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25+ Small-Businesses That Truly Deserve Your Attention Right Now

25+ Small-Businesses That Truly Deserve Your Attention Right Now
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The biggest incentive to shop for grocery in recent times is that you get to support small businesses. Those brands who locally source & produce their goods. From creating jobs for local communities to empowering the economy with their skills, they're giving us every reason to make a conscious change in the way we shop. From yoghurts to natural juices, artisanal chocolates & hand-blended spices, it's time to make these local brands a part of our kitchens. With a plethora of options out there, these local brands are giving us #VocalforLocal goals.

1. Keya Foods

Incepted in 2009, Keya first started selling premium herbs, spices, sprinklers and seasonings. But, today KEYA has over 100 products across categories including instant soups, pickles and the ready to eat range of fruit and nut snacks. They also recently added products like pasta & ketchup to their existing list of goodness.

Must-Try: Seasonings & Sprinklers

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Proudly Indian! #keyafoods #vocalforlocal #sauce #sauces #gourmetsauce

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2. Raw Pressery

Proud to be India's first cold-pressed juice company, Anuj Rakyan's incepted this idea with a mishap in the kitchen! From distributing these cute little bottles of health through Dabbawalas in Mumbai & Pune to going big with retail giants like Foodhall & Nature's Basket, they're taking one step at a time to make raw pressed juices a household name.

Must-Try: Orange Juice, Berries Smoothie, Coconut Water & Almond Milk

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#ThankyouFarmers 👨🏼‍🌾 ❤️ . . Ever wondered where we source our fruits & vegetables from? We work very closely with the local contract farmers across the country to source the freshest & best quality produce, throughout the year. For instance, we source our sugarcane directly from the farms of Purandar, Maharashtra. We fully support the local farmers & their businesses to make them self-reliant. We take pride in associating with these farmers. Today, we celebrate the spirit of these unsung heroes & stand strong in our commitment to support their community. #rawfamily #farmer #unsungheroes #supportsmallbusiness #vocalforlocal #selfreliantindia #farm #sourcing #freshproduce #farmfresh #sugracanefarm #supportlocalfarms #sugarcanejuice #natural #healthy #rawpressery #allgoodnobad #keepingitraw

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3. Sarda Farms

This completely mechanized dairy-farm just on the outskirts of Nashik, owned by Shrirang Sarda, was only started 3-years-ago. Keeping the traditional essence of the door-to-door milk service, it delivers purity in each bottle to more than 6500 homes in Mumbai & Nashik.

Must-Try: Milk

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Sarda Farms thanks you for the kind words of appreciations. Customers like you keep us Moo-ving..!! #AsGoodAsItGets Reposted from @2blissofbaking Thank you @sarda_farms Farms for supplying pure, antibiotic-free, hormone-free, adulteration free milk. In the current situation of COVID – 19, Sarda Farms is doing many things to ensure the safety of its customers and internal: Their milk is always been untouched by human hands beginning from the farm to the customer’s doorstep. The process is entirely automated without any human intervention. In the present scenario, no one outside the farm is permitted inside the farm. All the farm associates stay have been arranged inside the farm so that the farm is entire secure from contamination. As a company policy, the farm & the plant maintained highest form of sanitization and hygiene. The entire plant team is equipped with masks, gloves. They regularly sanitize their delivery bags, ice cartridges and delivery vehicle post every delivery. All the delivery associate wear mask, disinfect themselves, delivery bags, their clothes and vehicle during the beginning of every delivery. They wash their hands with soap regularly. To minimize the risk of contamination for their delivery associates and customers, they shifted all our packaging from glass bottle to environment friendly gable top cartons. To ensure the health & safety of their delivery associates, all the delivery staffs are insured by the company. To utilize their time better and keep them motivated during the crisis, Sarda Farms has enrolled them for online courses as per their interest which would lead to their career development. Sadly not many people in the city are aware of these practices and are happily drinking poisoned milk. As a brand they have been following these practices from the very beginning to deliver nothing but the best to their customers. Hence this COVID situation has not affected their delivery of nothing but the best from ‘Cow to couch’. #puremilk #quarantinedairy #quarantinefood

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4. Zama Organics

An organic food business initiative by the Mumbai-based Shriya Naheta is an online grocery store that sells fresh produce like salad leaves and exotic vegetables. Zama sources their produce directly from the place of origin, from passionate farmers & artisans across India, like pink rice from Meghalaya, cashews from Coimbatore and saffron from Kashmir.

