As a new business, we are conscious of the fact that you may have some questions about what we are offering and why we are doing this.   We hope the following will help and if there is anything we haven't thought of, then please do let us know!

What are Power Snacks? 
Power Snacks are a new range of healthy snacks from India that are gluten, wheat, dairy and yeast free.  They are made with pure ingredients with no bulkers, fillers, baking agents, preservatives or additives.  What you see is what you get, we don’t put any hidden ingredients or rubbish in our products and as such they will naturally sustain you with real goodness and natural power rather than artificial energy from refined sugars and ingredients. 

Is Conscious Food a British company?
Conscious Food is an Indian company that has pioneered organic farming and food in India since 1992.  It was set up by Kavita Mukhi because her son had a number of allergies and healthy unrefined ingredients were hard to come by.  Many of India’s traditional grains and farming methods were disappearing so Conscious Food has played a vital role in re-establishing these ancient grains and encouraging farmers to use natural and organic farming methods to grow their crops.  Conscious Food in India has spent several years developing and nurturing relationships with small organic farms and communities throughout the subcontinent, ensuring a high level of quality and fair trade.  Several of the farms are part of organic collectives which benefit the community as a whole through supporting schools for the poor, women’s rights, animal welfare, etc.  Conscious Food (UK) Ltd in the UK is a partnership with the Indian company and its objective is to market and distribute all Conscious Food products in Europe. 

What does Conscious Food stand for? 
The aim of Conscious Food is to provide the highest quality of food, in as natural form as possible, to enhance the health and quality of life for as many people as possible.  We want to provide a “connection through nourishment” at all levels: physical, mental and spiritual, and to everybody involved from the farmer, down through the chain to the consumer.

Do you make the snacks yourselves?
All our snacks are handmade in our workshop in Mumbai using traditional methods and recipes that we have made healthy, by taking out the ghee (oil) and refined white flours and sugars.  We have specially trained and given employment to a team of local men and women. 

Is your food organic?
Our ingredients are sourced from small organic farms and farming cooperatives in India.  We work with over 100 different farms across the whole Indian subcontinent.  Many of the farms are registered organic but several are too small or inaccessible to do so and have been naturally farming organically for decades. 

Is this raw food?
The heating process used for making the snacks is minimal but we cannot guarantee the exact degree of heating from one batch to the next, so currently we are not promoting ourselves as raw food. 

What is millet and why use it?
Millet is one of the world’s ancient grains and is considered a sacred crop.  In the West we tend to think of millet as bird/animal seed but it is one of the planet’s most nutrient-dense grains containing amino acids, lecithin, Vitamin E, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, zinc and potassium. 
Additionally, millet is made up of 15% protein, has high amounts of fibre, and is rich in phytochemicals that help to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of cancer.  Important for people with allergies, millet is non-glutinous, is extremely high in alkaline, and is considered one of the most digestible grains around.  With its sweet, nut-like taste, millet is warming to the body, making it an ideal winter food.

Most of the millet found in the UK comes from China or the US and is highly modified.  Conscious Food uses 3 types of millet: Pearl, Finger and Sorghum – all ancient grains coming from different parts of the Indian subcontinent and farmed for centuries using traditional methods.  In addition, because millet is such a hardy grain, it doesn’t require pesticides or insecticides to grow and growing it encourages earth’s biodiversity.  

Are the snacks fair trade?
All our snacks and ingredients are ethically produced and all employees are paid a fair wage in accordance with employment agencies, with health insurance and other schemes to help them and their families.  All our farmers are paid 30-50% more for their goods and we invest in local village schemes for help with education. 

How does the food travel? By ship or by air?
Because we do not use any preservatives our snacks have a short shelf life and at this stage in our business we are producing very small volumes, so we are currently shipping our products by air, which is not ideal for us.  We are working towards shipping by sea over 50% of our products in 2010. 

What do the savoury snacks go well with?  Are they best eaten with a dip or cheese or can they be enjoyed on their own?
Our savoury snacks go particularly well with cheese, pate, hummus and other dips.  They can also be used as a canapé base.  We find that the sorghum millet and pearl millet crackers work best with cheese. 
Our sweet snacks work well after a meal, as a petit four and our sweet biscuits are great with ice cream. 

Some of the sweet snacks have palm molasses and some have cane molasses – what is the difference?
Palm molasses is an unrefined sweetener known in India as Jaggery and is high in vitamins and minerals.  It is the juice of the palm tree which has been reduced, losing none of its qualities.  It is used in ayurvedic medicine for coughs, colds, chest infections and as a warming food.  Cane molasses comes from the sugar cane.

Some of the snacks are odd shapes and sizes and a little uneven.  Why is that?
All our snacks are handmade and as such each batch will be different.  These are artisan products and we pride ourselves that they are not all even and the same size and shape. 

You say they are gluten, wheat and dairy free, but what about people with nut allergies?
We produce our snacks in a workshop that handles our nut products (cashew, walnut , peanut and sesame), so we cannot guarantee that our products are entirely nut free. 

Do you go to India yourselves?  Could you tell us more about where the snacks are made?  The people who make them?  Where do the ingredients come from?
We have an excellent relationship with Conscious Food in India and work very closely together on snack development and company direction.  The snacks are made in a dedicated workshop in Mumbai that has been created to Western standards.  All our products are produced to international health and safety standards.  The ingredients come from over 100 small farms and cooperatives across the whole of India.  We have made a point of visiting as many of the farms as we can and can share with you wonderful stories and pictures of the farmers and workers and the care and love that goes into producing the products.  

Will you be bringing other products into the range?
The Conscious Food range in India comprises over 100 different products from herbs, spices, teas, flours, and rices to pulses and oils; all of the highest quality and the majority organically certified.  We will be bringing some of the products over to Europe in the coming months.  

Are they high in calories?
We don’t add any fats to our crackers and biscuits so they are low in calories.  The nuts and seeds are high in natural fats, so are higher in calories.  All nutritional info is found on the back of our packets. 

Is the food suitable for vegans?
Most definitely

What about diabetics?