How Cumin Club Scaled from 30 to 300 Monthly Influencer Outreaches with SARAL

Meet Cumin Club: The Indian Food Brand Taking America by Storm

Two MBA students, Raghav and Harish, had a simple idea five years ago. What if you could get authentic Indian food anywhere?

That's how Cumin Club was born.

Today, they serve over 40 traditional Indian dishes as freeze-dried, ready-to-eat meals. No artificial ingredients, all made in their factory in Coimbatore, India. They've expanded from Chicago to Canada; the funny thing is, 65% of their customers aren't Indian!

But scaling a food brand isn't easy. Especially when you're trying to introduce Indian flavors to people who might never have tried them before.

The Challenge → When Manual Influencer Marketing Hits a Wall

Like most DTC brands, Cumin Club knew influencer marketing was key to reaching new audiences. But their approach was... let's call it "old school."

Here's what their influencer process looked like:

• One person (Medha, Social Media Manager @ Cumin Club - who was kind enough to share their story with us) managing everything manually
• Spreadsheets for tracking (we've all been there)
• Only 30 influencer outreaches per month!
• Tons of time spent on discovery and follow-ups
• Inconsistent posting and low conversion rates

"If I were doing it manually, that would be more than 10 hours a week - discovery alone would take at least two hours."

They tried other platforms – some were too expensive, and others had poor UX. Nothing gave them the control and scalability they needed.

The Strategy Shift → From Seasonal Campaigns to ‘Always-On’ Seeding

Instead of throwing money only at big seasonal campaigns, Cumin Club pivoted. They focused on micro and nano influencers with an always-on seeding strategy.

Their new approach targeted:

• Students looking for quick meals
• Hikers needing portable food
• Busy moms wanting healthy options
• Interracial couples exploring diverse cuisines

The goal wasn't more than just aesthetically pleasing posts.

It was about building genuine relationships and creating authentic content to drive conversions.

The ambitious targets:

• 50 influencer outreaches per week
• 300 monthly outreaches
• Focus on Instagram with some TikTok
• Track everything through affiliate links

But how do you scale from 30 to 300 outreaches without burning out your team?

Enter SARAL

This is where everything changed for Cumin Club.

Before SARAL: 15+ hours per week of manual work

After SARAL: 45 minutes per day (75% less time!)

"With SARAL, it takes a maximum of 45 minutes a day. It's easy enough to get all those things done."

What Made SARAL Different

Everything in One Place

No more juggling between different tools. Influencer discovery, outreach, CRM, and tracking are all centralized.

Smart Automations

Automated follow-ups and templated outreach meant Medha could finally delegate tasks to her team.

Advanced Filtering

Find the right influencers based on recent activity, engagement rates, and niche relevance.

Team Collaboration Made Easy

"The CRM is one of my favorite features… it's super clear organization-wise. We can create lists, add notes, and communicate without even having a meeting."

Built for Scale

"The templates, integrated outreach, and filters made it so easy to train others and scale this within our team."

The Results → When Strategy Meets the Right Tools

The numbers speak for themselves:

Efficiency Gains

• Time investment: Dropped from 10+ hours/week to 45 minutes/day
• Monthly outreaches: Scaled from 30 to 300
• Team involvement: Successfully onboarded 2 additional team members

Performance Metrics

• Acceptance rate: 10% (significantly higher than industry average)
• Content output: 5-10 influencer posts per month and growing
• Top engagement: Some posts hit over 10% engagement rates!

"We saw a 10% acceptance rate, and that was nice to hear that our efforts are paying off."

Unexpected Wins

"We've got some excellent content. Even niche creators, like interracial couples, created content we never expected, which resonated."

ROI Tracking

"We're using affiliate codes to track ROI and finding which creators drive value. It's helping us double down where it matters."

The Bottom Line → Why This Matters for Your DTC Brand

Cumin Club's story is a blueprint for any DTC brand struggling to scale its influencer marketing:

1. Manual processes don't scale – What works for 30 outreaches breaks at 300

2. The right tools make delegation possible – Your team can grow without losing quality

3. Always-on beats seasonal – Consistent seeding builds stronger relationships than sporadic big campaigns

4. Micro and nano influencers deliver – Sometimes, the smallest creators have a more significant impact

5. Data drives decisions – Track everything, then double down on what works

Ready to Scale Your Influencer Marketing?

If Cumin Club's journey resonates with your brand's challenges, you're probably wondering: "Could this work for us, too?"

The good news is that you don't have to figure it out alone.

Want to see how SARAL can help with your influencer marketing? Book a demo and see how brands like Cumin Club are scaling their creator partnerships without the manual headaches.

Because your time is better spent growing your brand than managing spreadsheets.