Must-Try: Seasonal Produce

5. All Things Chocolate

Kuhu Kochar & Tejasvi Chandela's artisanal brand out of Jaipur is a premium hand-crafted chocolate brand that draws inspiration from simple life tales. The cacao is grown under ethical and sustainable conditions by skilled Indian farmers, and their crop is directly purchased and roasted by the brand. From using the chocolate for baking to eating it as is, All Things Chocolate gives us many reasons to be happy.

Must-Try: Roasted Malabar Cocoa nibs, All Things Tropical, 64% dark chocolate (Single Origin Malabar Forest)

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Guess who's back on the website? Shop allll your favorite flavours on www.theallthingsshop.com full inventory is live again . We hope you're safe and a BIG thank you for supporting All Things during this pandemic. It's been a tough time with constant waiting on government decisions, the anxiety of keeping our staff safe and trying our best to get chocolate to you. The factory is up and running with minimal staff and super high hygiene protocols. While shipping has started to green and orange zones, we ourselves are in a red zone (Jaipur, Rajasthan) and are unable to ship out orders with guaranteed timelines yet. Any delays in shipping would lead to your chocolate getting melted and we wouldn't want that of course! We're working on getting the orders out to you ASAP. ✨🍫 #allthings #allthingschocolates #chocolatemakers #chocolate #darkchocolate #singleorigin #passionfruit . . . . . . . . . . . . . #calledtobecreative #communityovercompetition #createyourhappy #creativebiz #creativebusiness #creativebusinessowner #creativeentrepreneur #creativehappylife #creativepreneur #creativesofinstagram #mycreativebiz #mycreativecommunity #wearethecreativeeconomy #9tothrive #savvybusinessowners

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6. Blue Tokai

Founded by Matt Chitharanjan and Namrata Asthana in the year 2012, it started as a coffee plantation but now they have cafes across India. When you pick up a pack of Blue Tokai Coffee, you'll find details of how the coffee was made and which farm it came from within India, thus being transparent about its source & product quality.

Must-Try: Peppermint Mocha if you're at the cafe

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Here's a new cold brew recipe to keep you cool during these scorching summer days! We made this using our Cold Brew Bold blend, but you can use any coffee of your choice. Ingredients : • Cold brew steeped for 16 hours - 200 ml • Pomegranate molasses - 15 grams • Lime juice (3/4 of a whole lime) • Jaggery syrup - 5 grams or according to taste • Muddled mint leaves - 3 to 4 • Ice cubes Seal and shake vigorously for 15 seconds, then strain into the glass. Garnish with mint leaves and lime, and serve! Tips: - To make pomegranate molasses at home, process pomegranate arils in a food processor until crushed. Strain through a fine sieve into a jug, heat in a medium saucepan and bring to simmer. - You can substitute the molasses with maple syrup or honey if you can't find pomegranates. Happy brewing 🌸

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7. Naagin Hot Sauce

Founded by Mikhel Rajani, owner of Francesco’s Pizzeria, Arjun Rastogi & Kshitij Neelakantan, they gave India it's first-ever original hot sauce! From the classic hot sauce to Bhut Jolokia, one of the spiciest chilli in the world that is grown in Northeast Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland and Manipur, this sauce can be paired with most Indian dishes.

Must-Try: Bhut Jolokia Hot Sauce

8. TGL & Co.

This luxury tea start-up, The Good Life Company was started by Bhuman Dani & Shariq Ashraf in 2017. From 100 varieties of tea blends to various instant coffees, their wide range of products will spoil you for choice.

Must-Try: Mango Tea, Saffron Tea & Instant Coffees

9. To Be Honest

Upping the snack game, TBH is a gluten-free & 100% preservative-free food brand that was started by Mayank Gupta & Ritika Agarwal. From using the vacuum frying technology to reinventing the concept of eating vegetables as a snack, this brand has come a long way!

Must-Try: Crunchy Tomato, Crispy Beetroot with Sea Salt & Purple Sweet Potato

10. Mason & Co.

Founded in 2014 by Jane Mason and Fabien Bontems in Puducherry, Mason & Co. takes the farm to bar concept quite seriously. From sourcing the organic cacao beans from farmers in Kerala and Tamil Nadu to an all-women unit in Auroville, they've been vocal for local in the truest sense. If artisanal chocolates are your weakness, flavours like rosemary and sea salt are definitely worth a try.

