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Mumbai Woman Launches Ghee Brand With Mom’s Recipes; Earns ₹10 Lakhs A Month

by Sanjana Shenoy
Mumbai Woman Launches Ghee Brand With Mom’s Recipes; Earns ₹10 Lakhs A Month

Ghee. The secret ingredient that adds the X-factor to all Indian dishes, is no less than Godly nectar. India’s ‘liquid gold’, is aromatic, indulgent and most importantly has anti-inflammatory and immunity-boosting properties. 47-year-old media professional,  Nitya Ganapathy and her mother, 68-year-old Jayalakshmi Ganapathy decided to introduce India to ‘nei’, homemade ghee prepared using the traditional bilona method. Today, the Mumbai residents’ ghee brand, Nei Native has become an instant success with the duo earning ₹10 lakhs per month. Here’s their story.

Inspiration To Start Business

The inspiration to venture into entrepreneurship happened during the Covid-19 lockdown. Jayalakshmi Ganapathy, a  busy body like most mothers found the lockdown to be very restrictive. She missed the time she would spend outdoors. So, her daughter Nitya encouraged her to prepare nei. Jayalakshmi would prepare terrific homemade cultured ghee using age-old family recipes, this was often praised by friends and families. So, the mother-daughter duo on the occasion of a grand-niece’s first birthday prepared 20 jars of nei and distributed them to their loved ones. Everyone loved it and asked for more. That’s when it hit the two women that could make a business out of the family’s age-old ghee recipe.

 

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Launching Nei Native From A Home Kitchen

Nitya revealed to The Better India that she launched her business Nei Native with her mother, Jayalakshmi Ganapathy in May 2021. She dived straight into the world of entrepreneurship after 20 years in the media industry. She had full faith in her product- the family’s age gold ghee recipe. And she was confident that people would love this healthy, aromatic, traditionally prepared offering. The mother-daughter duo started their business from their home kitchen, selling six to eight ghee bottles per day. Over time their business grew so much that they shifted production to their family-owned farm in Vikramgad. Today, they ship over 2500 ghee bottles per day, priced at ₹750 for a 250 ml bottle and ₹1350 for a 500 ml bottle.

 

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Also Read: This Family Ditched City Life To Start A South Indian Cafe In Himachal’s Bir Billing

The Art Of Making Nei Using Traditional Bilona Method

Nei is ghee made using the traditional bilona methods, involving earthen pots. While it was popular in the olden days, today, while people yearn for homemade ghee, they don’t have time to prepare it themselves. So, Nitya and Jayalakshmi bring the ‘liquid gold’ to your doorstep. According to The Better India, it takes 24 hours to make nei. First, full cream A2 milk is boiled in a large pot over a woodfire. After it cools down, it’s set in an earthen pot to curdle. In the morning, the curd is churned to prepare the butter. And finally, the butter is heated on a low flame to obtain ghee. Nitya adds to The Better India that “a secret ingredient is added for extra flavour. The mother-daughter themselves conduct quality checks and then ship the ghee bottles to customers across India.

 

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Also Read: I Took My Mother To Shirdi In A Helicopter & Enjoyed Breathtaking Panoramic View!

Making A Difference In The Lives Of Indians

With their unique nei or homemade ghee business using bilona method, the Ganapathys are truly creating a difference in the lives of people. While some enjoy Nei Native ghee for its nostalgic taste, others stress the importance of its health benefits especially for expecting mothers, senior citizens and babies. Nitya said to The Better India that despite the nei-making process being laborious, it’s crucial for the business and it’s their distinguishing factor. Each ghee bottle is handcrafted with perfection and specially checked by the mother-daughter duo. So, the next time you crave for a dollop of ghee on your sambar rice or khichdi, just order a bottle of artisanal ghee from Nei Native.

 

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