At BrilliantRead Media, we always strive to bring to our community some of the finest stories from the entrepreneurship world. As part of this endeavour, we invited a passionate young entrepreneur – Manisha Krishnan for an exclusive interview with us. She is the Founder of Mindful Foods Co. Let’s learn more about her inspiring journey, background and advice for our growing community!
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Manisha:
We are aware of your contribution to the ecosystem, talk us through your background and your journey as a women entrepreneur, please;
I did my schooling in Cochin, Kerala and later went on to do my undergraduate and post-graduation from Stella Maris College, Chennai and The University of Warwick, Coventry respectively.
I happened to have a fascination for the business world and entrepreneurship right from my childhood, and I believe I developed this feeling from growing up watching my father and grandfather. Both of them built their own businesses successfully right from scratch and the sense of accomplishment that they get to enjoy now is something I also want to experience.
At Warwick, I majored in Innovation and Entrepreneurship and my time over there laid a brilliant foundation for my entrepreneurial journey, as I was able to gain an in-depth understanding of the various aspects required to run a business successfully.
As part of my master’s dissertation, I studied the Indian Food & beverage industry. Considering the CPG category in the Indian F&B market, there exists a lot of healthy options with regard to snacks and packed food however, when it comes to beverages the market is still dominated by sugary sodas.
This made me realize that there was a gap in the market and there exists a good scope for healthy beverages, especially given the growing importance of health among present-day consumers.
What attracts you towards entrepreneurship instead of a corporate career?
Like I said before, my family and the sense of satisfaction and happiness gained from building something all by myself was my inspiration behind choosing entrepreneurship instead of a corporate career.
Also, the food and beverage industry is again something that I got exposure to very early on in my life because my family business is based out of this field, we own a chain of fast-casual restaurants here in Kerala.
I always knew I would end up working in the same industry as I loved exploring and learning about food. But I was very particular that whatever I chose to manufacture and sell should impact people in a positive way, something which is good for their health and is also sustainable.
It was during my time in the UK that I got exposed to kombucha, however, and that time I did not consider building a business around it. But after getting back to India when I was on the lookout for kombucha, I realized there were not many brands available here and the existing ones are mostly based out of the northern parts of the country.
So that is when I started learning in detail about kombucha, there is no professional degree or courses that one can take up when it comes to brewing kombucha. So instead I ended up talking to a lot of kombucha brewers, reading journals and books in this field, conducting trials and that’s how Conscient Foods was formed.
And honestly, I enjoyed each and every moment of it because every day I get to learn and do something new and I believe I can never experience any of this or at least to this extent in a corporate career.
‘Neer’ is such a unique name; talk us through more about it, please. Our audience would also love to know what kind of problem you are solving?
‘Neer’ means water in my mother tongue Tamil. We decided to name our brand after water because water as such is a simple substance and yet it does so much good to people and that is exactly what our product is all about.
Kombucha is a very simple beverage, in fact, it is made using just five ingredients: tea, water, sugar, Kombucha culture and fruit juice, however, it happens to contribute to consumers’ health positively. It is low in sugar, contains antioxidants, organic acids and even traces amounts of B vitamins.
Also, the brewing process is very sustainable, the energy consumption is very limited because fermentation is a natural process and we also keep our packaging sustainable and try to recycle as much as possible. Overall, the core value of our business is sustainability, minimalism and cleanness and I believe these resonate quite well with the word Neer.
What does your company specialise in?
We are a Kombucha brewery. Kombucha is a fermented tea beverage which has been consumed for thousands of years for its health benefits. However, it started gaining commercial recognition only in recent years and though it has become quite popular among consumers in western countries it is still in a nascent stage with regard to the Indian market.
In terms of taste, not everyone will take a liking to kombucha in the first instance due to its crisp taste profile. It’s not particularly suited to the Indian palate that is more inclined towards sweeter notes. So, it’s not any usual drink we are putting on a table. However, people now travel a lot more and they get to taste foods and beverages from other countries. So their palates have become more globalised.
We have gotten a good response so far. Having a taste profile similar to that of alcohol also makes a good alternative for somebody choosing not to drink.
During this COVID-19 crisis, what are the measures you have undertaken to continue your business without disruption?
As the business is born during COVID, each measure is taken to ensure that the model aligns with the challenges of the pandemic. Our business model consists of a lean team which is not at all resource-heavy and has minimal overheads.
But I cannot say we were able to continue the business without any disruption During the 2nd wave we had to cut down on production by around fifty per cent because a major chunk of our sales happens through restaurants and cafes and since they were not functional during that time and this affected us to a great extent.
So instead we used the time to improve and eliminate the various bottlenecks in our production and distribution process. For example, one of the major issues we faced was with cold chain distribution because it is very expensive and complicated here in India.
Therefore, we created a process to make the product shelf-stable but at the same time retains all of its health benefiting properties.
How do you manage to keep going despite the challenges? What drives you?
Challenge is part of any business so all I try to do is not get overwhelmed. Instead, I focus on breaking down the problem, set up realistic goals and try to move forward one step at a time.
Also, every time we complete a challenging task successfully we tend to become a little wiser and moreover the sheer joy we get to experience from completing a challenging task successfully is not something I can explain in words and I believe that is what drives me to push through it.
Who do you believe has been the biggest source of motivation in your daily life?
My family and friends but especially my mother. They are always around to both cheer for me and listen to me and they are my biggest motivation.
Given the rapid pace at which the world is changing, what are the leadership traits that are necessary for success?
Being an effective leader is one thing, but if their team is unable to carry out their visions, even the best leader will not be able to meet their goals.
Thus the leader should be able to develop effective followers whereby followers engage in constructive critical thinking and interact with and support the leader with achieving tasks
What are some of the strategies that you believe have helped you grow as a person?
For me practising these 4 things helped me to grow as a person.
1) Accepting and being open to change
2) Owning up and learning from my mistakes
3) Listening attentively
4) Willingness to learn
You are always positive and motivated, what keeps you going?
Every time we take up a task one has to believe that whatever it is that they are doing will end positively. For example in my case when I started out to build a kombucha brand I assured myself that either I would build a successful brand or have a great learning experience.
And having this understanding that I will gain something good in the end no matter what keeps me motivated and pushes me through challenging days.
Apart from this, I also make sure that I take out some time each day for myself to work out, to watch my favourite shows and this helps me a lot as it gives me time to relax and process things.
In your opinion, what are the keys to success?
(a) Accepting yourself
(b) Being disciplined and consistent
(c) Willing to learn and venture out of one’s comfort zone
(d) Having a clear plan
(e) Empathy
What advice would you give students and young professionals who want to have a successful career?
As an entrepreneur, others may not understand what you’re trying to do. If you have an idea, don’t contemplate it for too long. Just execute it and keep working on it until you achieve your goals.
BrilliantRead is committed to bringing stories from the startup ecosystem, stories that reshape our perspective, add value to our community and be a constant source of motivation not just for our community but also for the whole ecosystem of entrepreneurs and aspiring individuals.
Note: If you have a similar story to share with our audience and would like to be featured on our online magazine, then please write to us at [email protected], we will review your story and extend an invitation to feature if it is worth publishing.