Must-Try: Rosemary & Sea Salt Chocolate Bark

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UPDATE | We are happy to announce that our factory has partially reopened, following strict workplace protocols set by the government due to the pandemic. Our online shop has also partially re-opened; we can now ship all non-meltable products like our cacao powder, drinking chocolate, cacao nibs and the dark chocolate spread! • • We are still unable to accept orders for chocolate bars on our website but will let you know as soon as that changes. Home bakers, you can stop rationing your cacao powder, its back in stock so you bake that brownie, ice that cake. Order via masonchocolate.com (link in bio). • • These past few weeks have been difficult and uncertain for us at Mason & Co and we thank you for your support. We love seeing so many of you posting videos and recipes using our products, or savouring a bar of chocolate as you work from home. • • Our chocolate will be back in stock in stores this week and will be sharing an updated store list via our newsletter. To sign up for our newsletter, click on the link in our bio or share your email address in the comments or via DM. • • Thanks for the photos @muddychoux & @teatrunk! • • #MasonAndCo #CraftChocolate #Artisanal #Organic #Vegan #SingleOrigin #OnlineShop #Cacao #CacaoAndNut #DarkChocolate #IndianChocolate #CacaoNibs #SweetNibs #CacaoPowder #CacaoSpread #CacaoTea

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11. Nandan Coffee

Now run by the young sister-duo, Yahvi & Parthivi Mariwala, after taking reigns from their grandparents & parents, Nandan Coffee is a household name waiting to happen.Their passion for coffee can be seen in the section, 'Brewing Guide' on their website. This organic, home-grown hand-picked & roasted-to-order coffee is produced at The Nandanvan Estate, located at 4500ft above sea level in the lush valleys of Kodaikanal. It is a single-origin coffee which basically means that the coffee you'd be consuming comes from a single growing region or farm. You can usually spot them serving the best coffee in town at various pop-ups around the city of Mumbai.

Must-Try: Cold Brew

12. Snackible

Founded by Aditya Sanghvi, a guy who wanted to solve the snack-crunch problem by reinventing healthy snacks, Snackible is the perfect small business idea. If you're a snack lover, you already know this brand but if you don't here are some yummy things they make that'll get you completely hooked. They also deliver all across India, so order away!

Must-Try: Jalapeno Peanuts, Chilli Garlic Pita Chips, Wasabi Makhanas

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Every person's best companion on a busy WFH day has to be a serving of the Cheddar Cheese Makhanas!

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13. Moonshine Meadery

It is India's first-ever mead producing brand from locally sourced honey! Started as a fun garage project by Rohan Rehani and Nitin Vishwasin in Pune, it has found a loyal fan base across the country. They've concocted some pretty interesting flavours like Apple Cyder, Coffee, Orange & Bourbon Oaked Apple flavoured meads to keep up with the changing palettes of the youth.

Must-Try: Coffee & Bourbon Oaked Apple Mead

14. Pascati

Another bean to bar brand from God's own country, Kerala was launched in 2015 by Devansh Asha & his wife. From sourcing the cacao beans from the Idukki region in Kerala to impacting lives of more than 2000 farmers who grow them, Pascati is India's first USDA and fair trade compliant chocolate brand. Some of the highest-selling and most experimental flavours include a lemon ginger dark chocolate bar, mango dark chocolate bar, Hibiscus-raspberry chocolate & the Blueberry-walnut.

Must-Try: Hibiscus-raspberry chocolate & the Blueberry-walnut chocolate

15. Eleftheria Cheese

This Mumbai-based micro-creamery specializes in making & delivering European cheese to your doorstep! Started in 2014, they use time-honoured techniques to make fresh and preservative-free artisanal cheese with great flavour and intact nutrition. Offering some of the most delicious cheeses like mozzarella & burrata in the city, they also cater to restaurants & are taking orders right now if you're within their delivery perimeter.

Must-Try: Mozzarella & Burrata Cheese

16. Orika Spices

Coming from Paras spices, Orika is a premium spices & seasonings brand that elevates the experience of Indian cooking. With more than 30 spice blends, their products are well-packaged and can be used for various cooking techniques- from a marinade to spice blends or even as seasonings.

Must-Try: Mint & Peri-Peri Seasoning

17. Tea Trunk

Celebrating tea in every sip, owner and tea sommelier Snigdha Manchanda started Tea Trunk in 2013 after studying under a Japanese master, Nao Kumekawa in Sri Lanka. The gourmet tea blends include a vast collection of green, black, white, oolong & herbal teas; from chamomile to the marigold, matcha, rose, apple, saffron kahwa & many more.

Must-Try: Rose Oolong, Marigold Green and Hibiscus green tea blends.

