E-YUVA Centre functioning in the Department of Plant Biotechnology, Centre for Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology organized the first lecture of the Entrepreneurs’ talk series on 12.06.2023. Mrs. R. Subathra, Founder and CEO of PVR Foods, Coimbatore delivered a lecture on the topic, “Entrepreneurship and Global Opportunities in Agriculture Sector”. More than 100 students of various undergraduate degree programmes attended the lecture.
She began the lecture by narrating her entrepreneurial journey. She is a teacher by profession and entrepreneur by passion. After spending sixteen years in the education industry, she wanted to launch her own company and help other women in the community. She sought to address the growing health problems in society brought on by modern eating practises. She made the decision to launch a millet-based food business after considering the health advantages of millets.
She took the help of subject experts from Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysuru and Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad towards formulating the millet based products. They standardized various parameters such as soaking time, grinding methods and tools, etc to improve the palatability and retention of nutrients. With the support of professionals, products were developed in a successful manner, but the next problem she faced in her entrepreneurial journey was the entry barrier in the market due to lack of acceptance from the customers. Customers were not ready to buy the products because of prejudice. With the trust she had on her products she eventually persuaded her customers by offering free samples. Several hospitals and industrial canteens are now among her satisfied customers.
Apart from sharing her own entrepreneurial experience, she also shed some light upon the new avenues which students could explore for their ventures such as soil testing labs, whey protein production, vegetable production and management, etc.