Earlier this week, we had an opportunity of having an insightful conversation with three powerful women entrepreneurs in the food industry in India, Ms. Aditi Handa of Baker’s Dozen, Ms. Niharika Goenka of Arugula & Co. and Ms. Surabhi Talwar of Happy Jars.
Women representation in the Food & Beverage and Hospitality industries has improved over the years, however there is still a lot to be done for gender equality in the workplace.
The Food Safety Conversation for the month of March, marked as Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day on 8th March, was therefore around the topic of ‘Women in Food’ to acknowledge & celebrate their journey, understand the challenges they faced and the opportunities they see ahead for women.
While the topic was essentially structured around the three core areas mentioned above, the conversation itself developed into a discussion covering a holistic approach to
- Food choices,
- Healthy habits,
- Cultural influences,
- Learning & Upskilling,
- Community engagement,
- Sustainability,
- Safe work practices and more
All of these can very easily also be looked at from the perspective of the various hats a woman wears in her personal & professional life and the contribution she makes through her presence in a family, workplace & community.
The following quote by an American author Michael Pollan, perhaps defines the core sentiment of the chat and the stories of the panelists’ journeys that led to creation & focus of their respective brands.
“Don’t eat anything your great-great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.”
In case you missed joining the conversation, we have summarized the key takeaways for you,
- Each of the brands were conceptualized and launched with the objective of wanting to bring authentic products to the market and using ingredients that are fresh, not chemically enhanced, are known, can be pronounced & understood and local.
- Customer education is an important factor in setting up and sustaining a business and launching a new product.
- Macro thinking and paying attention to details (for eg labeling, etc) is important
- Women juggle many responsibilities and if they take up a job they are very clear on the reasons for it (necessity or passion), are punctual, dedicated, responsive, keen to learn and have a greater sense of ownership.
- Work on behavior pattern to change food habits, be sensitive to customer needs and language constraints. Simplify and encourage nutritional education and plating.
- Focus on local flavors, adapt to local market requirements and be mindful of Indian/local consumer needs i.e. age, location, etc
- Sustain local economy,
- Hire locally, unskilled people and spend a lot of time training and mentoring.
- Source ingredients, packaging locally
- Discover new supply points or ingredients within domestic market, for eg naturally fermented Soy sauce & Kabuli Chana Miso from Allahabad
- Pay attention to work practices, critical control points and ensure safety compliance. Most important factor in setting up and operating a business.
- Understanding the need for food safety regulations is important step to being compliant.
- Association/partnership with external quality agencies is important when scaling the business.
- A business in the food industry can be started from one’s own kitchen and initially catered to family & friends, making this an attractive prospect for women.
- Focus on efficiency, constantly improving, build with intention, be authentic, know and control your money, learn as much as possible, emphasize on safety.
Also listed below are details of the books mentioned during the conversation for further insights,
At Food Safety Works, we are committed to providing end to end solutions for food safety and also addressing the need for educational and insightful conversations around industry topics, knowledge sharing along with upskilling sessions. We also conduct regular trainings on various topics, including FoSTac trainings as per the FSSAI mandate. We hope you enjoy this conversation, and look forward to receiving your feedback on more topics you would like to be covered. You can write to us at feedback@foodsafetyworks.in.
You can also view the entire conversation again on the Food Safety Works YouTube Channel by accessing this link.
