SleepyCat, where she helmed brand, content and performance marketing. Her résumé also includes a stint leading marketing, new product development and CRM for Tata SmartFoodz at Tata Consumer Products, no small proving ground.
Between corporate roles, Haldar also operated as a fractional CMO for early-stage startups, building marketing strategy and operational structures from scratch, a signal that she knows how to move fast with limited resources.
With 18 years straddling FMCG, D2C and the startup world, Haldar now takes the reins at a brand that has long owned the classroom but is clearly hungry for the living room. In a stationery market where the pencil has become a lifestyle statement, Faber-Castell has picked someone who knows exactly how to sell that story.
