Cancer survivor builds Rs39 lakh pickle business with Rs1500 investment

Thirteen years ago, Laveena Jain found herself in the heart of life’s challenges -- facing cancer, financial hardships, an uncertain future, and the struggle to provide for her children. Yet, she chose to turn those stumbling blocks into stepping stones by building Tripti Foods, which sells traditional homemade pickles, chutneys, jams, crushes, squashes, and much more.

Laveena and her husband, based in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, are cancer survivors. "Things were difficult when we were diagnosed with cancer.  People suggested we sell our house but giving up wasn’t an option, for me," she recalls.

Today, Tripti Foods has grown into a thriving business, clocking a turnover of Rs39 lakh in FY24. Laveena is targeting Rs50 lakh this fiscal.

The baby steps

Long before life took this unexpected turn, Laveena had enrolled in a short food preservation course and realized she enjoyed preparing pickles jams, etc. “I was good at it. Initially, I made pickles and squashes, not to sell, but to share with family and friends. They liked the taste and some of them encouraged me to start a business,” she recalls. 

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Looking to rebuild her life after cancer, she took a 100-day training in food preservation, organized by the Uttar Pradesh government. 

“I started going to classes soon after chemotherapy. It was difficult as I barely had any energy. My husband couldn’t even talk at the time, but I knew I had to keep going for us, for our kids," she says.  

Laveena had only Rs1,500 for investment when she started in 2011. She made some lemon squash and Thandai in the first batch. In the early days, her family helped her by handwriting labels and packaging the products in old glass bottles. 

Her initial challenge was convincing people to buy the products instead of sharing them with relatives. However, she did not know how to sell it. Kitty parties were popular at that time. So they became her first significant sales platform, where she set up stalls to introduce her products to women who appreciated homemade quality products. 

It was slow, but the quality of her products spoke for itself. Orders started coming in -- her first big one was for 2 kg of mango pickle.

Soon, the word spread and her business began to grow.

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Production process

"I have set up the unit at my home and have employed eight women," Laveena says.

The production is based on seasonal availability of fruits and vegetables. "We buy them fresh, handpicked from the local market. It is carefully planned, with rigorous trials and testing before large-scale batches are made," the woman entrepreneur says.

Currently, Tripti Foods sells around 70 varieties of products. She relies on natural options like salt, sugar, and oil, using sodium benzoate only if required and within permissible government limits.

“We only use what we’d be okay eating at home. Our motto is simple: right product, right price, right quality. Even now, the production is mostly manual. Machines don’t give the same personal touch," she says.

"Each product is prepared using a specific technique, ensuring consistency and customization,” the food entrepreneur says.

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The staff is trained to manufacture the products with the set parameters. “They treat every product like it's made for their own family. I have employed women from nearby villages as it empowers them," she adds.

Market reach and revenue

Laveena’s vision for Tripti Foods was simple: to create products that taste like your grandmothers'.

“Nostalgia is the secret ingredient. No colours, no artificial flavours — pure, natural goodness," Laveena says.

Tripti Foods’ bestselling ‘hing achar’ accounts for about a third of total sales. There are also other products like leafy squash, apple and kiwi jams, pineapple crush, strawberry squash, and more that drive repeat orders.

Her products are bought by customers far beyond Meerut in cities like Delhi, Bengaluru, and Mumbai. On Amazon marketplace, her pickles and squashes reach pan-India, while families travelling abroad often carry her products. Laveena also travels to places like Moradabad, Kashipur, Rudrapur, and Muzaffarnagar, in and around UP to put up stalls at exhibitions and events. In Meerut, Tripti Food products are available at four retail outlets.

“I can't spend a lot on marketing and advertisements for my products. So customer feedback has been instrumental in sustaining word-of-mouth growth for the business,” she says.

Laveena says the revenue was slow to pick up in the initial years.

“The revenue barely touched Rs 80,000 annually. But I was very persistent. By the second year, stalls at local events and word-of-mouth recommendations brought steady growth," she notes.

Pickles are priced between Rs100 and Rs300 while squashes range from Rs110 to Rs300. The pricing model involves adding a 10–15 percent markup over the costs of raw materials and processing.

Laveena considers maintaining the quality as a huge promise and not just a business goal. Her children have been her biggest supporters. “My son, Kinshuk Jain left his education to help me, and my daughter Krithika Jain has been by my side from the beginning. So is my husband, Sandeep Jain, he is doing very well now and we are in this together," she shares.

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Future plans

For the love of cooking, Laveena keeps experimenting with new recipes, studies market trends and works on delivering innovative products without compromising the natural, homely essence of her brand. She aims to come up with more exciting recipes and take Tripti Foods global through exports.

“When we were struggling and I was trying to start my business, some relatives distanced themselves, and many didn’t believe in me. But some people supported me wholeheartedly. So today, many of them call my "story inspiring", but for me, it’s been my "real life". I don't see it just as a story. I had a choice—do or die and I chose to do it. That’s what I want my kids to remember," she signs off.

(Chandhini R is a Kerala-based journalist specialising in human interest, entertainment, and art and culture stories)

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