Leaving a stable teaching career to pursue entrepreneurship takes courage, but for this computer science professor, the leap of faith turned out just fine. She now runs a thriving millet business. What began as a decision to build something of her own has now grown into a successful brand, with her products generating an impressive annual revenue of Rs 3 crore.
The professor named Shubhadra quit her job as the vice principal of Emerald Heights College for Women in Ooty in 2015 and went to the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) in Mysore to research millet processing. During an interview with 30 stadiumsshe revealed that she was motivated to become an entrepreneur for three reasons. One, she had always been suggesting that her students become job creators instead of being only job seekers. “I also wanted to do what I suggested to them,” she shared.
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Secondly, she wanted to create employment opportunities for women and promote healthy food. She revealed that she had previously suffered from hormonal problems due to preservatives in food and suffered from two miscarriages. “I felt the problem was in the food we were eating,” she added, explaining that she chose millets because they are one of the healthiest grains that are gluten-free and packed with proteins and antioxidants.
During her research, Shubhadra was told that if she did not use preservatives in her batter, it would reduce the shelf life and would require extensive investment in a cold chain. However, she persisted and invested Rs 20 lakh in a 4,000 sq ft unit. She took the land on lease and customized the machinery for sorting, grading, soaking, grinding, and packaging the products.
According to her, at the time of launch, the installed capacity was 1,000 packs of 1 kg per day, but they were unable to sell even 50 packets a day. The first batch of 200 packets of 1 kg prepared by PVR Foods remained unsold, as no retail outlets in Coimbatore were interested in dosa or idli batters, which are not white. Shubhadra was forced to give out the products as free samples to people willing to experiment.
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After people began to test her products, the word spread and sales started to increase. According to Shubhadra, PVR Foods now offers 83 ready-to-cook millet products, including batter, flour, noodles, pongal, and health mixes. These products are sold through shops, hospitals, offices, and online platforms across India.
PVR Foods was incubated by the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University in Coimbatore and received seed funding of Rs 15 lakh under the aegis of Startup TN and also received a Rs 23 lakh grant under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna scheme of the Union Ministry of Agriculture. Today, Shubhadra's company earns around Rs 3 crore in revenue every year.