Tag: jaggery products

Navnoor Kaur

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A SPOON FULL OF JAGGERY- Navnoor Kaur  

This is a story of a young entrepreneur who is one of those successful young millennials who is setting a new standard for young people today. Before beginning her career as an entrepreneur, Navnoor Kaur worked for a total of three years as an employee in the corporate sector. She has a Master of Business Administration degree from IMT Ghaziabad. She was born into a service family from Ludhiana, Punjab. She is the first-generation entrepreneur in her family & has always been quite enthusiastic about the prospect of contributing to a socially impactful agricultural initiative throughout her career. She planned to take the initiative to go from refined sugar to jaggery with the assistance and backing of her family, friends, and mentors. Jaggery’s heavenly taste is what makes it popular. However, this naturally sweet food has enormous health benefits.

Navnoor’s curiosity led her to visit a number of jaggery plants, where she became aware of the presence of adulterated and unbranded jaggery in the market, which was produced under unsanitary circumstances, as well as the use of chemicals in the process of cleaning sugarcane juice.

But since there has been an abrupt change toward healthy living, she felt the need to add jaggery instead of sugar in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. However, persuading others that this was the healthier option was the true challenge.

In the year 2019, Navnoor conceptualized her brand “Jaggercane,” and in the year 2021, she started testing the samples of her brand. After an overwhelming response, she began processing and selling her brand. Her plan was to encourage people to switch to jaggery, which is a more nutritious sweetener that, even when consumed in small amounts, may provide more than thirty percent of a person’s recommended daily iron consumption.
Navnoor and her co-founder, Kaushal Singh, who holds an MBA in Agribusiness from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, had the vision to transform jaggery from a “sad packaged good” sitting in the back of department stores into a trendy good that catches the eyes of the people and finds its way into the people’s hearts. Navnoor visited Kaushal Singh’s farm & found it to be very hygenic.

Using jaggery as a base, we boost the advantages of the product by adding nutritious value additions such as nuts and seeds, stated Navnoor and Kaushal.

They do not make any sacrifices in terms of quality and are certain that their goods are superior to those of their rivals due to the sanitary manner in which they are processed and the use of okra roots for the cleaning of sugarcane.
The results of their poll led them to the conclusion that most individuals do not like the taste of jaggery. Jaggercane creates goods that have increased value, are tastier, are stylish and new age, and are suitable for people of all ages. These items may even be consumed on a regular basis as snacks.

The vision of Navnoor and Kaushal is to replace sugar with jaggery.
Both parties noted that there are two avenues via which they generate revenue: business-to-business and direct-to-consumer.
“Selling to other businesses enables us to get immediate payment, as does our practice of white labelling. We use that money to build our brand in the direct-to-consumer market, which is expensive to do on your own.
In addition to this, they said that “even though we would be using better sweetener choices in tea and coffee, the snacks would still include refined sugar.”
In addition, Jagger Cane provides a variety of really delightful snacks that are high in iron and protein and can satisfy your craving for something sweet while still being good for your health.

Featured Products:  

  • Organic Jaggery Cubes
  • Organic Jaggery Powder
  • Almond Illaichi Jaggery Crumbs
  • Pumpkin Seeds Jaggery Crumbs
  • Crunchy Jaggery Granola
  • Coconut Jaggery Crumbs
The company operates based on a social impact-driven business model, and its leadership is comprised of purpose-driven women. Additionally, the majority of the workforce that is responsible for producing and packaging the company’s goods is comprised of women.
On the other hand, Jaggercane was recognised by Bhagwant Mann, the Chief Minister of Punjab, as one of the emerging startups in the state of Punjab. Jaggercane is now one of the rising businesses in Punjab.

Challenges 

Due to the fact that Navnoor did not come from a business background, she was confronted with a number of obstacles when she began from scratch, and the financial expenditures associated with marketing and processing were significant.

Message for farmers:

There is a great deal of room for improvement in all aspects of agricultural work today. The trend these days is for people to go back to their origins. To meet the ever-increasing demand, farmers shouldn’t put all of their faith in MSPs but should instead concentrate on developing some innovative solutions.

Jyoti Gambhir

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A woman who not only dreamed about her goals but also dared to pursue them and achieve success — Jyoti Gambhir 

Jyoti Gambhir is a lady who not only had ambitions but also had the courage to pursue them and succeed.
If directed in the right direction at the right moment, your passion can help you reach the sky. Each and every one of us has goals and desires, but not everybody has the courage to pursue them. A person is hindered from achieving their goals by their fear of failing. Nevertheless, there are some who never give up.
One such woman, Jyoti Gambhir from Ludhiana, not only succeeded in turning her pastime into a business and achieving her goals, but also established herself as a role model for others.
Jyoti was always fond of cooking and thoroughly enjoyed it, but she exclusively did it in her kitchen at home. But there always comes a point when it’s time to start afresh.

