Kalyani Pandya, a 29-year-old law graduate from Vadodara, decided to introduce natural ghee (clarified butter) to the range of food items sold through her venture Shankar Farms.

[{"selector":"#anim-e0a39197-9253-415c-a535-437c4f641cb7","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Floral Shankar Farms was previously being overseen by her father, but hadn’t been very profitable. Light Yellow Arrow

Kalyani, who completed her law degree in the UK and was working in the corporate sector, says she felt her calling lay in the family venture.

[{"selector":"#anim-53b5802a-6e42-4771-99be-edaa29346c27","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":300,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Green Curved Line

“So I quit my job and returned to Baroda. When I began working on how we could scale Shankar Farms, I noticed that there were several areas where we could improve,” she says.

[{"selector":"#anim-6db28048-70f5-4bc0-a9f3-da7515d8a72d","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":300,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Green Curved Line

She began selling branded ghee on Amazon and other retail stores and ran online ads in 2020. It took her a year and a half.

[{"selector":"#anim-564b99ab-9d45-407a-a26c-1473419e9440","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":300,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Green Curved Line

The response they received was fantastic, she recounts, noting that it wasn’t very easy.

“Through what I have witnessed growing up in a farming state, the milk of Gir cows is preferred for ghee as people presume that this is the best for its creamier milk and richer smell.”

[{"selector":"#anim-7220e8b5-d579-4759-b5bf-f6b192692c5e","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Floral “But in addition to Gir cows, we also have Kankrej and Lal cows,” she says. Light Yellow Arrow

[{"selector":"#anim-328ab03e-6895-450b-a2b0-c7013ad4fc5a","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Floral To pitch to a market that was under the notion that Gir cows are the only ones suitable for ghee was tough, but she decided honesty was the best strategy and it worked in their favour. Light Yellow Arrow

“I believe once people began tasting our ghee, they began loving it, and their perception gradually changed.”

She recounts how her customers say the ghee tastes better than even some brands that only make ghee from Gir cows.

An additional step Kalyani says she took was lab testing the cows in order to certify them as A2. These cows are said to have superior quality of milk according to studies, as compared to A1 cows.

The brand also sells unpasteurised milk in Vadodara that lasts for three hours post-milking.

Floral “We sell approximately 50 litres of ghee a month,” she says, adding that the brand clocked a turnover of Rs 15 lakh in the last financial year.