From Cooked Breakfast to SaiSure: How Annapoorna Trust Is Ending Hidden Hunger in India
A child who walks into school hungry rarely learns at their best. The mind drifts, energy dips and the blackboard blurs. For millions of Indian children, this is an ordinary morning.
This blog tells how one idea grew from a warm breakfast in a few classrooms into one of India’s largest morning nutrition program for school children. It is also the story of why breakfast alone was not enough, and how a simple cup of fortified milk called SaiSure changed the approach.
A Morning at Vidhana Soudha: 31 October 2019
Imagine the steps of Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru, where the words “Government Work is God’s Work” are carved at the entrance. On the morning of 31 October 2019, the steps hosted something different: a campaign to End Malnutrition.
Children from Doddabelle village, beneficiaries of the Annapoorna breakfast programme, opened the event with an invocation prayer. Doctors, volunteers, administrators and several cabinet ministers were in the audience. Then Karnataka’s Chief Minister, Shri B.S. Yediyurappa, launched the initiatives and promised the government’s full support.
The numbers shared that day set the context. Since its inception in November 2015, Sri Sathya Sai Annapoorna Trust had provided a nutritious breakfast to nearly 2.5 lakh children in government and aided schools. Alongside it, the Trust had introduced something new, a supplement called SaiSure, built to tacklehidden hunger.
The launch also included:
- Chirayu, a mobile app for recording the vital health parameters of children and mothers during screenings
- A phased expansion of SaiSure across Karnataka, aiming to reach 10 lakh children by November 2020
- New SaiSure variants for toddlers (ages 1 to 6) and pregnant women
The Trust described the day as Sarkar, Samaj and Sansthan (government, society and institution) coming together for the same cause.
Why a Full Stomach Isn’t Always a Nourished Child
The cooked breakfast model worked on the most visible problem, an empty stomach. But a child can eat every day and still be malnourished.
That is hidden hunger: a lack of micronutrients such as iron, calcium, vitamins and minerals. It rarely shows up on a growth chart at first. It shows up as tiredness, weak concentration, frequent illness and anaemia. This matters in a country where, as the Trust noted at the 2019 launch, India is home to roughly half of the world’s undernourished children.
The Trust’s own reasoning went like this. A healthy child needs a healthy mother. A healthy school day needs more than calories. The next step had to be nutrition that is complete, consistent and easy to deliver.
How the SaiSure Journey Began
SaiSure was introduced as a malt-based, multi-nutrient supplement that complements Karnataka’s Ksheera Bhagya milk scheme, under which government schools already serve milk to children.
The idea was to use what the system already delivered and make it work harder. Instead of building a new meal chain from scratch, SaiSure is added to the milk children already receive. It is easy to prepare, and it is served every morning after the school prayer on the school premises.
So the journey moved in two stages. First came the cooked breakfast that fed hungry children. Then came SaiSure, which made sure that what children received also nourished them. Together they formed a breakfast-plus-SaiSure approach, with the two stages building on each other.
What’s Inside a Cup of SaiSure?
The SaiSure Finger Millet (Ragi) variant is made from ragi flour, defatted soya flour, rice flour, salt, cinnamon, turmeric, and vitamin and mineral premixes. Ragi is a traditional Indian millet that suits school-age children.
Here is what the product page lists:
- Complete micronutrient support: it is designed to meet more than 75% of a child’s micronutrient requirement.
- Simple preparation: 5 grams of SaiSure are mixed with 15 grams of whole milk powder.
- Key nutrients: each 5-gram serving provides 25% of the recommended daily allowance of iron, zinc, iodine, selenium, vitamin C, B6, folate (B9) and vitamin B12.
- Quality assurance: the formulation is approved by CFTRI.
SaiSure’s quality starts at the farm and the factory. The ragi comes from organically grown crops cultivated by farmers in Tiptur and nearby regions, which supports both quality and sustainable practices. In January 2023, SaiSure Nutritions LLP opened a six-floor, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility at Sathya Sai Grama, Muddenahalli, built with modern equipment to deliver a quality product efficiently and at low cost. That focus on affordability is what lets the supplement reach children at scale.
SaiSure was designed for the families that market supplements do not reach. Popular multi-nutrient drinks are beyond the budgets of economically weaker sections, so the Trust offers SaiSure to children free of cost, and teachers, cooks and children have all shared positive feedback on its taste. Variants for toddlers and pregnant women extend the same care to the critical early years. In December 2024, SaiSure Nutritions received the “Excellence in Nutri Product Innovation” award at the inaugural ET Nutrition & Wellness Award in New Delhi.
The programme began in February 2019 with a clear focus on children who need support most, including those facing severe and moderate acute malnutrition. Alongside the school variants, SaiSure for toddlers and for pregnant women aims to cover the critical first 1,000 days of a child’s life, when nutrition shapes growth and learning for years to come. Children can choose between the Finger Millet (Ragi) and Chocomalt variants, so the supplement stays something they look forward to each morning rather than something they are made to drink.
The effect builds up with daily use. Taken every morning with milk, SaiSure is meant to gradually improve children’s health and their performance in class. As the results become visible, parents, teachers and the local community get involved to keep the programme going, which is how a school-level effort turns into a village-level habit. Even the packaging is designed to be recyclable and environment friendly, so the supplement is built to be sustainable as well as nutritious.