Cooking was my hobby, and I tried cooking different food items at home for my family— Jyoti Gambhir

As they say, ”Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” Jyoti’s daughter suffered from lactose intolerance and would often fall sick after she consumed outside food. Her daughter’s sickness made her resilient, and she started baking fresh biscuits for her daughter, as her biscuits were gluten free and delicious. They were well-liked by her daughter and family, who complimented her.
She became inspired and started working towards her lifelong quest of starting something of her own.  She made the decision to prepare additional biscuits to distribute to her family and friends. After an overwhelming response, Jyoti gave her a ray of hope and a pair of wings to fly. She felt motivated and thought she could provide quality biscuits and bakery items for those who suffer from gluten allergies, lactose intolerance or those who prefer organic food items.

I was overwhelmed & excited to see my family’s response to my new venture— Jyoti

Her husband gave his full support to her decision. She was on cloud seven after receiving the go-ahead signal. She was optimistic about it. She thought she had overcome all the challenges and she could see her path steered clear.
Then she considered taking culinary classes. As she began her research, she made the choice to start labelling her products under the name “Delicious Bites”. The ideal choice for her, given that she resided in Ludhiana City, was to get training from Punjab Agricultural University (PAU). She didn’t waste a second in starting her training at PAU.

I started my training at PAU and then, later on, worked from home to prepare fresh batter for cakes & cookies. —Jyoti Gambhir

After completing her course, she started working part-time. Meanwhile, she came across Dr. Ramandeep Singh, Marketing Head at PAU, who has guided numerous farmers in finding success and is always willing to assist them in prospering. Dr. Singh was greatly impressed with Jyoti’s work when she gave him a detailed overview of her ambition and her lifelong quest to start something of her own. He saw the determination in her. So, then he introduced Jyoti to the PAU social media team and gave her strategic marketing ideas.
Dr. Ramandeep then considered promoting Jyoti’s initiative on the Apni Kheti app and then the Apni Kheti team crafted Jyoti’s story to highlight her for better reach and support.
Jyoti had countless responses to this, and she soon began to receive calls from customers all over the city who wanted to place orders.
She started expanding her business as she garnered more marketing knowledge, using resources from Punjab Agricultural University amidst this process. After a few weeks, when her business of baking cakes and cookies was well established, she took the decision to produce more products.  .

I started my Training at PAU and then, later on, worked from home- Jyoti Gambhir

As Delicious Bites began a new phase of growth, Jyoti began to package and label her products.
She makes 14–15 different kinds of bakery products out of these listed products:

  • Biscuits
  • Cakes
  • Bread
  • Jaggery
  • Sugarcane
  • Jam
  • Squash
The ingredients required to make biscuits are completely organic. Other goods that include jaggery are cakes, bread, and a variety of biscuits. She took a step forward, then built connections with other organic farmers and started purchasing the required ingredients directly from them.
Dr. Ramandeep made all of this possible by assisting Jyoti in establishing her career.
Currently, Jyoti manages all marketing and promotion of ‘Delicious Bites’ on Instagram and Facebook pages, which she also owns.
In 2019, she was rewarded with Rs. 16 lakhs from The Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana-Remunerative Approaches for Agriculture and Allied Sector Rejuvenation (RKVY-RAFTAAR) for taking up a great initiative of preservative free products.
Jyoti Gambhir then became a partner with Celebrating Farmers Edge International (C.F.E.I.) PVT LTD in 2021, where she is assisting many farmers in the processing of naturally grown sugarcane into healthy products such as cane jam and alkaline cane juice tea. C.F.E.I. has already established two Farmer Interest Groups (F.I. G) through this company, and their goal is to establish 100 F.I. Gs by the end of the year with the assistance of SBI Coimbatore and IIT Mumbai, their technology partners. These farmer groups support, educate, and help them learn how to market their own products.

“Do not follow where the path may lead.” “Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

We all have dreams, but not many fulfil them. Mrs. Jyoti Gambhir is the proud owner of Delicious Bites and has managed to fulfil the quest of her lifelong dream by opening her first outlet in Maharashtra under the partnership with C.F.E.I. She plans on expanding her business further this year and is opening another outlet in her hometown, Ludhiana.
It all started with a home bakery, baking cakes and cookies and delivering orders. She gradually learnt about the various types of preferences people have and began baking vegan and gluten-free products. She went from selling 15 units per day to selling 1,000 units per day and launched her own brand. As they say,
“Dreams don’t work unless you do.”
In 2021, Delicious Bites, a preservative and chemical-free bakery, was the only bakery from Punjab selected by the Govt. of India to showcase their products in the Dubai Expo India Pavilion.

FUTURE PLANS

She wants to grow her business to the extent where she can afford to package and be able to market her own products under one roof.

MESSAGE

Every woman should chase her dreams; there are no limits to fulfilling those goals if a person is fully determined and passionate.