Nava Shah, a Srinagar resident, has always been passionate and loved to cook the tasty food. She has been found of cooking.
The love for the food has made her a young entrepreneur now as she decided to start her own food venture.
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The female entrepreneur has set up her own pickle brand titled- ‘Jamkle Jars’ wherein she sells the home cooked and hygienic pickles to her customers.
In valley, the women are now coming out and are breaking all the taboos and myths. They say the y believe to be independent and working. The valley women have started various ventures in the field of clothing, agriculture, fishing, fashion and others.
“I have always loved to cook good food. Two years back, I was surfing the Instagram and found that Kashmiri women are doing a lot of work and taking up the new venture culture in Kashmir. Then, I decided to prepare the pickles for my friends and family. They started loving it and I thought to start the pickle business,” she told Indiatimes.
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Serving hygienic pickles
Nava said that she wanted to do something extraordinary in her career.
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“Since many people keep cooking but add a lot of preservatives in the food which makes it unhealthy. But you wouldn’t find any chemicals in our food. It is completely pure and hygienic,” she assured.
Two years back, she said goodbye to her teaching job and started making her own pickles. “I wanted to provide good food to my people,” said Nava, who is a business graduate from Kashmir University.
Nava said that she makes wider range of pickles with different flavours. “We have flavours like mixed veg, mutton, chicken, garlic, beetroot and dates,” she said.
She said that its range start from Rs 250 to Rs 650. “We have different sizes of boxes like 250-gram, 350-gram, 500-gram and 1-kg and price varies accordingly,” she said.
Social media helped a lot
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Crediting social media for her success, Nava said that she is getting her online orders from the Instagram handle.
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“Jamkle Jars is the title of the handle and I get the orders not only from parts of the Kashmir but across the India. We deliver in parts of the India. People are in love with our pickles. My 70% of the orders come through Instagram,” she said.
“It was not possible to take up my business so quickly. It is all because of social media that made things easier for me. Now, everything is a click away,” she said.
‘Family supported me’
She said that she got a good support from her parents. “In fact, my in-laws were helpful too,” she said.
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When asked how tough is it to be a woman entrepreneur in Kashmir, she said, “It is really tough for a married women and especially for those having kids. They have to balance between the both. But single women can handle the things normally.”
Nava said that they have now planning to expand their business. “We will go into retail business. This will also help us to provide an employment opportunity to Kashmiris who are well qualified but jobless. Currently, we have two people working with us,” she said.
She added she would love to give a space to women to learn, earn and explore in this field.
Prepare jams too
More interestingly, Nava also prepares jam as well. “I prepare it seasonally with fresh ingredients. Otherwise, preservatives need to be added in jam. If not added, it will spoil the jam. I make it from strawberry, mulberry and other fruits,” she said.
Before signing off, Nava suggested that women should choose what they love most.
“You should have a goal and strive for it. You don’t need to be afraid of anything. Break the taboos, and create a history. I believe that women can do wonders if given a chance,” she concluded.