siliconindia | | October 201919Even though we are still considered as newcomers in the industry, we have positioned ourselves well enough and have created a niche space in the institutional marketOMEN ENTREPRENEURS10 MOST PROMISING IN F&B INDUSTRY - 2019Carrying-over expertise from her previous venture at Western Food Impex, an import and distri-bution agency, and her academic excellence into creating hope for the ever-growing health conscious buffs and time-lacking busy-bees, Neha invested her ambitions into launch-ing TREKK Nutrition. Today, the company profiles a list of products that include Granola based Snack bars, breakfast cereals like oats-based granola, multigrain muesli, protein bars, trail mixes and nut but-ters, among many others, and strives to provide its customers health with every bite. Striding an Unflinching Quest As a trained dietitian, serving her first major client ­ Spice Jet, TREKK Nutrition products fared well for six months (Dec 2017-May 2018), post which the duo launched a range of protein bars that received large-scale orders from one of the country's largest private airlines. However, this success soon met failures caused by machine break-downs, lack of skilled manpower and poor funding. But Neha was determined to never compromise on product quality. Finding light at the end of the tunnel, Neha stated, "The growth potential for healthy snack-ing is immense. We have come to a stage where just about everyone is health conscious and wants to at least follow a healthy diet, if not a workout routine. Inculcating these habits in children is important today more than ever due to rising obesity and easy availability of junk food, and these granola & protein bars are the ultimate go-to". Despite holding a nascent retail footprint, TREKK Nutrition (GMP compliant) has initiated its process of becoming ISO:22000 certified. Moreover, while there is an experi-enced team to back her up, Neha's unflinching quest for best quality products is reflected in product for-mulations as she well understands the need for best practices in pro-duction and scales to pursue fur-ther. Neha avers, "Even though we are still considered as newcomers in the industry, we have positioned ourselves well enough and have cre-ated a niche space in the institution-al market. Moreover, with bigger brands like Nestle and Kellogg's launching their products in the cere-al bars category in India, it certainly looks like the perfect place to be in currently". When Support Backs SuccessThe journey of an entrepreneur is never a smooth trek and Neha was no exception. Nonetheless pur-suing the calling of her dreams, Neha's strength and motivation came from her family, whom she calls her pillars of support. She goes on to boast, "My in laws as well as my own parents have been support-ive of my decision to embark on this entrepreneurial journey. Despite being from a typical conservative `Baniya' family and married to a `Marwadi', I have always been giv-en the freedom to focus on my work instead of household chores. They have supported me not just financial-ly, but also emotionally and in more ways than words can describe. My husband, whom I have known since my childhood, has forever been my partner in all my ventures".Understanding the significance of balancing her domestic and professional life, Neha ensures to leisure-out on Sundays with fam-ily. She practices Kathak, adorns the walls of her home with artistic painting, and enjoys cooking Indi-an & oriental cuisines to treat her loved ones. And if time permits, she would snooze out of town for a quick trip to Goa to soak-up some sun and breathe in the aromas of the beach. Beside these, Neha partakes in interactions with students of Food Technology Institutes in India and has helped several in the F&B industry to find a business-stature. She is a stickler for compliances and stays bent on creating a world-class manufacturing facility and constantly stays updated with latest innovations, spending at least three-four hours weekly on dabbling new products emerged in the west.
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