Women's Day Special: 6 Inspiring Food Entrepreneurs Across India

The world is celebrating International women's day today. It was around this time today a century back women gathered in numbers to demonstrate their angst against the restrictive dogmas that had them chained for centuries. A series of demonstrations and a century later we are here today. How good or how bad we fare in terms of gender equality is still a matter of debate, but today is the day to sit back and acknowledge the presence of woman around us. For the longest time in History, women have been synonymous with cooking and vice versa, but only in the domestic confines. Some women chose to  fight the existing scheme of things and step out in domains prohibited to them, and some chose to revolutionize the face of food altogether. Either ways they came out triumphant. On the eve of women’s day, we're celebrating 6 such food industry entrepreneurs who will compel you to believe the relationship between women and Food today which has come miles beyond cooking.(Women's Day 2017: Top 6 Nutrients That Are Essential for Good Health)1. Patricia Narayan, Director of Sandheepa Chain of RestaurantsWinner of the FICCI Woman entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2010, Patricia Narayan, Director of Sandheepa Chain of Restaurants, epitomizes a tale of strength, resilience and survival. Each time life caught her at the toughest of crossroads, she stood up tougher and stronger. In her own words, she chose ‘to live’. From moving out of an abusive relationship with her husband, and be stranded at 18 with her two children to being the director of one of the biggest restaurant chains in Chennai, Patricia’s journey is made of stuff dreams are made of. To support her children, Patricia started making jams, squashes, pickles. Soon after, she set up a handcart at Chennai’s Marina beach where, in no time at all, her samosas, cutlets, coffee and tea became a rage amongst all. A successful stint of catering business ensued thereafter and  life finally began taking a good turn for this strong-willed lady. But universe seemed to have other plans. The death of her daughter Sandheepa left Patricia broken. She left the business to her son Praveen, but after two years, she was back with a restaurant chain dedicated to her daughter. ‘Sandheepa chain of restaurants’ is now famous across Chennai and employs over 200 people across its various outlets. 
 
2. Apeksha Jain, Founder of The Gourmet JarHer recipe of success has a lot to do with France, a foodie instinct and a lot of free time.  It was in the year 2009, when she was in Paris where her husband was pursuing his MBA. Her free time made her explore many new ingredients and recipes. Apeksha soon took to food blogging to vent her new found interest. The conception of Gourmet Jar though happened gradually with a banana jam which Apeksha first tasted at a small orchard in Burgundy described it as ''love at first bite''.  Apeksha looked up various recipes to serve her and husband’s cravings at home later. Soon she started experimenting with other flavours and the Indian jam market had a fresh new face in ‘The Gourmet Jar’.The Gourmet Jar offers a range of premium jams, preserves, relishes and mustards, in unique flavour combinations, that are handmade in small batches, from scratch, using all-natural ingredients and no preservatives or additives.Her best-selling flavours are banana rum jam, orange whisky marmalade, mango jalapeno preserve, and spicy onion relish. By 2012, Apeksha started from home, and sold her products through facebook and within 2 years, her sales registered a magnanimous boost and the business moved out of her house. Now, they have a 4,000-sqft production unit in Noida, where there is an all women production team. The feisty woman convinced her investors through a round of blind tasting, a host of Indian imported brands were kept with a few jars of her flavorful delights, and in no time the investors were all gaga over her jams. A lot of awards and felicitations followed, "Our Orange Whisky Marmalade was awarded a Bronze medal in the World Marmalade Awards 2015 that took place in Dalemain, UK. To be the first entry from India in their history, and to win this honour in the land of marmalades is a huge acheivement for us." says a beaming Apeksha.The biggest milestone for Apeksha though was when her husband decided to quit his full time job to join her.  Can the journey be any ‘sweeter’ for her!(The Art of Making Jams: How to Preserve the Season's Best Flavours)
 
3. Mira Jhala , Founder of Purist MealsA graduate from the Indian Institute of Hotel Management Aurangabad, Mira is quite a veteran when it comes to food industry serving top hotels like Taj and Hyatt Chicago. Her decade long service in the food and hospitality industry is filled with many a laurels worth commending. 
Mira recalls her journey with pride that kick-started in 2009 when she moved from the US to bring her vision of changing the corporate food service landscape in India to reality. With several successful catering milestones in her career, she seems not to be so far from her dream.
Her venture ‘Purist’ established in December 2015, is the latest to addition to her journey in the business of food service,  ‘a world class corporate food service company with a clear focus on addressing the evolving food needs of the new urban consumer’ is how the founder likes to describe her venture.
Purist today serves more than 2000 meals a day, and Mira is already eyeing the next milestone of scaling the ‘’company to 10,000 meals/day over the next 18 months’’. With an experience so enviable and zeal so fiery, we suspect the possibility of any hurdle being big enough in stopping this woman from achieving her goals.4. Urvashi’s chole Kulche cart Urvashi's cart based in Gurgaon sector 14, is a perfect example of how one can’t take anything for granted in life. The world came crumbling down for Urvashi when her husband underwent hip surgery after a critical accident. It was then that this school teacher took it upon herself to rescue her family from a financial crunch and step out of her domestic confines. Urvashi decided to invest in a roadside food cart for extra income. For Urvashi who owns a lavish flat in Gurgaon and two SUV’s, the decision to step out on the streets and sweat it out for money wasn’t an easy one. But she didn’t want her children enrolled in expensive private schools of Gurgaon to bear the brunt, and decided to quit her job as a teacher and run the food cart. Initially facing resistance from family for starting a business not matching up to her status, Urvashi now has full support of her family, and wishes to start a food truck or open a restaurant soon.
  
Established in 2014, Rashmi Daga is one of the most prominent faces of Food tech apps. Fresh Menu is an online food delivery platform and has become one of the most favorite food apps amongst the youth across several cities in India. The startup employs around 500 people, operates its own kitchens to cook healthy food in-house, and runs its own packaging and delivery staff to deliver the gourmet treat at your doorsteps. Fresh Menu offers a bevy of cuisines and experimental food from across the world, to ensure you get the taste of the world in the interior of your homes.Rashmi Daga’s run in the business has been filled with bumps and hurdles, but at the end of them all, she has always come out smiling. Fresh Menu holds about 26 kitchens currently, and all the kitchens have the capacity to handle over a thousand orders daily. Rashmi plans to open several more kitchens in the coming years.
 
6. Shilarna Vaze, Renowned TV Personality and Founder of Ninja SushiFamously known as chef Chinu is a much loved TV personality, chef, traveler, blogger all packaged in one. The Multitasker also has a degree in political science. Following a brief stint in Television, Shilarna decided to go to Paris and pursue her love for food. At Le Cordon Bleu Shilarna, got the prestigious ‘diplome de cuisine’, and there was no looking back for this foodie. After returning to India, Shilarna has worked in the finest of kitchens in Mumbai and Goa. Shilarna later opened a restaurant ‘Gaia’ in Goa with her husband, and is currently running a sushi delivering business in Mumbai called ‘Ninja Sushi’. (Sushi Trail: Top 9 Restaurants in New Delhi)