Ankita did her EPGM from IIM Kolkata and joined a multinational company.
She was growing fast in her career. She has worked in USA and Germany. Today, Ankita is the co-founder cum Director of Goratan Products Private Limited, which deals in Gir cow’s A2 milk, A2 ghee and other value added dairy products. She is also into organic farming and has pursued a course in mushroom farming from DMR Solan, Himachal Pradesh.
Tell us about yourself, your background and what you do currently
I am from Ajmer, Rajasthan and is an IIM Kolkata Alumni. I started my career with Insurance Industry but left corporate to take my passion for Dairy farming in 2014. I m lucky enough that my parents and my husband who supported me and encouraged me to pursue my dreams. With over 4 years of enriched experience in dairy farming, I take care of the sales & marketing and product development activities of Goratan Products Private Limited.
Tell us about any current projects or initiatives you wish to promote
Our prime objective is to develop and promote Indian Desi Cow Breeds like Gir, Sahiwal, Tharparkar, Rathi, etc and organic farming among the local farmers and new comers; and create awareness about their A2 & Organic products and various other value added products. We wish to achieve all this in an eco friendly way by following integrated model of farming and by creating job opportunities for rural women.
The way our society is moving towards these lifestyle diseases it’s an alarming situation for all of us to go back to our roots and see how our grandparents kept all these diseases at bay and lived a long and healthy life. We all need to eat healthy and stay healthy.
What has been your biggest challenge in achieving your success?
I faced lot of challenges at the time of setting up Matratva which is a unit of Goratan products private limited, since I don’t hold any prior experience in this field and was entering into a male dominant field, so there was a lot of resistance.
Agriculture and Dairy industry requires lot of cash flow. So finance was a challenge for us.
The other challenges were associated with the market reason being the low awareness and acceptance of healthy A2 milk and related products. When we initially started the retail and home delivery counter of A2 milk, I personally visited each customer and educated them about the A2 milk and its benefits. Slowly and steadily people started accepting it and acknowledging the benefits of it.
Staying positive and not losing my confidence on my work and on myself was also a big challenge for me.
What has been your greatest achievement personally?
My greatest achievement…. this is difficult to answer. Leaving a well paying job and starting with Farming was difficult. But now when I see myself, i feel happy and satisfied that whatever I m doing is appreciated by the family and the society. I believe this is my greatest achievement.
If you weren’t doing what you do now, what would you be doing?
Probably, would be working with a company may be in India or aboard. I don’t know what I would be doing, if not this. Actually i have never thought about giving up farming.
Who has been your biggest inspiration?
It’s difficult to name one but all the women around the world who are doing something for themselves and the society.
What does the future hold for you?
It’s a mystery but I m sowing good seeds and hopefully will ripe good fruits in future! I have just started my journey and universe is the limit!
Facebook page – Matratva-unit of Goratan products Pvt Ltd
Instagram – Gorataninfo
