Doosra’s Do-Over: Inside Indian Snack Brand’s Packaging Revamp

New products in nascent categories tend to evolve dramatically in the first two years of launching as brands learn what is working and what needs to change.

New York City-based Indian snack startup Doosra has taken its early learnings and refreshed its packaging with a bolder design and smaller bags to lean into an entry-level price point at retail.

The brand’s revamped look brings back its previous iterations’ color palette while adding clearer callouts, a new font style and a playful logo featuring an animal mascot named Ladoo.

Doosra, which means “other” or “second” in Hindi, is a familiar take on a traditional Indian snack made from puffed chickpeas, or boondi, mixed with nuts, caramelized chocolate chips and masala spices in two varieties: Peanut White Chocolate and Walnut Dark Chocolate.

“We wanted it to read Indian, but not feel like the traditional tropes,” founder Kartik Das told Nosh. “All the feedback since launching was that it feels very Desi, or South Asian, and modern. It is cultural to the right degree. We wanted to keep that calling card.”

By using a similar color scheme, Doosra was able to keep its brand identity while also building out deeper ties to Indian culture.

The brand used Colorado-based Faven Creative for the refreshed design. Faven has worked with other South Asian brands Bollygood and Omsom as well as Fancypants, The Good Crisp Company and Little Saints.

Das knew he wanted the brand to wear its Indian roots on the package, but without the clichés of elephants or tigers, he said. Doosra landed on a rickshaw-riding Nilgiri marten, an endangered animal native to where Das was born in the Western Ghats region of India.

“We’ll take you on a fun joy ride through the Indian snack aisle,” he said, referencing some feedback he received during his on-stage appearance at the Nosh Live Pitch Slam in December.

Another piece of feedback Das had heard was how to formulate a vegan and peanut-free option. At a Nosh Live presentation by the Walnut Board, Das realized skinless walnuts could be the key to expanding Doosra’s portfolio options.

The last part of Doosra’s brand refresh was adjusting the pack size. The feedback Das received from retailers and consumers was to “get people to pick up the first bag.”

Doosra went from 6- and 10 oz. bags to 4- and 12 oz. options. This allowed the brand to meet consumers and retail buyers with a trial format (in the 4 oz. bag) while still keeping it under the $10 price point.

In its first two years, Doosra has received outreach to pitch into larger grocery chains like Whole Foods and Sprouts, but Das said it was not ready to scale to that level. Now, with a new look, the brand is looking ahead to lining up a major retail partner and to track the sales data from there.

“The goal for 2025 is to land one regional chain, anywhere between 20 and 30 stores,” Das said. “We’re not trying to go too big, too fast. 
I want to make sure we test velocity in one spot and nail the messaging.”