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#Recipeshare - Making iced tea at home has never been easier. Steep 5 heaped teaspoons of your favourite tea (we've used Mango Mint) in 500 ml of room temperature water overnight. Strain the tea in the morning. In a tall glass, add 1 part of tea, 1 part chilled water and top up the rest with iced. Add sweetener to your taste, garnish with mint leaves and enjoy! . . #icedtea #coldbrew #summerdrinks #healthydrinks #sugarfree #greentea #ilovetea #instatea #teastagram #inmyglass #instayum #tealovers #drinksofinstagram #looseleaftea #tuesdayvibes #recipeoftheday #easyrecipes #diy #teacommunity #supportsmallbusiness #mango #refreshing #beverages #protip #teaislife #teaculture #smalljoys #mint #teatrunk

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18. Dancing Leaf

Another expert tea sommelier who produces tea blends with natural ingredients is Nandini Mehta. These curated tea blends are distributed to various restaurants and hotels, introducing an exciting range of flavours that pairs perfectly with meals.

Must-Try: All-Day Immunity Elixir- Green Tea

19. And Nothing Else Foods

An IIM graduate & ex-Unilever marketing guy, Shashank Mehta founded And Nothing Else. The small snack bars have absolutely no added sugar, no sweeteners, no preservatives, no soy or gluten, no added flavour and no added colour too, making it one of the healthiest snacks to munch on. It's definitely all-natural & nothing else as its name suggests.

Must-Try: Coffee Cocoa, Double Cocoa & Coconut Cocoa

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Here’s the second shot in our #noBTS series. Our humble CoCoCo, shot amongst its elements (no, literally…all that’s in that shot, is all that’s in your bar...nothing else). Beautiful right? Now swipe right to see how we did that. And read below to know why we’ve started this campaign, to bring the back of the shoot to the front! ——————————————————————————— We eat with our eyes. And never in food’s history, has that held more true. Plating and shooting food that looks Insta-sexy, is a whole industry in itself today. While food’s always been a multi-sensory experience, modern day food-marketing has turned the primacy of senses upside down. The eye now matters a lot more than the tongue does! Don’t get us wrong…we don’t mind a delicious photograph. Our problem is that like the beauty industry did 50 years ago, we’re now being held to such a high standards on food-beauty, that it’s impossible to feel good about what one makes themselves. The humble home-food served on a steel plate just doesn’t live up. (Not to mention, the food that comes out of the packet, looks nothing like the product shot that enticed you in the first place). Ok that’s two problems. One, our bar is as home-made as it gets! Just 4-5 homely ingredients smooshed together. No fancy avocados and no molten drippy chocolate syrup. So how do we make our bars look good? More importantly, how do we do it in an honest way? How do we ensure that you realize that this is pro-level shizz, that takes hours to perfect. That it’s not the new normal that’s expected of you! Well, here’s an attempt. Our first ever product shoot. Photographed by the talented @vikas_munipalle and executed under the aegis of our lovely friends at @harkat.studios Enjoy the beautiful shot. But then swipe to see what goes on behind the scenes. How we food marketeers achieve that perfect shot. And how messy and imperfect that process looks. With our bars we’ve tried to bring the back of pack to the front. With this shoot, we’re trying to bring what goes on behind the food photography scenes, to the fore. So you can see the whole truth. and nothing else.

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20. Country Bean Coffee

Country Bean is a blend of 100% soluble coffee and delicious flavours, a company founded by Aditi Somani founded in Kolkata. They have a wide range of coffees to offer; from plain instant coffee to flavoured ones like hazelnut, caramel, berry, and choco-orange.

Must-try: The hazelnut flavoured coffee

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Recipe: Coffee Bean Butter Cookies 120g All Purpose Flour 70g Icing Sugar 75g Unsalted Buttter 25g Cornflour 12g Cocoa 1 Egg Yolk 3 tsp Coffee Powder 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract Mix all purpose flour, cocoa powder and cornflour in a vessel. In one bowl, start whisking sugar and butter untill creamy. Add vanilla extract, 1 Egg yolk and coffee powder (dissolved in 2 tsp warm water) and mix well. Add dry ingredients and make a dough. Refrigera for 30 mins. Shape it into small size balls of oval size and place it on an oven plate on butter paper. Cut vertical lines on oval cookies with backside of knife and refrigerate again for 15 mins. Bake in a preheated oven at 160° for 15 mins. Happy Baking! 👍 ... 📷 @dilip_tanvani

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21. Ether Atelier Chocolates

Started by Prateek Bakhtiani, a passionate chef who loves chemistry & fresh fruits; he brings out the deliciously rich and incredibly complex flavours of chocolate with flavours like juniper and raspberry, burnt maple, bergamot and oak. Every piece of chocolate he touches becomes an art. Don't believe it? Check it out for yourself!

