CA son and nutritionist mom set up healthy snacking startup; clock Rs6 lakh monthly sales

After completing his chartered accountancy in 2015, Sahil Jain worked with two companies. While working at KPMG, Pune as a consultant in its mergers and acquisitions practice, Sahil decided to start something of his own. “I was always interested in entrepreneurship and got bored of corporate culture early in life. In 2018, when I was thinking of quitting my job, I got inspired by my mother (Meena Jain), a nutritional consultant,” he says.

At that time, Meena, a champion of healthy eating, would make her own nutritious powders for bone health and digestion for her clients. “My mother was making the formulation for her clients, who loved them. As the demand for nutrition powders was growing, I thought of turning it into a business in the health food space and catering to a wider market,” Sahil says.

The idea was backed by his experience as he had seen a lack of healthy snacking options while in the corporate job. 

Also Read: How this entrepreneur’s all-women factory in Ooty produces 5,000 kg of chocolates every month

Starting from the kitchen

The mother and son began their journey from their kitchen. The focus was clear – using traditional recipes to create new-age, preservative-free products that could be had conveniently. 

“My mother is the brain behind all formulations. We experimented with a few ingredients and came up with a dates-ragi bar and a super seeds bar – a mix of dry fruit, nuts, seeds and crispy millet grain puffs with jaggery,” Sahil says.

In 2018, the duo rolled out the first batch from their kitchen and shared it with friends, family and Meena’s clients for testing. 

“My mother’s clients were the first tasters. Their excellent feedback motivated us to scale it up and Mighty Millets was born,” he says.

Today, Mighty Millets supplies its bars, millet and seed mixes and other healthy snacks to JW Mariott, Conrad Pune and Bengaluru, Hilton Group across India, Four Seasons Bengaluru and Taj Palace, New Delhi among others.

Also Read: Seven women entrepreneurs who started businesses from their kitchens

The duo continued to work from their kitchen for about a year. The first major turning point was an order from KPMG. “I was connected to KPMG India and they ordered Diwali gift hampers. We completed the order for 400 boxes across seven locations where we supplied 80 kg of granola and 50 kg of bars,” Sahil recollects.

The feedback was again good and Mighty Millets earned revenues of around Rs3 lakh from that order. 

Building a healthy snack brand

“Then we started promoting the products through social media and influencer marketing to build a brand name. But soon I realised that B2C (business to consumer) is not a sector I want to be in. It is a game of investment in marketing and promotion, which requires funding. But we wanted to be bootstrapped,” Sahil says.

So he began exploring options to sell directly to corporates, hotels and other institutions. By 2019, he started sending meeting requests to potential customers, hotels, and nutritionists. 

“After sending about 100 requests, a meeting clicked. My first meeting was with Conrad Pune, a luxury hotel,” he says.

Though they liked the products, they did not place an order, prompting Sahil to continue approaching others. “While we were doing B2B sales, Covid-19 hit and we did not do any business for two months,” he says.

Also Read: Engineer couple brings millets back to homes, clocks Rs 2.05 crore annual turnover

Then the duo started preparing protein bars with vegan protein from nuts and seeds. “We distributed them at Covid centres and other places,” the food entrepreneur says.

However, B2B started clicking well as hotels opened up after COVID-19. “Our products then became a hit. In 2021, JW Marriot began sourcing our products and we started approaching other hotels in Mumbai, Bengaluru and other cities. During this time, we used LinkedIn to reach out to potential clients,” he says.

The increase in orders prompted Sahil and Meena to hire people and convert their vacant one-bedroom house near their residence into a production centre and office. 

“Till about 2022, the business was mostly seasonal but now the revenues are spread out more evenly. Diwali and New Year remain the busiest times,” he says.

Mighty Millets has expanded its product range and offers breakfast buffets, Diwali gifting, mini bar and items. “These clicked and we have been having regular sales for the last 1.5 years,” he says.

Mighty Millets currently clocks monthly revenues of Rs 6 lakh and is looking to cross Rs1-crore annual revenues this fiscal. 

With rising demand, they have outsourced manufacturing to third-party contractors. “We always wanted to have a third-party manufacturing. We have moved most of our products to three contract manufacturers in Pune and outside. This has streamlined the business, allowing us to concentrate on sales and quality,” Sahil says.

(US Anu is a Madurai-based writer. She specialises in stories around human interest, environment and art and culture.)

Also Read: 7 millet entrepreneurs changing India’s food habits profitably

Look up our YouTube Channel