A profound love for their hometown, Kanyakumari, led three friends to start Purely South in 2023. Selling premium, locally sourced, familiar, but elevated products from baby food to natural sweetener powders, the brand looks to position itself as a high-end, one-stop shop for parents.
Purely South’s origin story
Jester Thomas used to be a full-time digital marketer in Dubai, running two Kanyakumari-based pages on the side: one for memes and one for tourism. He wasn’t looking to make money out of these; it was simply a deep-rooted love for his town. His house was always stocked with his favourite snacks, a small reminder of home. The pull of his hometown, Kanyakumari, was too strong to resist. He came back, wanting to start his own business.
“Kanyakumari was special to me, so it made sense to do something to promote it. I wanted to start with Nagercoil banana chips. I found an existing brand called Enchipsu, run by Viswanathan, who is now the co-founder of Purely South, along with my wife, Divya. I take care of the marketing and digital strategy, Vishwa branding and operations, and Divya does the product R&D and finance,” Jester shares. It started with nostalgia, and soon the dream went beyond the town.
Things went south in a good way
Regarding the brand’s name and logo, he explains that although they initially focused on Kanyakumari-based products, they wanted to concentrate on South India as a whole, rather than being limited to just one town. The palm leaf in their logo represents the rich South Indian culture, and the earthy brown tone evokes warmth. They wanted to convey the sentiment of ‘tradition meets purity.’
When it came to market research and executing their vision, they found a clear gap. No well-branded companies were doing what they planned to. They wanted their brand to have an international, high-end feel and promote it globally. They were determined to build up from scratch and position themselves as a premium brand, focusing on the best quality products. It wasn’t easy to start a business in the highly competitive food industry.
Going bananas for babies
Talking about the initial days of building Purely South, he brings to light some of their starting problems. “We started with raw materials first, like karupatti, cardamom, and cashews. Soon after, we listed some value-added products, like Nendran banana milk mix. We realised then that people were more interested in those products, as compared to the raw materials; everyone wanted convenience. As a new business, this phase taught us what we had to do to achieve market fit. Our target audience was too broad; we needed to hone in, but where? Right around this time, Divya and I had our first child, Diya, and soon after, Vishwa had a baby too. Our focus shifted towards baby food, but it was by chance. We fed Diya raw nendran banana powder, along with palm candy, and she enjoyed both. We figured that this was the natural next step for our business—the baby food sector. She changed everything for us,” he recalls fondly.
A major challenge is customers wondering if the banana powder has been tampered with by adding maida or colour. Jester clarifies, “We get bananas from different markets and farms for each batch, so there are bound to be colour changes. Sometimes the bananas are yellow, sometimes white, and sometimes grey. It’s perfectly natural and there’s nothing to worry about.”
Challenges crop up constantly while running a business, delivery being one of them. The first-ever order on the website went badly. The delivery partner replaced the products and delivered tissues, leading to a very upset customer. Some people ask for cash on delivery and refuse to pay once they receive the order. Returns take time, and often, the products are damaged or expired by then, which is a huge loss for the company. What made it all worth it was the overwhelmingly positive feedback from parents.
Purely South’s full range of products
Pure food, empty plates
“Parents loved our products. They noticed healthy weight gain, and the babies weren’t fussing about the taste. We kept receiving photos of empty plates! I don’t think you can get a better testament than that,” he laughs. “This motivated us to add more products like sprouted ragi powder, brown rice cereal, and red banana powder. Most of our inputs come from our customers; they request foods that they want, and Divya tries a few iterations to see if it works. If it does, we make small batches. We are lucky that our customers love and trust the brand for their babies; it’s not easy to try new things for kids. Sometimes, they call and talk to us for 30-40 minutes; it’s so heartwarming. Their suggestions are our priority, along with our own market research, when it comes to developing products. We have catered to over 25,000 customers now,” he says proudly. Customers have left rave reviews, praising Purely South’s baby food range. One mother told them that her baby’s calcium levels went up. Another mother said there was a clear improvement in health.
In a fast-moving world, convenience is everything, especially if you have a baby attached to your hip. Customers asked for instant mixes to take on the go, and Purely South delivered. Just add hot water to their instant baby food mix and let it rest for 5 minutes—you have a healthy, ready-to-eat meal for your baby! For the formulation, Jester smiles, it is recipes by Divya, testing by Diya. For the three friends, the new role of parenthood brought new ideas.
How their raw banana powder is manufactured
Baby steps forward
Purely South started a podcast called ‘Purely Moms’, an innovative platform for parents to share their stories and tips. They don’t promote their products; it is simply a community for parents to share their personal journeys, the highs and lows of raising children. They want to gradually invite paediatricians and child psychologists to speak as well.
When it comes to sourcing and manufacturing, everything is done locally within Tamil Nadu. Nendran bananas and red bananas come from markets in Nagercoil and Tirunelveli, and palm products come from Udangudi. They have multiple manufacturing units: his friend takes care of the baby food, after receiving the recipe formula and places to source from. In the future, Jester’s mother will be manufacturing a new, exciting product line.
Jester describes their plans for the future. “The next step for us is to have Purely South products on shop shelves. We have also been bombarded with requests from our biggest customer bases, Chennai, Bangalore and Coimbatore, to list our items on quick commerce platforms like Instamart or Zepto. It’s a long process, and the commission rates are through the roof, but we hope to find the right fit for us soon. You learn something new every day.”
Behind the scenes of Purely South’s videos and photos
Small lessons, ripe growth
On the topic of lessons learnt along the way, Jester has a lot to share, “The number one thing is to take care of our customers. When someone approaches us, asking if the products are suitable for infants, we tell them to consult their doctor first, and if they approve, we send the product to them. If they think our methods are not ideal, we’re okay with losing the sale. We want to be honest with the customers; our aim is not just to make sales, but we want to really help out. Trust is of utmost importance to us, and it has paid off, since most people hear of us through word of mouth and referrals, as well as the way we convey our story.”
Jester holds pride in the brand’s storytelling. “I think, for us, storytelling is what helped our brand come this far. Vishwa writes, films, and edits our videos, in which Divya speaks. We have a whole documentary on how we make our banana powders, which we send to anyone who has doubts about what goes into our products. We aim for a truthful, transparent, and authentic portrayal of our story and products. We believe that’s what sets us apart and will allow us to expand,” he concludes.
Purely South continues to grow, one batch, one baby, and one beautiful smile at a time. Their bestsellers, Nendran Banana Powder, Dates Powder, Karupatti Podi, and more can be found on their website www.purelysouth.com
For further details check the website https://purelysouth.com/
