Started With Ready-to-Cook Nutritious Meals For Her Daughter, Mom’s Startup Earns Rs 6 Crore

Raising a sportsperson is no mean feat. My husband’s 14-year-old cousin is a budding badminton player, giving us front row access to what goes into the makings of a champion. For the past few years, her life has revolved around continuous training and tournaments around the country and world. 

Other than coaching, rest, mental strength, the most important activity in her daily routine is food. As a growing child and badminton player, she needs refuelling every few hours, with a strong focus on the right nutrition. Her mother packs several dabbas (tiffins) for her to have throughout the day, and accompanies her during every tournament. 

On these trips, she usually carries a travel cooker, different food items while battling the constant struggle of how to make tasty and healthy food for her during travel.

Similarly, Prathima Viswanath also went through this dilemma as she looked for different healthy recipes to give to her daughter, a tennis player. The Hyderabad resident accompanied her daughter to various African and Asian countries, but struggled to make food that could be carried for long periods of time — food that isn’t fried or oily, yet meeting the caloric requirements.

Over the years, the 46-year-old mastered the art of fulfilling her daughter’s requirements vis a vis nutrition as well as taste by designing her own menu. From chapatis infused with superfoods like moringa and ragi, or chutneys to carry, Prathima’s creative juices flowed for her daughter’s health.

But when her daughter went to the US to pursue her undergraduate degree, Prathima felt a sense of vacuum. Recognising the gap in the market for ready-to-cook homemade food, she converted her passion for cooking with the universal need for quick food. 

The mother of two was only too aware of the struggles that everyone faces as they grapple with the desire to provide homemade food in this fast-paced world, where time constraints are an inescapable reality. 

She turned her specialised recipes into a packaged food business called Ammamma’s with a vision to provide a convenient solution to an everyday problem. 

Started in 2019 out of a 500 sq ft space by Prathima and her husband, Viswanath, with three employees, Ammamma’s has grown into a business with a turnover of Rs 6 crore in the 2023-24 financial year. From ready-to-cook chapatis, pooris, moringa and ragi chapatis, four different chutneys to savouries, the business offers mothers a chance to make food on the go for their children.

A convenient option in a fast-paced world

An MBA graduate, Prathima focused on raising her two daughters for the past 20 years. With her husband working in Africa for almost a decade, she single-handedly managed her daughter’s tennis schedule, tournaments, along with her younger daughter’s school and extracurricular activities. 

“When my daughter received a sports scholarship to study in the US, I knew that the time had come for me to do something. Earlier, she was with me 24×7. My husband and I brainstormed ideas about what we could start, but one thing was clear – it had to be a food-related business,” Prathima shares with The Better India. 

With over 25 years of experience in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector, Viswanath had a keen understanding of the market. Combined with Prathima’s passion for food, they found the winning combination in the ready-to-cook category.

“We wanted to build a food business as this is a universal need. In today’s busy world, food is available at the click of a button, but that is neither healthy nor sustainable. No one has the time to cook, but everyone wants simple, homemade food,” adds the entrepreneur.

Prathima started researching and experimenting with products like curry paste and chutneys. She found that increasing their shelf life without adding preservatives would be difficult. 

The one thing that stood out during her market research was the demand for quick chapatis. 

While adept at churning out chapatis for her family, she decided to equip herself with a professional certification from the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) in Mysuru. 

The couple then invested Rs 10 lakh to start the business, which included renting the commercial space, machinery, and hiring employees. They spent the next three to four months perfecting their chapati. 

Prathima would make over 50 chapatis a day and distribute it to her friends and family. Several months and thousands of chapatis later, she found the winning combination, leading to Ammamma’s launch in April 2019.

The couple first started distributing their wheat chapatis in gated communities in Hyderabad and at hotels. 

Satisfied with the response, they next launched their products in modern trade stores. Today, they are present in leading retail chains across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Bengaluru; along with selling on their website. 

Their other products soon followed suit. Ready-to-cook methi chapatis, ragi chapatis, moringa chapatis, parotas, pooris, idly-dosa batters joined the roster along with  snacks like murukulu, chakodi, boondi, and cow ghee. 

Of this, their bestsellers are the ready-to-cook whole wheat chapatis, followed by the idli-dosa batter and methi chapati.

Last year, they also launched four chutneys – the famous alam (ginger), coconut chana, tomato and peanut. 

The biggest satisfaction, Prathima shares, is the feedback from customers, who come back for her products. 

Shruti, a working mom of two, says that the ready-to-cook chapatis are a lifesaver. 

“I never find time to make dinner for my children as I work in the evening. I’ve been using these products for a year and they save time, and are liked by my children as well. There is variety as well as it’s healthy,” she says. 

Investing Their Life Savings

The biggest challenge in being in retail is the huge investment involved. While they initially invested Rs 10-15 lakh, they had to keep pumping in money. 

“Getting your product into a modern format store involves a large investment. Getting the right distributors and convincing stores to stock your product is not a cakewalk. We have pumped in almost all of our savings into this which is more than Rs 4 crore,” adds Prathima.

The risk seems to have paid off, as the couple are selling over 50,000 chapatis daily with a presence in 800 stores in Hyderabad, Secunderabad and Bengaluru, boasting an annual turnover of Rs 6 crore in FY 23-24. The biggest validation for Prathima is in the numbers, as they are growing 40 percent year on year, she claims. 

They also plan to expand across India in the next five years. They’ve expanded to a 6,000 sq ft factory with over 130 employees now. 

“The road to here has not been easy. You need commitment and continuous effort to build a business and achieve your dreams,” she shares.

Edited by Padmashree Pande, Images Courtesy Prathima Viswanath