-KH News Desk (cbedit@imaws.org)
Once Swami Vivekananda said, “There is no chance for the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved. It is impossible for a bird to fly on only one wing”. For a nation to develop, a mother, a wife, a sister must be given equal treatment. The International Women’s Day (8 march) marks the importance of Gender Equality. It has been proved again and again that if women are given chance, they become the champion in every field. Today we will be talking about women leaders who are dominating the food world in the Indian soil.
Chinmayee Deulgaonkar : Fighting For A Safer World
Working as Managing Director for American company FoodChain ID’S India and Middle East operations, Chinmayee is one of the most looked-upon Women leader in the Indian food sector. From advocating for increasing the food standards through her campaigns, to insipiring her servent-maid’s daughter, Chinmayee is truely a warrior. With 24 years of experience in the food industry in the area of certification, auditing, training, and regulatory services, she is a FOSTAC ambassador and FSSAI National Resource Person. She also has in international experience with being a speaker in more than 800 conferences in more than 65. Not just within India, Chinmayee had trained regulatory staff of Dubai Muncipality, FSSAI, Kazakhstan. She had also represented India in various ISO communities working groups. She had also received Woman Leadership Award from ASSOCHAM, Mumbai Woman Leader, and Asia Top Most Persons in Food Industry from World Congress.
Harshita Shah – Spicing Up Every Drop
Harshita is from the family of Universal Oleoresins, a leading manufacturers and exporters of fine quality Spice Oils, Oleoresins, Natural Colors, Nutraceutical Ingredients. An Engineer by graduate, she also had and an MBA in Finance from the prestegious SP Jain institute, Harshita quit her corporate job to join the family business. Having her passion to join her father and grow his business. On boarding the family business, she grew the ‘Spice Drop’ line, as have always seen it as a kid and believed in it. She heads the branding of ‘Spice Drop’. the hottest moving in most retailers. She launched the retail liquid spice oleoresin product in the Greater Mumbai region, a model which is being replicated in other regions by the parent company. She had launched the product in Australia with the first order value of Rs. 4 Lakhs in 2017, She is also holds the end to end responsibility for supply chain, marketing, GST implementation, trademark registration, accounts & financials and she was also instrumental in setting up e-commerce supply chain and handled online marketing for the brand other than
represented the brand in trade fairs. Her great motivation is to make dads dream come true
Varsha Vishnuprasad (Bakery and Pastry)- India’s Bakery Queen
At the tender age of 14, Varsha Vishnu Prasad was taught and mentored by his father to learn the alphabets of bakery business. That had helped her to be the MD of India’s leading bakery ingredients organization Crust N Crumb. When the foundation stone of Crust ‘n’ Crumb was laid 16 years ago, Varsha grew up along with it as a part of the system and later resumed her position as its MD. Varsha also actively involves in various business forums like CII Kerala. In a recent interview, speaking about Women’s role, she is quoted saying “Your gender is not what makes you but it’s your skill and capability that makes you equivalent to any other individual out there. So, all we have to do is to remain true to ourselves and let our voices be heard. Women are generally brought up with beliefs that they have to think twice before speaking. But as a woman, I can advise that you don’t have to suppress your voice to protect other people’s ego and rather be true to yourself. If you feel like you’re doing the right thing, speak out and climb above those preconceived expectations of patriarchal society.”
Anupama Kadambi – Thinking The Digital Way
For most successful women, their inspiration comes either from their mother of grandmother. Anupama Kadambi, recalls how her grandmom Ranganayaki Krishnaswamy and her mother TR Balamani inspired her. “While my entire childhood was moulded by my extended family, my grand mom is the single most inspiring lady I have ever met. While I admire my mom for her hard work, commitment to the family in spite of being the earning member of the family, most of what I am today is because of these two wonderful ladies.” She resumed her career with GOFRUGAL after a break of 6 years and was responsible for digital marketing & providing a platform to grow GOFRUGAL products and solutions. As the Chief Marketing Officer, she has played a key leadership role in customer experience across all channels. Currently she is serving as the Chief Customer Experience Officer, responsible for frictionless experience of products, solutions, services and customer journey from sign-up to success. Anupama started her professional career in 1994 soon after her graduation in electrical engineering from RV College of Engineering, Bengaluru. During the first 11 years of her career, she was leading teams in the development of software products like Amadeus, Open Mail and Entitlement at Hewlett Packard. Anupama’s passion is to hire “Good mothers” an initiative for mothers who have had a career break because of family and wanting to re-start career. Her goal is to create workplaces with such Good mothers who inculcate good professional habits helping teams experience happiness and success. Ardant fan of Carnatic music, singer, loves shopping and relishes bargaining. Wish all wonderful ladies a happy women’s day, Get inspired, love what you do, ensure you focus on the right priorities in life, never give up & stay strong and healthy!
Dr. Chef Sangeeta Dhar – Preparing A Better Tomorrow
Dr. Chef Sangeeta Dhar
Presently working as Associate Professor, Food Production at Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management, Pacific University, Udaipur for last 14 years. Her research work was published by Research India Publications, Delhi in 2017. She had shared her knowledge and experience with peers by presenting research papers at regional and national seminars and conferences. Many of these papers have been published in reputed journals. On the professional side, she has a rich experience of working with Taj, Oberoi groups of more than seven years.
An active member of Culinary Art India, Royal Rajasthan Chefs society,Back to Roots, Gujarat Culinary Association, Member of FHAI,Member of Chef Guild Of India and so on.
Some of the notable accolades recieved by her include
-Received the ‘Chef of the Year 2018’ on International Chefs Day, at the 15th ICF
-winner at ‘India Mallika-e-Kitchen 2010’ by LG
-finalist at ‘the Le Cordon Bleu Championship 2010’ at Seoul, South Korea
-winner at National Level in “the 13thCulinary Art India 2018 (Authentic Indian Regional Cuisine)” held at AAHAR, Pragati Maidan and more.
