This 55-YO Chennai woman is making minor millets trending again

Despite being climate-friendly, resilient and being a powerhouse of nutrition, Minor millets disappeared from our ecosystem.

Almost 50 years ago, millets were one of the most-grown staples in India. 

A report from Madhya Pradesh Rajya NITI Aayog validates that before the Green Revolution, millets contributed about 40% of cultivated grains in the country. Yes - that was more than rice. 

However, as wheat and rice became more popular, the taste preferences of the country also switched. Millets became a ‘sub-standard’ option and quickly vanished from Indian diets.

Fast-forward to today’s time, and the Government has taken it upon itself to add millets to Indian food baskets again.

The reasons? Simple - high nutrition content, climatic reliance, and the rising issues of nutritional gaps in people.

Indian startups also have a huge role to play here.

Founded by Sanjeeta Krishna Kumar, Ogmo Foods is one of the leading Indian startups popularizing millets, especially minor millets, fostering healthy eating in younger generations, and empowering local farmers and rural women to grow these grains and earn a better livelihood.

THE BEGINNING 

Sanjeeta comes from a small town in Rajasthan called Udaipur. She is a science graduate and has a masters degree in Economics and Business management.

In 1993, Sanjeeta started working in the corporate world of Delhi for over 5 years. 

She got married in 1996, but had to give her worklife a break due to a health issue for over a decade. 

After recovering fully, Sanjeeta realized that she didn’t want to go back to doing a job and wanted to pursue her passion for food and creativity.

In an interview with Startup Pedia, she said, “I remember when I had recovered, I wanted to do something - and that wasn’t going back to doing a job. I reconnected with my passion for food and started an online blog called LiteBite in 2008. I used to curate and post recipes of Indian dishes there. Before I knew it, the blog began generating a lot of traffic and brands started recognizing and contacting me.”

Over the years, she has become one of the renowned food stylists on the country.

She has successfully completed 100 plus television commercial shoots for various national and international brands like Phillips, ITC, Zomato, Nestle, Amul, Adani, and Swiggy.

Sanjeeta tells us, “I was always attracted to the idea of creating things, helping others and leaving an impact behind with my work.”

Eventually, she decided to delve deeper into the food industry to make a bigger impact.

And thus, OGMO Foods was born.

Sanjeeta and her husband had purchased a small farmland in 2010.

It was during one such trip at the farm that she came across Minor Millets and indigenous recipes cooked by the villagers.  

Sanjeeta mentions, “ I did some research and found that these are gluten-free grains extremely high in protein, dietary fibers, vitamins and minerals.”

She decided to grow minor millets and make value-added products using them.

Sanjeeta and her husband invested around Rs 40 lakhs from their personal savings and started the groundwork for setting up a small unit in the village. 

OGMO FOODS’ VISION

With a vision for a better world and passion for a fitter world, OGMO Foods was launched in 2018.

The startup began with multiple visions running parallel to each other.

Sanjeeta wanted her business to make ancient grains trendy again. Her vision was to advocate positive changes in Indian diets and help people steer away from processed artificial food.

Another very important vision was to empower and educate farmers on the ease of growing minor millets and helping them market their products at the same time.

CHALLENGES

Entrepreneurship brings its own set of challenges.

For Sanjeeta, reaching out to investors and consumers, and setting up the production unit - everything came as a challenge.

Sanjeeta remembers her first day at the farm and warehouse. She says, “I had labelled certain products and quantities that needed to be brought in - and saw that the rural women staff  were staring at me with a blank look. I realized that they couldn’t read or write either English or Tamil.”

Educating them about machines and the production process was another challenge.

“In the initial phase, it was also difficult to find a proper packaging machine and to locate reliable supply-chain sources,” Sanjeeta adds.

Several trips to Coimbatore and neighbouring areas finally helped Sanjeeta secure the required machinery. Then building a rapport with manufacturers helped sort the sourcing of ingredients.

And things at the farm started in full swing.

GROWTH & SUCCESS

In 2018, Ogmo Foods launched its flagship product - Overnight Minor Millet breakfast Mixes. It’s the first-of-its-kind product that none of the competing brands offer to date.

When the startup began doing well, Sanjeeta’s husband also quit his lucrative IT job - and joined Ogmo Foods to look after operations.

Talking about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sanjeeta said, “Just two years after our launch, the lockdown hit us. Despite that, we actually did quite well during 2020 and 2021. Even though there were restrictions, we obtained the Government’s permit to continue production. More and more people started turning towards natural food products and millets became one of the topmost choices of Indians looking to change their diet for the better. Ogmo Foods instantly banked on this opportunity.”

Today, Ogmo Foods has a presence in over 50+ regional high-end retail stores.

It has a range of 50+ products including Minor millet  Energy Bites, Energy Drinks,  Granola, Cookies, pre-soaked millet health mixes, cereal, and porridges for babies. 

All products are natural, minimally processed with zero preservatives or additives, and are completely gluten-free and vegan. 

Primarily, the brand sells online on its Amazon store and through numerous premium retail stores across India.

Sanjeeta adds, “We get a lot of bulk orders from corporates as well as from the Government. This is a major source of revenue for us.”

Since its inception, Sanjeeta has never spent a dime on marketing and advertising expenses. 

“We’ve relied solely on word-of-mouth, and it has worked pretty well for us,” Sanjeeta mentions to Startup Pedia.

While her bootstrapped business began with a modest  revenue, it is now generating good profits.

LOOKING AHEAD

In the near future, Sanjeeta and her team are looking to scale up the operations and take Minor Millet into the global market. Since Ogmo Foods is a 100% vegan brand, it has received quite some interest from the overseas market.

The startup aims to continue empowering farmers and rural women by helping them grow millets easily and sustainably while also marketing their products.