National Eligibility cum Entrance Test [NEET] is one of the prestigious competitive exams where a total 2 million plus aspirants attend for this exam every year. At the same time, this exam is in news for all chaos and Kota is in the limelight. In one of such challenging times, one girl who hailed from barren lands of Bundelkhand found her love for Indian super fruits and their value addition to Indian global markets.
Shivani Bundela, founder of Abrosaa says, “The journey wasn’t easy for me. I was at Kota and I appeared for the NEET exam in 2015. However, something unexpected happened at that time: NEET paper was leaked and I had to reappear for the exam again even though I scored well. This incident shattered me well beyond. Later attempts were futile and apparently I found love for my Bachelors in Food Technology. I envision starting a business with a mission of reviving native fruits in diet.”
She recalls: “Back in 2021, Bundelkhand was hosting an agro summit and I was a part of it. The discussion with Dr. Anil Kumar, Director Education from the Rani Lakshmibai Central Agricultural University (RLBCAU) sparked the idea of Ber/Indian Jujube products. I vividly remember the burst of flavours from the fruit: sweet and tarty. Each bite of fruit is a trip back to my ancestral home in Jhansi. It makes me nostalgic.”
For centuries, the ber fruit has been a part of our country’s culinary traditions. This fruit may sound exotic. It is one of the most ancient superfruits in India. The fruit is packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Also, the ber tree is known to thrive under poor soil and unfavourable climatic conditions. .
Three key objectives Abrosaa kept in mind while nurturing jujube farming and value addition ecosystem are the following:
a) Health & Environment: Ziziphus Maritus is a climate resilient plant and it can grow in any adverse condition such as flood or drought region. It can survive in the acidic soils and rippled root structure holds soil strong and helps prevent soil erosion. Ber Fruit has an abundant source of Vit C , Calcium, Fe & Folic acid , Zinc, High source of fibre, LowGI and very important amino acids which regulates mood Uplifting helps in stress reduction, these properties make it fall under the super fruit category.
b) Livelihood Enhancement: Abrossa is creating research and value addition ecosystem in collaboration with its market linkage partner in which it has developed the most innovative delicious and highly nutritious food products from ber infused dark chocolates to ber herbal juice ber masala chatKara blossom honey and other range of products. They are working with highly skilled and knowledgeable food technologists and researchers for research and development of new product development. These efforts are enhancing livelihood opportunities for the stakeholders. The Ber plant withstands high temperatures for 10 years, it produces high quality timber and is able to generate extra income for farmers.
c) Gender justice: Abrosaa’s primary stakeholders are women farmers who are part of value addition. They are increasing the income and living standards of women farmers while joining hands for responsible consumption and production
Abrosaa’s intervention has secured sustainable livelihood options for many farmers and women groups. The plantation of more than 3000 ber plants will ensure water stewardship in the region.
The intensive research and marketing made Abrosaa to achieve several milestones:
- The team won the award for Best Innovation Startup Idea award from BCCI (Bundelkhand Commerce Chambers Association) Jhansi at the Bundelkhand Agro Summit.
- Abrosaa was recognised by the Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Srimati Anandiben Patel at the Flower Festival held at Lucknow.
- At the Rise Hackathon 1.0, the Abrosaa team won 1st prize held at Jhansi.
- Abrosaa’s work was featured in the Times of India and by the CNBC Awaz in the show titled ‘Bade Sapne Chote Sher’ in the year 2022 and 2023 respectively.
- They were endowed by the Rani Laxmi Bai Central Agriculture University for Women Entrepreneur Development on women’s day 2022.
- In the year 2022, the Abrosaa team was acknowledged and awarded by the Minister of State, Horticulture, Agricultural Marketing, Agricultural Foreign Trade and Agricultural Exports, Dinesh Pratap Singh.
- Abrosaa was the international gifting partner for the Uttar Pradesh Investor Summit held at Lucknow in January 2023.
India is known for its superfoods: from millets to makhana, the country hosts a variety of it. Sadly, we ourselves lack research and awareness about our own superfoods value addition thus unknowingly pushing many superfoods to near-extinction. This has led to more than half of India’s population suffering from micronutrient deficiency(MiND). Lack of micronutrients means our people are prone to various diseases and infections.
Historically, India has never avoided fruits in their diet. However, contemporary lifestyles are pushing more grain based diets. Neither fruit nor grain are lonely solutions. Reviving our superfood in whatever form will add more gastro diplomacy power for India in global platforms along with benefiting farmers. Visit www.abrosaa.com for more information.
Enjoy your superfood diet!
