‘Food Pharmer’ on struggles after quitting ₹2 crore job: ‘Love doesn’t pay bills’ | Trending

Influencer Revant Himatsingka, known for exposing deceptive marketing tactics in pre-packaged food through his ‘Food Pharmer’ Instagram channel, is considering a fresh direction for his platform. ‘Food Pharmer’ Revant Himatsingka is exploring a fresh direction for his channel.(X/@foodpharmer) Despite amassing over 2.7 million Instagram followers and 1 million YouTube subscribers, Himatsingka feels it’s time to evolve. In an Instagram post shared two days ago, he invited suggestions for “Food Pharmer 2.0” while reflecting on his journey – from quitting a ₹2 crore job in the US to returning to India and consently refusing to promote food brands. No food promotionsHimatsingka said that he quit his job in the United States, which paid him ₹2 crore per annum, and returned to India “to fight companies which are doing false marketing.” In the last one and a half years, he claimed to have refused hundreds of food brands which offered him huge amounts of money. “I’ve obviously said no to junk food promotions, but I’ve even said no to all clean food brands asking me to promote them,” he wrote on X. “The money these companies offered could have changed my life,” he noted. However, his desire to remain 100% unbiased in his reviews made him refuse good offers. “My savings dried up” Quitting a well-paying job and turning to social media was not without its own drawbacks. The Food Pharmer said that for 14 months, he made no money. “After 14 months of making no money, my savings dried up and my legal costs increased. So I started doing a few non-food promotions. But I continued to say no to all food promotions, even though 95% of the deals I get are food-related,” he wrote on Instagram. Himatsingka clarified that he is not struggling financially. However, he is struggling to scale his channel and its impact. “I want to make it clear that I’m not struggling financially and I am living a comfortable life. But I am struggling to scale our impact,” he wrote on Instagram and X. “I am very burnt out”Working hard every day has taken a toll on Revant Himatsingka’s mental health. In his posts on X and Instagram, the food influencer said that he is “very burnt out.” “Everything requires money and a team. But I have no mentor and a team of only 2 people. “I have worked every day since April 2023 without any break. I make videos on mental health but my own mental health is not the best,” he admitted. On X, he wrote: “I still have only a team of 2 college freshers. I’ve worked every single day for the past 2 years, without taking a day off, and I am very burnt out.” Love doesn’t pay billsThe influencer said that in the last few years, he has received an immense amount of support. However, that is not enough to pay the bills. “In the last 1.5 years, I’ve received an immense amount of love, support, likes and shares. But love, respect, support, likes and shares do NOT pay bills,” he said. He said that in the future, he wants to lab test more products, hire experts to review things like toothpaste, shampoos, and hire senior lawyers to fight the lawsuits he has been slammed with. At the same time, he clarified that he is not looking for donations but only ideas. “I don’t want any donations. I only want your genuine thoughts. As we enter the next phase of Food Pharmer, I’m excited to have you share your voice. From now, I will be putting up many Instagram stories with polls to help decide the Food Pharmer 2.0 journey,” concluded Himatsingka.