How this Haryana woman built a Rs 70 lakh turnover millet food business

When Pooja Sharma’s in-laws divided the joint family property, her financial troubles increased. She had worked on the farms since childhood and was married after completing class 10. However, farming became difficult due to a decline in the groundwater table following over-extraction in her Chandu village in Haryana.

“My husband took up a job, but the earnings were inadequate to run the household with three children. I began working in an ‘anganwadi’ for an NGO for Rs2500 a month,” Pooja tells 30Stades.

“I travelled 5 km to the village where I worked. I would walk for 1.5 km and pay Rs 5 as an auto fare for 3.5 km. Even paying that amount was difficult,” she recalls. The project ended after 1.5 years, and Pooja was jobless again.

She then purchased a cow to provide milk to her family and sold the surplus. That money brought some financial stability, and she increased the number of cows over time. 

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Training for entrepreneurship

Things, however, changed dramatically when she learned about a training programme to prepare roasted soya nuts. Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) in Shikohpur, Gurugram, was offering the training. When enquired, KVK officials asked Pooja and other women to come to the office for training. 

“But we could not afford the auto fare. So KVK paid for the fare for the week-long training,” she says.

The women then pooled small amounts to start the Kshitiz Self-Help Group to prepare and sell roasted soya nuts. Pooja started the unit in 2013 at her ancestral, dilapidated home where nobody had lived for years. 

What began as a venture to sell roasted soya nuts has grown to a successful millet business with over 70 sweet and savoury products, including cookies, snacks, laddus and biscuits. Pooja launched her company, Kshitiz Millets Pvt Ltd, in November 2024.

“Most of our products are made with jowar (sorghum), bajra (pearl millet), ragi (finger millet), in combination with spices, coconut, chia seeds, jaggery and other ingredients. Our turnover was Rs 70 lakh last fiscal,” she says.  

Pooja says they receive bulk orders from corporates, NGOs and government organisations. The products, under the Millet Mom brand, are also available on the company website, Meesho and Flipkart. “We are registering with other online marketplaces,” the food entrepreneur says.

She also customises products for bulk orders. 

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The journey from roasted soya to millet foods

After learning to roast soya and package the snack, Pooja began to showcase it at various exhibitions. “That was the only way to get some visibility. I began attending the PUSA exhibitions and we connected with the Haryana State Rural Livelihoods Mission (HSRLM), which works to empower rural communities,” she says.

HSRLM gave them a platform to participate in various food fairs, Suraj Kund Mela and other exhibitions. "At these large exhibitions, I realised that having only one product was not financially profitable,” she says.

That’s when Pooja decided to create her mother and grandmother’s laddus and snacks made with fresh seasonal ingredients. 

“From jowar and bajra to chana-sattu and gondh-atta laddu with dry fruits and various types of savouries, we began preparing new products,” she says. 

As a result, customer response improved. “People started placing repeat and bulk orders,” the millet entrepreneur says. 

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It also helped local farmers who grow millets but don’t find enough buyers. 

Haryana is India's third-largest producer of bajra, with a production of 11.69 lakh tonnes in 2023-24. This is about 12.26 percent of the national total. Bajra is a drought-tolerant kharif crop grown in Haryana's semi-arid and water-scarce regions.

“By procuring bajra from local farmers, I am doing my bit to provide them with income stability. However, more needs to be done to empower farmers growing millets like bajra,” the woman entrepreneur says.

In 2017, ACCESS Development Services, a national livelihoods support organisation, reached out to Kshitiz and trained the team in cookie making. “They even provided us with a dough machine and training and set up an oven for production,” Pooja says. 

Today, Kshitiz produces 10 types of savouries, 30 biscuits, five types of cookies and 20 varieties of laddus. “Our biggest revenue source is bulk orders. We just executed an order of 2 lakh laddus for a client in West Bengal,” says Pooja, who works with 25 women right now.

With a first-hand experience in entrepreneurship and rural community-building, Pooja is now a regular speaker at various agricultural universities. “I share views and experiences on women's empowerment and increasing the income of farmers. I have also trained 3,000 women in preparing snacks and cookies,” says Pooja.

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

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