“Hey Siri. Get me an ice cream.”
“Certain, listed here are some options.”
What if digital assistants might really dole out ice lotions as an alternative of simply options?
Nicely, whereas Apple’s Siri doesn’t have that function, there may be one other Siri that gives scrumptious ice lotions in components of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana. What’s much more particular is that these ice-creams are millet-based and vegan.
4 buddies — Prabu Venugopal, Shashidhar, Arun Prakash, and Bhargav — began ‘Siri’, a vegan ice-cream parlour in Trichy, Tamil Nadu to vary the definition of this frozen dessert within the nation.
Though these globetrotters hailed from totally different industries, they shared a typical thread — all of them had farming backgrounds. So after working in several components of the world, the 4 professionals stop their comfortable jobs and returned to their hometowns — Prabu and Arun to Trichy; Shashidhar and Bhargav to Hyderabad — in 2016.
They then pooled their numerous experiences in resort administration, meals science, advertising and marketing and finance, and brainstormed concepts to make use of their farmland as a helpful useful resource to construct a thriving meals enterprise.
Captivated with constructing sustainable meals methods, they zeroed in on rising India’s conventional supergrains — millets. Recognized for its drought-resistant qualities and dietary advantages, millet appeared like the right candidate to advertise each well being and sustainability. Their efforts gave beginning to ‘Siri Millets’ in 2017 with a mission to popularise the grain by way of value-added merchandise like snacks, flakes, vermicelli, pasta, and way more.
Simply as they have been about to launch their merchandise on a grand scale, the COVID-19 pandemic dealt a major blow to their meticulously deliberate methods. But, this adversity turned out to be a hidden blessing, spurring them to innovate. Out of this problem emerged the thought of millet-based ice cream!
The trail was not straightforward, but they persevered with analysis and improvement for eight months. Lastly, their labour of affection, ‘Siri – Home of Vegan Ice Lotions’, was launched in 2020. With 4 useful retailers as we speak, they’re planning to broaden their footprint by way of 10 to fifteen shops within the coming few months.
Past offering a vegan, extra nutritious different to ice cream, they’re additionally engaged on educating children in regards to the significance of consuming habits by way of consciousness programmes.
So how did they make this millet-based ice cream a actuality?
From 4 components of the world to India
Prabu (45), a hotelier with over 25 years of expertise within the discipline, crossed paths with Shashidhar (37), a meals scientist, by way of work. They turned buddies over their widespread love for meals and diet. Arun (33), a advertising and marketing skilled working within the UK, was Prabu’s neighbour in Trichy, whereas Bhargav (39) is a fintech professional working within the USA and Shashidhar’s brother.
Though work took them to totally different continents, all of them needed to finally come again to be with their ageing dad and mom. Their households owned farmlands on which they grew paddy, which was turning into an issue attributable to local weather change and water shortage.
“Earlier than the inexperienced revolution, our grandparents have been rising millets like jowar, ragi, and bajra on their farms, which require much less water and are resilient to local weather change. The appearance of the inexperienced revolution brought on a shift to paddy,” Shashidhar tells The Higher India.
Prabu chimes in, as Arun and his household too, share the same story.
It’s no secret that farmers within the delta districts of Tamil Nadu, together with Trichy, have skilled years of poor paddy yields attributable to inadequate water for irrigation, forcing many to hunt different employment.
Hours of debate earlier than they stop their jobs led them to discover the potential of cultivating millets on their current land in Trichy and Hyderabad. Shashidhar even bought an extra 40 acres of land and began rising jowar, ragi, and seasonal greens.
Whereas rising millets was one a part of the imaginative and prescient, the opposite half was drawn from their experiences. They observed a shift in the direction of wholesome, vegan meals the world over.
“I observed that dietary necessities have been altering. There was an growing demand for vegan, non-dairy options, as extra individuals are getting lactose illiberal. In different components of the world, individuals have been asking for almond and oats milk, which made us marvel about an Indian, vegan different,” Prabu tells The Higher India.
Within the first couple of years after beginning Siri Millets, they launched millet laddoos, cookies, vermicelli, and rava. They piloted these value-added merchandise in Telangana and Gujarat by offering them to college students in authorities colleges for 45 days without spending a dime.
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck the nation, interrupting their grand launch, the 4 buddies returned to their drafting board to chalk out new plans to avert the setback. That’s when Shashidhar prompt venturing into the vegan ice cream market.
‘What would an Indian different to almond or oats milk be?’ they puzzled. Prabu recalled his go to to Karnataka, the place he had seen milk being extracted from ragi and given to youngsters. With this perception, they thought ‘Why not extract milk from millets and convert it into ice cream?’
This thought led them to launch their hero product — millet ice cream.
The workforce labored out of a 300 sqft area in Trichy, the place they procured machines and began engaged on methods to extract milk from totally different millets. Over the course of six months, they discovered that the main millets — jowar, bajra, ragi, and foxtail millet — produced good outcomes. They then experimented with totally different sweeteners and fruits, and developed these ice-creams.
A made-in-India vegan ice-cream
After six months of analysis and improvement, they lastly began testing. They provided samples to neighbours and gated communities in Trichy. The general suggestions was optimistic with contemporary fruit ice-creams rising a transparent winner.
They labored on the suggestions for 2 extra months after which launched their first ‘Siri – Home of Vegan Ice Lotions’ retailer in Trichy in 2020. The flavours they provide vary from vanilla, chocolate, mango, jackfruit, and jamun, to purple guava, dates, banana, musk melon, strawberry, and extra.
“Not like coconut milk, which is utilized in vegan ice lotions, millet milk is delicate and doesn’t dominate different flavours. We use totally different sweeteners in several ice lotions, relying on the fruits getting used. For instance, jaggery works effectively with some fruits, whereas palm sugar works higher with some. It additionally varies relying on the millet getting used,” explains Prabu, including that additionally they promote shakes, waffles, brownies, and different merchandise of their retailer.
One scoop of ice cream is priced at Rs 30, and a one-litre pack is bought for Rs 800.
Other than that, additionally they realised that these nutritious ice lotions are a great way to introduce youngsters to millets and get them to fall in love with this conventional Indian grain! “Kids consider millets as a punishment. Analysis reveals that children like ice lotions and shakes, so, this might be a great mode to introduce them to those powerhouses of diet,” says Shashidhar.
The millets are procured from their very own farms, and different farmers in Theni, Dharmapuri, and Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu.
The enterprise is fully self-funded, with every of the 4 founders investing a good portion of their financial savings into realising their dream. Their most vital hurdle post-launch has been the widespread ignorance surrounding millets. To handle this, they’ve been diligently engaged in client training initiatives, conducting consciousness campaigns in colleges, faculties, and establishments.
“We realised that step one was to create buyer consciousness. We began visiting colleges and faculties to teach the youth in regards to the significance of nutritious consuming habits. We imagine that data is the important thing to transformation,” provides Shashidhar.
Additionally they take college students on a manufacturing unit tour to point out them the manufacturing course of. In 2023, they established a manufacturing unit in Trichy, with a ten,000-litre capability per shift.
This 12 months, they’ve opened retailers in Hyderabad close to the Statue of Equality and one in Rajahmundry. They’re poised to launch 10 to 12 extra retailers within the coming few months.
“For us, neighborhood engagement is equally essential. It’s a motion to carry again the treasures of our ancestors, tailored to fulfill the wants of as we speak’s world,” says Prabu.
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Because the nation is seeing an growing shift in the direction of millets, this can be a novel method to embrace them in our food regimen.
Edited by Pranita Bhat, Photos Courtesy Prabu Venugopal
