High-protein atta brand MILLD has reached nearly 600,000 homes across 1,700-plus Indian cities, with fresh order data showing that India’s protein-nutrition boom is being led by Tier-2 and Tier-3 consumers rather than metro India.
The brand, co-founded by Sivaram Briyas and Prashant Pitti (also known as the co-founder of EaseMyTrip), has posted 50% month-on-month growth for nine consecutive months since its November 2025 launch. According to the company’s own order data, the top five metros now account for just 38% of all orders — meaning the majority of MILLD’s growth is coming from smaller towns. Cities like Mohali, Nagpur, Dehradun, Bhopal, Raipur, Vadodara and Pune have posted growth multipliers of 6x to 9x between December 2025 and June 2026, with the product also gaining traction in towns like Jamnagar, Thrissur and Muzaffarnagar. Repeat purchase behaviour is strong too, with 47% of transactions now coming from returning buyers.
MILLD, whose flagship product packs roughly 46% more protein into a standard atta, has leaned on actor and fitness icon Milind Soman as brand ambassador, tying the product to a broader “fitness starts in the kitchen” positioning rather than the gym-and-supplements framing most protein brands use. “Fitness in India will not come from supplements. It will come from the kitchen,” Soman said of the partnership.
The Tier-2/Tier-3 skew is notable because most nutrition and protein-forward D2C brands have historically built their early base in metro India, where awareness and willingness to pay a premium for functional food have traditionally been highest. MILLD’s data suggests that gap is closing fast, likely helped by increasing quick-commerce and marketplace penetration in smaller cities, alongside rising health awareness driven by social media and celebrity-led fitness content reaching well beyond the usual metro audience.
The company hasn’t disclosed funding details alongside this data release, but the geographic pattern is notable in itself: it adds to a growing body of evidence — echoed elsewhere in the sector — that Tier-2 and Tier-3 India, not metro consumers, are now the primary growth engine for new-age nutrition and functional-food D2C brands, forcing category players to rethink city-first go-to-market playbooks.
Source: Based on reporting by SME Street, with additional editorial adaptation and analysis.
