From Balance Sheets to Better Spices: Founder CA Bhautik Viradiya & MASALYA’s Journey Toward Safer Food

Spices are consumed daily in Indian households, yet they remain one of the least questioned food categories. While packaging and branding have evolved, processing transparency and food safety accountability have not kept pace.

MASALYA was founded to address this gap—not as a repackaging venture, but as a process-led food safety initiative.

Founder - CA Bhautik Viradiya

The founder, CA Bhautik Viradiya, a Chartered Accountant by profession, spent years analysing risk, compliance failures, and system weaknesses across industries. That perspective shaped a fundamental question: Why is food safety still treated as optional when spices are consumed every day?

The search for answers began more than 1.5 years before MASALYA’s launch, with extensive travel across India’s spice belts. CA Bhautik Viradiya engaged with farmers, FPOs, traders, processors, doctors, and professors to understand where contamination actually enters the supply chain. The conclusion was clear: the largest risks arise after harvest, during cleaning, drying, storage, and grinding.

Conventional spice processing prioritises speed and scale. Cleaning removes visible dirt but not chemical residues. Drying is rushed, increasing moisture retention. Grinding generates heat, degrading nutrients. Testing, if done at all, is often limited to raw material samples.

MASALYA chose a different path.

The brand invested early in research, experimentation, and validation, with strong academic support from SDAU, Dantiwada. Professors and mentors helped design and test alternative processing methods using advanced campus machinery and laboratory infrastructure. Multiple trials were conducted to optimise ozone cleaning parameters, drying moisture targets, grinding temperatures, and storage conditions.

This phase was expensive and time-consuming. Many batches were discarded. Several experiments failed. But this groundwork helped MASALYA build a process that prioritises cleanliness, safety, and nutritional integrity over speed.

MASALYA’s process begins with raw material testing before procurement. Post-cleaning is carried out using ozone-based decontamination, reducing microbial and surface contaminants without leaving chemical residues. Controlled solar drying minimises fungal growth and aflatoxin risk. Spices are then stored in cold storage to protect volatile compounds before grinding.

Grinding is done using cold grinding and traditional methods, preserving natural aroma and flavour. Finally, the finished product undergoes laboratory testing, with reports shared transparently with consumers through QR code access.

This level of transparency sets MASALYA apart. The brand openly acknowledges natural variation in colour and aroma, explaining that climate, soil, and crop cycles influence spices. Cosmetic uniformity, MASALYA argues, often hides aggressive processing or additives.

The upcoming February launch will feature Guntur red chilli powder, mountain turmeric, bamboo salt, chicken masala, and mutton masala, while ongoing research continues on cumin, coriander seeds, and other whole spices.

MASALYA does not aim for rapid scale. Its philosophy is to build trust before expansion, process before promotion. CA Bhautik Viradiya believes that as consumers become more informed, they will demand evidence, not assurances.

As India’s food ecosystem matures, the spice industry faces a necessary reset. MASALYA represents a shift toward science-backed, transparent, and accountable food practices—built the hard way, but built to last.

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