SaiSure at a glance
- SaiSure is made by SaiSure Nutritions LLP and reaches schools through Annapoorna Trust.
- Each 5 g serving carries 3.8 mg of iron and 2 mg of zinc.
- The same serving adds 50 mcg of folate, 0.6 mcg of vitamin B12 and 12.5 mg of vitamin C.
- It also supplies 33.7 mcg of iodine and 10 mcg of selenium per 5 g.
- The mix lists 0 g of sugar per serving, with sugar or jaggery added only when the drink is served.
- Each serving also contains 0.49 g of dietary fibre.
- Ragi, a traditional Indian millet, forms the base, with cinnamon and turmeric in the recipe.
- By December 2024, SaiSure’s fortified products were credited with improving the health of over 1 crore government school children.
- SaiSure’s director has noted that child deaths today often come from hidden hunger rather than hunger alone.
- In his words, SaiSure is about positively transforming young lives, not only feeding them.
SaiSure is a range, not a single product. Alongside the Finger Millet (Ragi) variant, there is a malt-based Multi Nutrient Supplement and a Chocomalt variant, with versions for pre-school children, toddlers and pregnant women. The Multi Nutrient Supplement is designed to meet 75% of the recommended daily allowance of most micronutrients, and its listed benefits are stronger immunity, better cognition, healthy weight gain, increased bone mass and healthy blood. The Ragi and Chocomalt mixes are both prepared at the Trust’s own SaiSure manufacturing facility, and the recipe is adapted by state: fortified ragi or malt with government-sponsored milk and sugar in Karnataka, and fortified ragi with jaggery in Telangana.
The Chocomalt, toddler and pregnancy variants share the Ragi mix’s approach of a fortified health mix. Chocomalt adds a chocolate flavour that children look forward to, and all three carry a vitamin and mineral premix that supplies micronutrients such as iron, zinc, iodine, selenium, vitamin C, vitamin B6, folate and vitamin B12. The toddler and pregnancy versions apply the same fortification to the first 1,000 days of life, when nutrition shapes growth and learning for years to come.
From 2.5 Lakh Children to Over 1 Crore
A pilot in a few schools has grown into a national movement. According to the Annapoorna Trust’s presence page, the programme now spans 25 states and 4 Union Territories, reaches over 1 crore children (serving and planned) through 1,50,760 schools and anganwadis, and has served more than 3 billion nutrition servings to date. It has also expanded abroad to the United States, Sri Lanka, Nigeria and West Asia.
Karnataka: Where It All Began
Karnataka remains the heart of the programme. The state has the largest footprint, with about 77,952 schools and anganwadis and a combined serving and planned reach of roughly 65 lakh children. Children here receive fortified ragi or fortified malt, served with government-sponsored milk and sugar.
Telangana: The Second Pillar
Telangana follows with around 36,943 schools and anganwadis and a combined reach of over 21 lakh children. The recipe differs here: fortified ragi with jaggery.
The Rest of India
Beyond these two states, the programme continues across the country. It reaches children in the north-east, the south, the west and the Himalayan belt, with the formula and sweetener adapted to local needs. Several more states are planned.
More Than Nutrition
Hunger is rarely a single-problem story, and the Trust has built health into the model too. Through its Divine Mother and Child Health Programme, about 40,000 children are screened for health defects, and 5,000 pregnant mothers are screened every month.
A child’s morning matters. A warm, nourishing start can change how they learn, grow and see their future. What began in 2015 as a breakfast programme became a system that treats hidden hunger as seriously as visible hunger, and it works because the government, society and institutions chose to walk together.
Want to help a child start the day nourished? Visit annapoorna.org.in to learn how you can participate, partner or volunteer.
FAQs
1. What is hidden hunger?
It is a lack of micronutrients such as iron, calcium, vitamins and minerals. A child can eat every day and still show tiredness, weak concentration, frequent illness and anaemia.
2. What is SaiSure?
SaiSure is a malt-based multi-nutrient supplement added to the milk children already receive. It complements Karnataka’s Ksheera Bhagya milk scheme and is served every morning after the school prayer.
3. What is inside SaiSure Finger Millet (Ragi)?
It is made from ragi flour, defatted soya flour, rice flour, salt, cinnamon, turmeric and vitamin and mineral premixes. Five grams are mixed with 15 grams of whole milk powder.
4. Which nutrients does one serving provide?
Each 5-gram serving provides 25% of the recommended daily allowance of iron, zinc, iodine, selenium, vitamin C, B6, folate and vitamin B12. It is designed to meet more than 75% of a child’s micronutrient requirement.
5. Is SaiSure free for children?
Yes. The Trust offers SaiSure to children free of cost, because popular multi-nutrient drinks are beyond the budgets of economically weaker families.
6. Are there other SaiSure variants?
Children can choose between Finger Millet (Ragi) and Chocomalt. There are also variants for toddlers aged 1 to 6 and for pregnant women.
7. How many children does the programme reach?
The Trust’s presence page lists 25 states and 4 Union Territories, over 1 crore children (serving and planned) and 1,50,760 schools and anganwadis.
8. How can I help?
Visit annapoorna.org.in to participate, partner or volunteer.
