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March 2008
In Defense of Starch
A new technology could allow people everywhere a return to the basics
By Drew Ruble
Millions of diabetic, obese or simply diet-conscious Americans routinely avoid eating the
starch-based foods they love. Now imagine all those people devouring hoagies, Chicago'style pizza
and bow-tie pasta guilt-free. An upstart Middle Tennessee food technology company claims to have a
product that will allow just that. Brentwood-based Saatwic Foods has developed intellectual property
it hopes will soon be a staple on grocery shelves everywhere. The company's patented CarboStar
Method uses plant extracts to coat carbohydrates in a way that makes them digest more slowly,
thereby avoiding a spike in blood sugar. Because no native starch is removed in the process, foods
taste the same. "We've taken what nature has provided and made it stronger," says company co-founder
and president Ajay Chawan. Chawan's dad, Dr. Danny Chawan, is the scientist behind CarboStar. For
24 years, Danny worked for Borden Foods in Syracuse, N.Y., where he developed eight patents related
to pasta processing. "It's funny when an Indian immigrant living in the U.S. flies to Italy to tell
the Italians how to make pasta," Ajay says. "But that's what he did." After leaving Borden in
1997, the elder Chawan wanted to help his diabetic friends enjoy the food he'd created. The
CarboStar method was the result. Ajay says he realized the technology "could really help people and
shouldn't be just hiding in his laboratory." An engineer with Ford Motor Co. at the time who was
looking for new opportunities, Ajay says he had his father's science squarely in mind when he
enrolled in Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. After graduation, Ajay came
to Nashville at the request of his cousin, entrepreneur Jay Chawan, an original partner in the
highly successful office products company, Guy Brown Products. The Guy Brown team, including
co-founder Bappa Mukherji, provided Ajay the needed angel investment to kick-start Saatwic in 2005.
Last year, Saatwic generated some modest sales, including to food giants Heinz, General Mills and
Kellogg. "We've made great in-roads getting them to look at our technology as a way to improve their
products," Chawan says. For further progress, though, new investment will be key. Currently, the
company is starting its next round of fundraising. "The VC firms we have spoken with—none of
whom are local, but specialize in this space—have expressed strong interest in investing in
our company once we reach $1 million in sales," Ajay says. "We intend to do so in 2008." Is
Saatwic a good bet? David Feder, managing editor of Food Processing magazine, says while recognition
is Saatwic's biggest challenge, the science and concept is strong. "Any time you can take a food
that people eat several times a week and incorporate any functionality to it without compromising
taste, you've got a hit," Feder says. The Chawans are a prime example of what many in the tech
transfer field in Tennessee pine for—the pairing of un-commercialized technology with young
MBA talent to bring products to market in the Volunteer State. Yet to be determined is if the
product holds up under greater scientific scrutiny, or if its co-founders can successfully raise the
money needed to make a splash in the mainstream.
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