3Vees introduces locally made asafetida in Kerala, grabs market attention
3Vees introduces locally made asafetida in Kerala, grabs market attention
Varsha Prashant had to make 15 attempts to cure the asafetida compound. Asafoetida ( Ferula Asafoetida) Ferula is the dried sap obtained from the roots of plants. It is commonly used in Indian cuisine and Ayurveda.
After learning how to make this commercially viable product in a one-day training program at Agro Park, Piravom, he sat at their home in Kalamassery with his father Prashant A. remembers shaking. To get the correct ratio. “Slowly, I was getting closer to the solid form I needed,” she says. Once it was ready, the mixture was packaged manually in paper boxes by her parents, sisters and herself in 25 g cakes. Varsha and her father used to go to hotels and supermarkets for orders.
After six months, Varsha founded 3Vees International (his sisters Vismaya and Vrinda) with Compound as the company’s main product. Started in 2019 with a capital of ₹ 2 lakh, the company has now grown to a turnover of ₹ 1.25 crore and has diversified into breakfast products and spice powders. Packaging, blending and freezing have all been automated and the workforce includes 10 local women and a fleet of sales executives. With orders pouring in from all over Kerala and even from abroad, Varsha has gained recognition and won awards like Kairali Jwala Awards 2022; Women’s Day 2022-Young Entrepreneur Award and JCI Young Entrepreneur Award 2021.
“I had not dreamed of it nor did I plan to reach this level. I am happy but equally surprised,” said the 26-year-old, managing director’s swivel chair in his office in the manufacturing unit, in a rented house is sitting on
(Left to Right) Sisters Vrinda, Varsha and Visyam. photo credit: special arrangement
home factory
Earlier, I had lost my way to the office in Surya Nagar, Kalamassery, but was saved by Varsha and Vrindavan with an e-bike. The unit is busy at 11 am. In the small verandah, two women are labeling small packets while in the front room there are racks of packaging material. A large blending machine that turns asafoetida into a cake grows up in another room. The two other rooms each have an automatic packaging machine. It is kept together to make asafetida powder. The kitchen has a freeze dryer where a group of women chat during a tea break while the tea boils in a saucepan. I did not find the strong smell of asafoetida as expected; Instead, the aroma of spices hangs with warmth in the air.
We make our way to Varsha’s office, a small space shared by the women who help her in administration. “I had an idea to start something of my own, but it was not clear which product to choose,” says Varsha, who has an MBA from SCMS in Kochi. The family hails from Mallapuram and had moved to Kochi five years ago for the higher education of the girls. Her father helped her to eat asafoetida as a commercially viable alternative. He had read market studies and found that the production was monopolized by one company, and there was no one to manufacture it in South India, although asafoetida was a staple in South Indian cooking. “My father is from the pharmaceutical world and has experience in distribution and sales. He advised me there,” she says of the initial plan.
3 asafoetida | photo credit: special arrangement
As the work progressed and employees were hired, Varsha divided the responsibilities among the family members. Her mother Sarla was entrusted with the production work and supervised the women’s work. Vismaya, who is a CA and works a full time job, deals with financial advice. Vrinda, the youngest sister, is in charge of online promotion and sales to maintain the social media pages, while Varsha oversees business development and administration.
Government Schemes for Women Entrepreneurs
Rain considers lack of awareness as the biggest obstacle. She says, “There are many government schemes for women entrepreneurs but when we are starting out we are not aware of them. He learned about the schemes from the District Industrial Development Corporation and applied for Mudra loan under the PMEGP scheme. “We get a subsidy to buy machinery, but if we don’t know the plan properly, we lose the subsidy.”
Within 18 months of starting, it expanded its product range to add spice powders and snack products like appam, puttu and roasted rava powder. Its latest diversification is into freeze-dried products; An experiment at his desk shows bright yellow packets of dehydrated bananas. Inquiries from the Malayali diaspora in West Asia are substantial, she says. “Kerala snacks would be a good option. Made from Nandran banana and infused with honey, this product has a shelf life of six months.
Varsha offers discounts or extra packets on instant payment to tackle the competition. It has applied for export license and ISO certificate and is also looking for investors.
“I’m learning as I go,” she says, looking at the busy women at work.