When Yash Parashar switched on his telephone after an extended flight to Australia, he obtained a notification from his mom, Usha Shrotiya. She had despatched a photograph of some dry fruit bars. Tears rolled down his face as a number of days again he had jokingly informed his mom that he can’t take laddoos made by her to his office.
“I’d depend on cereal bars for my starvation pangs. Mummy would insist that I carry laddoos to work as a substitute of those bars. It was not doable as it’s inconvenient to hold the delicate sweets in luggage,” he provides.
Usha took it as a problem and had been making an attempt her finest to show these laddoos into laddu bars. “We weren’t assured that she would be capable of make bars out of it. My spouse and I’d jokingly throw these bars at one another to examine its stiffness. As an alternative of taking it personally, she remained passionate and took it as a problem. I used to be impressed to see her dedication,” shares Yash.
And why not? This was the primary time in 62 years that Usha received a possibility to show herself.
It took her a minimum of 80 failed makes an attempt earlier than coming to the right composition and construction to show these laddoos into bars. Immediately, her quest led them to start out ‘Mama Nourish’, a meals startup that’s striving to save lots of conventional and time-tested recipes made by our grandmothers by giving them a contemporary twist.
A step in direction of unfulfilled aspirations
Hailing from a small village in Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh, younger Usha aspired to turn into a daroga (policewoman). “I had stuffed within the type for the publish. My father supported my determination however my mom was protecting about me. She opposed my determination saying it was not an acceptable job for a younger woman. As an alternative, she harassed on marrying me off,” remembers Usha.
“After my marriage, I used to be anticipated to satisfy all family wants and take care of my husband and kids. Usually, I’d provide you with some enterprise concepts however I by no means obtained any assist from my in-laws as properly,” she provides with a sigh.
Many years later, Usha received wings to her desires at an age when most individuals retire. At 62, she launched into a journey to construct Mama Nourish.
The story of Mama Nourish started with a private want. In 2021, when Usha grew to become a grandmother, she visited her son and daughter-in-law Apurva’s residence in Mumbai. She carried gond ke laddoo (sweets constituted of edible gum and dry fruits) alongside along with her.
“After I gave start to Yash, my mother-in-law made the identical laddoos for me. I wished to share this love with Apurva in her postpartum journey. She relished them. Two months later, I went to my daughter’s residence in Aligarh as she had additionally just lately given start. However earlier than leaving Mumbai, I made certain Apurva was well-stocked,” says the 64-year-old.
Usha says her daughter was identified with gestational diabetes.“This meant that I couldn’t give her laddoos. However I’m a mom, I couldn’t cease myself from making them for her. As I couldn’t give her jaggery or sugar, I considered utilizing dates as a substitute. So, I soaked dates, floor and roasted them to make laddoos. Everybody liked it,” she provides.
In the meantime, Apurva discovered there have been a number of laddoos left in her jar. “Apurva would video name mother to ask in regards to the components and process to make these laddoos. She tried her finest however couldn’t make them. We understood that it was not our cup of tea,” says Yash.
“Whereas mother may ship us extra laddoos, we realised that on this fast-paced work life, the legacy of conventional recipes made by grandmothers might disappear. We shared our concern with mother and he or she was fast to provide you with an answer,” he provides.
This led Usha to embark on a journey to create snack bars that retained the essence of the unique recipe whereas being straightforward to move and eat on the go.
Leaving a legacy behind
With a purpose to perceive how pertinent the problem was, Yash surveyed 250 working professionals in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, and Bengaluru alongside along with his school good friend, Kunal Goel.
The survey, Yash says, revealed a robust sentiment amongst working professionals for the goodness of grandmother’s meals and the worry of dropping this legacy within the quick paced city life. for future generations. This perception fueled their dedication to commercialise their merchandise and produce ‘grandma’s recipes’ again into the limelight.
Motivated by this, Usha continued to good her laddu bars. “Firstly, I attempted to make them in a barfi (rectangular) form. Yash took them to his workplace and all his colleagues liked it. It boosted my confidence additionally. We considered tapping into this demand,” she provides.
In January 2024, Mama Nourish was born, providing a variety of laddu bars made utilizing millets, fenugreek, dry fruits, ginger, and Kamarkas seeds.
The meals startup obtained its first company order from Netflix and since then, there was no trying again. As of now, they’re catering to a minimum of 150 main company institutions together with Google, Meta (Fb), Netflix, IKEA, and Axis Financial institution.
Kunal, the chief working officer on the startup, says, “As we wished to succeed in out to working professionals, we tried to seek out out the place they decide up snacks continuously. We discovered that almost all of them depend on workplace pantry or merchandising machines to save lots of time. This gave us an thought to faucet into the merchandising channel. We additionally put in our merchandising machines at airports in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, and Ahmedabad.”
Thus far, the startup has offered one lakh items of the laddu bars by means of these channels. “Inside a number of months of the launch of our firm, now we have obtained an awesome response. It’s too early to touch upon income however now we have noticed a lift of 10 occasions progress since we began. We’ve obtained a number of enquiries from Australia, California, and Germany as properly,” shares Yash.
Yash shares that it was a tough alternative for him to give up his job at TATA Motors to launch their meals startup. “Whereas Kunal was working with robots and I used to be making automobiles, we discovered our true calling at my residence in my mom. We name her an enterprising mom. I keep in mind, she all the time inspired me to take part in any competitors or initiatives. She by no means dissuaded me from following my desires – one thing she lacked as an bold little one,” he provides.
In the meantime, for Usha, the journey to beginning her personal meals enterprise has been phenomenal. “Now that my kids are settled, I’ve on a regular basis to myself. Earlier, I wished to ascertain an id for myself however now I’ve received the chance to fulfil my desires. It’s so satisfying to get compliments from my relations and pals. Typically, folks ask me why I have to work at this age now. However there isn’t a age restrict to reaching your desires. I really feel so assured now,” she provides.
Edited by Padmashree Pande. All images: Mama Nourish.
