Alpino Health Foods

Founded in 2016 by a group of six friends in Gujarat, Alpino Health Foods was born out of a personal fitness journey. The founders were searching for a protein-rich, vegetarian food product and discovered a gap in India's peanut butter market. They decided to create a Made-in-India, natural peanut butter brand free from hydrogenated oils, preservatives, and refined sugar. With limited funds and big ambitions, Alpino launched operations with a clear mission: "To make India healthier with nutritious, affordable, and accessible food products." Chetan Kanani (CEO & Co-founder) is the company's primary spokesperson and strategic leader — the founder who handled most of the Shark Tank pitch negotiations and has led the post-show Alpino 2.0 revival. The six-founder structure — six equal co-founders from the same university — was the pitch's central governance concern for the Sharks. The Sharks were shocked that Alpino had not chosen a CEO, and Anupam stated that it could become a significant

Alpino Health Foods is India's pioneering premium natural peanut butter brand — manufacturing a range of gluten-free, non-GMO, vegan, preservative-free, and refined-sugar-free protein-rich food products (peanut butter in multiple variants, peanut butter powder, muesli, apple cider vinegar, almond butter, chocolate spreads, and the world's first 100% peanut-based protein powder) using 100% roasted Indian peanuts, sold across 20+ e-commerce platforms and 6,000+ offline retail touchpoints, targeting India's growing health-conscious fitness community.

Amount Asked: ₹1.5 crore Equity Offered: 2% Implied Pre-Money Valuation: ₹75 crore

Alpino's pitch was the third and final of Episode 25 — closing an episode that had already featured PawsIndia's pet care marketplace and Spandan's all-five-Shark medical device deal. Six founders walked in together — a striking visual statement about the company's collaborative culture — and pitched one of Season 1's largest revenue companies with one of its most confident valuations. The pitch highlighted the clean-label proposition, the fitness community endorsements (KL Rahul), the scale (3,000+ offline stores, 20+ online platforms), and the revenue trajectory (₹35 crore across 3 years). The product was sampled by the Sharks — clean-label peanut butter, tasted and compared against the category norm. The governance concern — no CEO among six equal co-founders — was the pitch's most significant friction point, surfaced by Anupam and not effectively resolved during the presentation.

Ghazal Alagh was the first to exit — on the same portfolio conflict that had removed her from PawsIndia. Ghazal Alagh was the first Shark to pull out because she had already invested in Alpino's competitor, My Fitness. Vineeta Singh and Namita Thapar formed the first coalition, offering ₹1.5 crore for 10% equity. Their combined expertise — Vineeta's premium D2C brand building and Namita's healthcare and distribution networks — was genuinely complementary for a health food brand seeking to scale. Anupam Mittal and Peyush Bansal made a competing offer of ₹1.5 crore for 9% equity, with Peyush making Season 1's most personal commitment statement. Peyush emphasised the size of his business and the valuable experience he could provide to Alpino. He committed to sticking with them for the next 10 years, no matter what happened.

Namita and Vineeta made the first offer of ₹1.5 crores for 10% equity. Peyush and Anupam offered ₹1.5 crore for 9% equity. Namita countered with 8.5% for ₹1.5 crores. Alpino made a counteroffer to Peyush for ₹1.5 crores for 2.5% equity. In a final counteroffer, four Sharks jointly offered ₹1.5 crores for 8% equity. However, Alpino Foods was unwilling to give more than 5% equity, so the deal was off. The negotiation gap: the Sharks' lowest collective offer was 8% equity; the founders' highest counter was 5%. A 3 percentage point gap — at ₹75 crore implied valuation — represented a ₹2.25 crore difference in value. Neither side blinked. The founders walked away from four Sharks' combined network and capital rather than accept what they considered an unfair valuation. Post-show performance (₹100 crore revenue by FY26) suggests the founders' self-valuation was correct.

On-Screen Deal: NO DEAL — Four-Shark joint offer declined on equity grounds