Must-Try: the Black Truffle and Raspberry, Black Sesame and Yuzu, Black Stout and Caramel.

22. KocoaTrait

Conceived by Poonam Chordia, this zero-waste Chennai-based chocolate brand is a vegan, gluten-free, eco-friendly & a sustainable brand. They use upcycled cocoa husk paper, non-refined organic muscovado sugar and ensures their ingredients travel a minimum distance to manufacture tasty chocolate bars in flavours.

Must-Try: Sukku Coffee, Masala Chai, Lemongrass, Coconut Milk and Cinnamon chocolate bar.

23. Spotted Cow Fromagerie

Started in 2014 by Prateeksh & Agnay Mehra, this artisanal brand makes 100% vegetarian & preservative-free cheese. With cheeses from mozzarella, burrata, chevre & camembay, this Mumbai-based fromagerie caters to restaurants in Pune, Goa, Mumbai & Kolkata! You can also purchase spreads and dips off the shelves from Foodhall stores.

Must-Try: Brie, Burrata & Camembay cheese

24. Paul & Mike

This Kochi-based bean to bar chocolate brand sources about 40% of their cocoa from their own farm near Kochi. “Paul and Mike: Farmers and Fermenters". The brand’s name comes from the two farmers called Paul and Mike whom Vikas Temani met on his research trips in Brazil and the Dominican Republic. Some of the exquisite flavours that this brand offers is Amazon Pink Pepper, Balkan Rose, Sitaphal, Jamun, Mango & the Plain dark chocolate.

Must-Try: Amazon Pink Pepper

25. Epigamia

From being an ice cream wala (Hockey Pockey Ice Creams) to a dahi wala (Epigamia), Rohan Mirchandani started this brand keeping in mind the Indian audiences. Epigamia offers a wide variety of yoghurts; from the plain Greek yoghurt to blueberry, mango & other artisanal flavours. Actress Deepika Padukone is one of the investors in this yoghurt brand that is now making lactose-free variants also.

Must-Try: Plain Greek Yoghurt

26. Sprig Gourmet

This Kochi-based brand has taken quality & packaging to yet another level with their Masterchef kind of approach. It reinvents the experience of spice & blends shopping for the younger generations. Its effort to bring gourmet ingredients from around the world to Indian kitchens to make cooking easy for the youth has paid off with SKU's like whole vanilla beans from Madagascar, wasabi, Mexican chile, Bhut jolokia, mango jalapeño sauces, banoffee and ginger marmalade.

Must-Try: Vanilla beans from Madagascar

27. Wingreen Farms

Started as a Women Initiative Network by wife Anju Srivastav & her husband, Arjun in 2008, Wingreens is now a successful company that has more than 50 SKU's to offer in 150 variants. With two ‘Farm Managers’, and 150 village women from Tauru in Haryana, Wingreens manufactures dips, sauces, pita breads and flatbreads. Some of their well-received products include chipotle sauce, fiery desert mustard dip, dill tzatziki, peri-peri hummus, rosemary hummus & peppermint with green tea leaves dip.

Must-Try: Dill Tzatziki, Peri-Peri Hummus

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Working from home? Here’s a meal menu that will help you eat healthy without spending hours in the kitchen. Eating healthy is now easy and convenient with our range of dips, sauces and mayos. . * Order now from www.wingreensfarms.com ✨Link in the bio We are now delivering in Gurgaon, Delhi, Noida, Mumbai, Bengaluru and across India. . WINGREENS FARMS PRODUCTS ARE MADE AS PER THE STRICTEST HYGIENE AND SAFETY STANDARDS . . . . . . . #EasilyDoneWithWingreens #workfromhome #menu #menuideas #easymealprep #easycooking #recipes #recipeideas #menuideas #learncooking #simplecooking #cookingathome #mealideas #instarecipe #homecookedmeal #instacooking #instafood #healthyfood #healthymeals #instahealthy

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Shreya Jalavadia

Shreya Jalavadia

Think of her as a delicacy. She could be a red sauce penne pasta or refreshing strawberry smoothie. A little sweet, quite tangy and unapologetic on the palate. Her soul is that of a gastronome, mind of an illustrator and heart of a writer. She uses these ingredients to plate up tasty stories about food at India Food Network as an Associate Editor. Be it her blogs, articles, reviews or food shows; she promises a wholesome affair.

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