57-YO Homemaker Turns Jackfruit into Innovative Food Products, Clocks ₹12 Lakh Annually

Rani Sunny from Idukki in Kerala grew up surrounded by cardamom and jackfruit plantations spread across 4.5 acres of land in their backyard. While her family harvested cardamom, jackfruit was just a common fruit for this 57-year-old homemaker, from which she could make chips and other traditional dishes. Now the owner of the successful enterprise “Eden Jackfruit Products” Rani, who studied only up to pre-degree, is earning an annual turnover of Rs 12 lakh.

How did Rani’s entrepreneurial journey begin?

A training programme in 2018, organized by Kudumbashree’s Amrutham Nutrimix on making value-added products from jackfruit, changed Rani’s life path. In an exclusive interview with Startup Pedia, Idukki’s Rani Sunny shared her journey of becoming a jackfruit entrepreneur from being a homemaker and mother of three children.

“Our area is well-known for cardamom farming. Like other farmers in our region, we also grew jackfruit trees to provide shade to the small cardamom trees. Each tree would yield between 10 and 50 jackfruits, but we would throw them away because we never thought they had any potential to make profits,” the woman startup founder said.

After attending the training programme in 2017, she realised the potential of doing business with jackfruit products. The Kerala business owner always wanted to launch a startup. Now that her daughters have grown up, Rani thought it was time to actualise her dream. 

With an initial investment of Rs. 25 lakhs for constructing the setup, buying machinery, etc., and support from her husband and daughters, the Idukki startup founder started her business. Rani tested the waters before launching the business though. Initially, she bought 25 kgs of jackfruits, dried and put them on sale. Immediately, those were sold out. Next, she tried 100 kgs of jackfruits, which also were all sold out quickly.

The food startup owner, Rani Sunny developed a range of innovative products from dried jackfruit to dried jackfruit powder, frozen tender jackfruit, wholesome jackfruit powder, dried jackfruit seed, dried jackfruit seed powder, as well as jackfruit pulp. Later she used to make cutlets, burger patties, supplements, and more.

Also read: Engineer Mom Starts Dairy Startup to Feed Pure Milk to Lactose Intolerant Child, Clocks ₹ 1 Cr Annual Revenue (startuppedia.in)

Love for jackfruits

As a child, Rani loved tasting delicacies made from jackfruits. “When I came home from school, Mother would offer us kumbilappam (steamed jackfruit cone cakes made with rice flour and jaggery) and chakka puzhukku (mashed jackfruit cooked with grated coconut and spices),” the Eden Jackfruit Products founder told Startup Pedia.

“Mother would also make chakka vattal chips from jackfruits, which taste even better than the banana chips. My sibling and I would often fight over those delicacies,” Rani Sunny recalled fondly.

As Rani dropped out of her bachelor’s degree in arts, she turned into a homemaker at a young age. However, her childhood passion for owning a business never faded away.

A training that changed perspective

Her entrepreneurial spirit was ignited after receiving training from Kudumbashree, a women empowerment programme initiated by the Kerala State Government. The training provided her with the knowledge and skills to start and sustain a thriving business venture.

Incidentally, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, and Jharkhand have approached Kudumbasree to learn about this scientific nutrition program of Kerala called Amrutham Nutrimix. The project provides nutritious food to children and has won the Glenmark Nutrition Award from the 2022 UN World Food Program.

“In the training, I got to know that jackfruits can be used to prepare a diverse range of value-added products like dried powder and pulp. With jackfruits easily available in abundance throughout my region, and with a dryer lying around at home, I saw an opportunity to start a business,” Rani told Startup Pedia. “That’s when my perception about jackfruits changed.”

Initially, as a new seller, it was difficult to crack the market with jackfruit products. The district industry centre helped the woman entrepreneur explore the market and set up a business.

“They told us to bring samples of products and allowed us to display them in the exhibition after which clients got interested and contacted us. Many were interested in exporting the jackfruit products.” Eden Jackfruit Products owner Rani Sunny told Startup Pedia.

 Eden Jackfruit Products - a brand that’s here to stay

Now an established business, Rani’s Eden Jackfruit Products supplies high-quality jackfruit-based food items to the market. Currently, the woman entrepreneur is focused on building a website and establishing a strong presence on social media.

Rani sources jackfruits from around 20 neighbours, paying them a fair price for their produce while employing 10 workers (8 women workers and 2 men) to help process the fruits. She earns a profit of Rs 8 lakh in a year.

Awards & recognitions

This woman startup founder from Kerala has already received several awards for her innovations in the food industry. Rani Sunny received the Best Entrepreneur Award from the panchayat, as well as at the district level. She shared with Startup Pedia that she has also been nominated for the state level. 

Plans ahead

The jackfruit business owner received Rs. 2.5 lakhs grant in 2017 from the State government. When asked about her plans, Eden Jackfruit Products founder candidly shared that she wants her company to export jackfruit products and take charge in the food tech space.

“I have some plans in my mind,” revealed Rani Sunny. “Want to introduce new jackfruit products. Also, now that the third parties are assisting in export, we want to do it on our own,” she added.

The Jackfruit entrepreneur’s advice

Rani believes in doing hard work. “If you are ready to do the hard work, you will be successful in what you do!” she said in the exclusive interview with Startup Pedia. 

When asked about what advice she would like to give an entrepreneur who wants to get into the food industry, the woman food entrepreneur said, “Before starting a business, do market research. Start with a small investment at first.”

Also read: Gold Medalist Professor Leaves Prestigious College Career to Become Mushroom Farmer, Makes ₹50 Lakh Annually (startuppedia.in)