Riddhima Arora (29), a Jammu resident had to take a three-month break from her brand marketing job when her father became sick, in order to stay at home and take his care.
Her 59-year-old father was suffering from liver cirrhosis and doctors said that there was hardly anything they could do to improve his rapidly worsening condition. Riddhima would ensure that her father consumes nutritious food. She started treating her father with various herbal teas, Ayurvedic concoctions, and traditional foods.
Their family members would strictly exclude packaged food and items with preservatives for him. They started sourcing all their ingredients from local farmers. Other than food for nutritional purposes, she would make sure that he also consumes medicinal herbs like haridati (Indian hog plum) and harad, which has antiseptic properties.
Riddhima says that her father’s condition started improving within three months. After consuming right food and exercise on a regular basis, her father was able to regain his strength. She says that now, he goes to work every day and takes care of their 80-year-old family business of selling dry fruits, medicinal herbs, organic produce, and ayurvedic medicine.
As Riddhima saw how her father’s eating habits changed his overall health, she was motivated to influence others’ lives too by changing their eating habits. She said that many people have the habit of buying products with “healthy” label without even checking the ingredients used. Sugar-free products, diet supplements, and other foods labelled as “healthy” alternatives contain at least one harmful ingredient in them, including preservatives, maida, or fructose. So, she decided to enter into the market of ayurvedic, herbal, and healthy products using family recipes. She resigned from her job in 2019 to set up her business.
Her brand – Namhya Foods sells healthy products which are ranging from herbal teas to regulate liver and heart health, to instant breakfast mixes, immunity-boosting lattes, healthy snacks, and PCOS and diabetes controlling teas.
Initially, Riddhima started making her products by sourcing and compiling various recipes which are easily available. In order to better understand, she sought assistance of various ayurvedic experts to comprehend the ratios and proportions of ingredients for various recipes. Moreover, she also pursued a three-month ayurvedic certification course at the UVAS Ayurveda, Bangalore in collaboration with the International Academy of Ayurveda.
As of now, Namhya Foods has completed one year of operations. There are 26 different products, including turmeric latte powder, diabetes/heart/liver care tea, ragi/millet based breakfast mix, PCOS regulating drink, and child-friendly cocoa-flavoured cinnamon latte available for customers under the brand-name.
