Kick-starting the day on a healthy note: Breakfast in a bowl is revamping the first meal

BENGALURU: Eat breakfast like a ‘healthy’ king is the new mantra of Bengaluru’s population of professionals. Kick-starting the day with breakfast-in-a-bowl like a power cereal bowl or a healthy smoothie mix is the new cool in the IT city. Food delivery platform Swiggy says that Bengaluru leads the pack in India in the breakfast bowl segment.

Srivats TS, VP (marketing) for Swiggy, says, “Bengaluru orders five times more breakfast bowls than Mumbai and Delhi put together. Indiranagar orders the most number of breakfast bowls, followed by Koramangala and JP Nagar.”

Bowl meals have been popular with Bengalureans for convenience. The trend has now spilled over to the first meal of the day, especially on weekends. Popular orders are gunpowder idli bowl to farm fresh fruit bowl and chia granola bowl.


Eateries too are clocking new numbers. From three bowls on its menu a year ago, Fresh Pressery café chain has ten options today. It also home-delivers about 80 bowls per day in areas like Lavelle Road, Richmond Road, Indiranagar and Koramangala. The menu dots smoothie bowls with nuts, fruits, wheatgrass powder and oats to banana bread soaked in coconut milk. A probiotic yoghurt bowl is on the cards.

Observing how the trend has percolated into Bengaluru from California and Bali, founder Rishaad Vazirally says, “Social media and extensive travel have fuelled this trend among millennials.”

At Raw Straw café in Kalyan Nagar, breakfast bowls are made with in-house ingredients. Options include berry smoothie with apple, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, dates, oats and milk; a green detox bowl; to cinnamon dolce with banana, apple, dark cocoa powder, cinnamon and milk.

The café also receives orders from homes in Kalyan Nagar, Kasturi Nagar and Manyata Tech Park. Owner Mahitha CK says, “Interestingly, 70% of our bowl sales are driven by men looking for a nutritious start. Of late, it is emerging popular with children too.”

Café Felix has added a granola bowl with low-fat yogurt, dry fruits and nuts.

Mimansa in Koramangala has options like a sweet millet porridge with cardamom, chia, dried fruits and nuts to puffed amaranth and cranberry fig granola with coconut chia pudding.

Rising popularity of good-looking breakfast bowls on tables of celebrities like Malaika Arora and Shilpa Shetty on social media has millennials hooked.

Like fitness-enthusiast Medha Rao. Her daily ritual involves preparing a bowl by reading recipes online. It includes smoothie bowls, cereal bowls or cream bowls using bananas, avocados, multi-grain porridge, and dark chocolate.

“It ensures that I don’t overeat. The popularity of pretty bowls on social media handles that promote healthy eating and veganism inspired me,” says Rao.

Agrees Pallavi Gupta, founder of city-based online nutrition retailer Nutty Yogi. She has noted a 20-25% monthly growth in sales. “Popular ingredients are walnut granola, berries muesli, dark chocolate, wheatgrass powders, coffee oats to seed trail mix. I get maximum orders from Indiranagar and Whitefield,” says Gupta.