Chennai, Sept. 13 -- Krishna Kumar's morning routine begins with yoga and meditation at 5.30am, followed by high-protein yogurt with no-sugar granola, Blue Tokai coffee and a light breakfast accompanied by cut fruits or fresh juice. Almost all the food is sourced from FirstClub, a Bengaluru-based premium online grocery startup launched in 2025.

The 52-year-old senior bank executive, who was once fond of sweets and sugary drinks, has over the past decade cut sugar, taken up yoga, and turned vegetarian. Greater awareness and spending power pushed him towards clean-label, low-preservative, organic, and "better" quality food.

What Kumar did not want, however, was for every grocery purchase to become an exercise in checking labels. That is w...