Sruthy turned her mother’s passion for cooking into a successful business. Farm to Table delivers homemade chemical and preservative free food products to people thereby contributing towards building a healthy community. Their range of jams, pickles and spreads are favorite among their customers for their taste and quality.
Give a brief info about your startup?
Our startup is an online business selling homemade fruit jams, pickles, nut butters, spreads and other food products that contain no added chemicals, preservatives or artificial colors. Just as our motto says, ‘Pure & Organic’ , we sell pure and organic homemade food products to our trusted customers all over the state.
This business is my mother’s dream project, who spent most of her time in her kitchen. She got married at the age of 20 and raised three children and struggled to manage household work. However she kept her passion for cooking alive by making delicious jams, desserts and snacks. We decided to take her passion forward and created this online business Farm to Table delivering pure and organic food products to people.
What made you start your startup and what problem does it solve?
I always wanted to startup something of my own but was confused and apprehensive. After my studies I came to my hometown and discussed the same with parents. I knew that my mom had a plan to start something using her cooking skills however did not materialize due to lack of knowledge and support from family. Hence I decided to venture into this space of organic and homemade food products. This way I am helping my mother to realize her dreams at the same time building a healthy community by giving healthy and preservative free food products to people.
Tell us about yourself, your previous jobs/ventures? What were you doing before this startup?
My mom is a housewife and I did my masters in Social Work from Kristu Jayanti College, Bangalore. Social Work has always my passion and through this business I intend to build a healthy community.
Where is your startup based out of? Why do you think that is the best place for you?
Our start-up is based out of Palai, Kottayam, our hometown. Our products have a good reach here locally. Being online we deliver to other states and few countries now. We are planning to venture out to other places via stores and markets.
As a startup founder, what are you paranoid about? What keeps you awake at night?
As a social worker and entrepreneur, I believe it’s my duty to bring healthy solutions or alternatives to the table. As I said before, I would like to give a positive message or public awareness to our society. What we eat or buy from outside is filled with chemicals and preservatives. However people keep buying and consuming the same because there are no options available. To build a healthy community is not an easy task. Several steps have to be taken and I have initiated my first step.
Who are your competitions and how are you better than them?
At present we have very few competitors. Also ‘Farm to Table’ enjoys monopoly when it comes to our local market and also with few products. Our products are unique in many ways. We give customized spreads, jams, nut butters, we offer variety of flavours and deliver only fresh batches.
How hard is it to have a work-life balance as a startup founder and how do you manage it?
I never felt it as a burden and I enjoy each and every moment. I feel I have got a chance to effectively and productively utilize my time when focusing on the business. We sisters (my sister, sister in law and myself) help my mother to set up exhibitions and fulfil orders. The journey has been exciting and challenging, hence never felt as if we are working a single day. Personally I have never found it difficult to balance work and life.
Have you raised funding? If yes, then we would like to know the details. If no then please tell us if you’re looking to raise?
Not yet. We are bootstrapped as of now.
What’s the biggest misconception people have about you? Why do they have that? What’s the reality?
Most people think about it as a waste of time and not a worthwhile business in terms of making money. However I have a very supporting family and set of friends who understand my passion towards food, cooking and social work. Hence I don’t waste time correcting the misconceptions.
What gets you excited about this company?
Now a days we find more chemical content in the food products than the nutritional content. Our chemical free food products are small steps taken to build a healthy community. This concept of helping the community whilst running a business keeps me excited.
Tell us how a day in your life looks like? Your schedule for a day right from the time you get up till you hit the bed at night.
My day starts late with brunch. But soon it gets busy with social media engagements, order fulfilments, customer handling and reaching out to other business for mutual growth, purchases and designing the marketing collaterals. I also render help to mummy in kitchen and household works. Evenings are usually spend by reading books and pray time is a must for us.
Tell us about your team and how did you meet each other?
My mother and myself own this business. As mentioned earlier it was her dream and I just helped her to achieve it.
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