This MBA quit the corporate track to take Indian handmade snacks global

When Richa Sharma moved to Mumbai after her husband’s transfer in 2016, little did she know that the city of dreams would inspire her to become an entrepreneur.  An MBA (finance) graduate from IIRM College in Jaipur, she worked at SKS Microfinance (now BFIL) from 2008 to 2012, but left her job as it entailed extensive travel.

She joined Parul University in Vadodara as an assistant professor and worked there until 2016. Living in a society in Powai, she got busy taking care of her two children, now in classes 2 and 6, preparing healthy and nutritious meals for her family, like most women.

“I was always passionate about cooking and experimented with my mother’s recipes. Gradually, the word spread that I was preparing healthy food items for my children. That’s when people in my society started approaching me with requests for homemade sweets and snacks,” Richa tells 30Stades.

They included handmade ragi, jowar and flaxseed laddus, dhoklas, kachoris, and sabzis. In 2019, she started a catering business called Richa’s Platter, primarily serving her neighbourhood.

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COVID strengthened entrepreneurship

She was just beginning to enjoy this new role when COVID struck. “I thought everything would fall apart, but my orders in fact increased as people were seeking homemade hygienic meals and snacks. I improvised on the snacks, mixing, blending, and delivering customised orders made with love,” says Richa, now 41.

“I did not invest anything into this food business, as all my apparatus is what I use in my kitchen, and as everything is prepared on order, there is no need for additional funding.”

Richa says she wants to keep a premium homemade sweets and healthy snacks brand as her USP. “Otherwise, there is little difference between what is prepared commercially.”

Initially, she would get 10-20 orders per month, but now it is a minimum of 500 orders. “I earn an average of Rs 1.5 to 2 lakh based on the demand, with pack sizes ranging from 250 grams to 400 and even 500 grams,” she says.

“I renamed the business “Humble Flavors” in 2020 as a proprietorship, homebusiness. I continued adding items based on customer request, including atta, besan, flaxseed, hazelnut, gond, sugar-free, vegan and gluten-free laddus.  I also prepare savouries, chutneys and pickles, and undertake party orders,” says Richa, who grew up watching her mom and learnt about the ingredients that went into every dish even when she was in class 4.

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Marketing and exports

Richa accepts orders on her website (for pan-India and international) and on her WhatsApp group (for local customers). “All my customers value freshness over packaged, healthy handcrafted sweets over preservative-laden ones,” she adds.

“I don’t have any specific marketing strategy. Most of my customers reach out to me after hearing about my products from others. About 350 of my customers are repeat customers.”

“We are an all-women team. I have four women to help me chop, roll and pack, including Swati, who was my housemaid. She has now quit her sweeping and mopping duties and has joined Richa full-time.

From catering to customers in Khar, Borivali and Andheri, to people from as far as Coimbatore, Bengaluru, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, her customer base has spread far and wide.

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With her husband’s help, she designed the Humble Flavors' website in 2021, taking her business across the globe.

“My products have reached more than 15 countries, including the US, Canada, Australia, Dubai, Singapore, the UK, Germany, and Switzerland. Many customers carry my products when they visit their relatives abroad. Some also order directly from overseas. I have accepted 15,000 orders so far,” beams Richa.

“However, delivering to far-off places was accompanied by many challenges. I had to ensure the laddus retained their shape. I began innovating with the packaging. I made egg-shaped trays, with a hollow so that the laddus “sat” in them safely. Most of the laddus have a shelf life of 30 days. I prepare them in desi ghee, without refined sugar, and zero preservatives.”

“My aim is not to commercialise the brand. I want to truly represent an “authentic” made-to-order business, with an emphasis on quality, nutrition, and taste.

“From my revenue, my profit is 15-20 percent, as I put almost 50 percent of the money back for procuring ingredients, around 20 percent for labour costs, and 10 percent for packaging. After all this, I still manage to donate 5 percent of the profit to the NGO Goonj.”

In 2023, Richa won the Inspiring Indian Women – Home Business Award, a testimony to her hard work and determination.

(Rama Devi Menon is a Hyderabad-based independent journalist, bird conservationist and animal rights advocate)

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