Instamart and FoodPharmer bring meme culture to Mumbai with a ‘Protein Tapri’

New Delhi: Instamart and health content creator FoodPharmer collaborated on a pop-up in Mumbai that reimagined the city’s street-side tapri format through a protein-centric lens.

The installation, set up at VESIT College, brought significant student attention, particularly after FoodPharmer made an appearance with his protein label, Only What’s Needed.

Reflecting the popularity of fitness-related memes, Instamart recreated a traditional chai tapri but replaced its staples with protein-heavy versions. Offerings included protein shakes served in kullads, protein bhel made with sprouts, and protein-enriched cookies. The format appeared to resonate with students and fitness enthusiasts, with queues forming before the stall opened.

The crowd grew further when Sahil Mehta joined FoodPharmer (Revant Himatsingka) behind the counter, interacting with students and participating in videos that circulated across social platforms.

A LinkedIn user reacting to the activation wrote, “Just when you think Instamart has done it all - there’s a new surprise (and I am not complaining) , Saw this protein tapri outside a friend’s college and out of all things I expected to see in college today, this was not on the list but I am here for it !! Ofc the gym bros went wild and started competing for protein”.

The pop-up reflected two ongoing trends, Instamart’s recent push to organise protein-focused selections on its platform, and FoodPharmer’s growing presence as a voice around nutrition transparency and food literacy. His content frequently drives discussion online, which contributed to the turnout as creators, followers and students responded to the concept offline.