A search for healthier food for her child has taken former aerospace engineer Jyoti Srivastava from designing rockets for the Indian Army to building a millet-based baby food venture that has crossed Rs 1 crore in revenue.
Srivastava, a chemical engineer with expertise in nanotechnology and rocket propellants, left her engineering career in 2018. After becoming a mother, she began looking more closely at the food available for her son as he started eating solid foods.
A mother’s search became a business idea
Concerned about ingredients in commercially available children’s foods, Srivastava began researching nutrition and traditional Indian foods. Her interest eventually led her to millets, which became central to her business idea.
She launched Little Cherry Mom in Meerut in 2022 with her husband Gaurav Goel. The company offers millet flours, instant dosa mixes, snacks and laddoos made without refined sugar, among other products.
Srivastava also completed UNICEF certification in Infant and Young Child Feeding to strengthen her understanding of infant nutrition, including the role of micro- and macronutrients in children’s growth and development.
From a personal need to a growing venture
According to reports, Little Cherry Mom recorded a turnover of Rs 1 crore in its first year. The business has since reached customers across India and has featured on Shark Tank India Season 5.
Her journey highlights how a personal parenting concern can inspire a wider conversation about children’s nutrition, while also showing how women can build new professional paths after motherhood.
For parents, however, experts generally recommend choosing complementary foods according to a baby’s age and developmental readiness and discussing individual nutritional needs with a paediatrician.