Fashion has always fascinated me. After graduating from NIFT in 2017, I set out to pursue my passion for fashion and design, eager to build something of my own. Though creatively equipped, I struggled to bridge the gap between training and entrepreneurship, facing challenges I hadn’t anticipated. Over time, every setback became a lesson, shaping a journey fuelled by resilience, growth, and a deep commitment to my craft.
During a soul-searching trip to South India in 2019, I had a revelation – I discovered the incredible health benefits of millets, once a superfood that had fallen out of favor.
These hardy, gluten-free grains had sustained generations of farmers in India’s arid regions. Although a staple food at one point, millets were overlooked as urbanization spread.
At that moment, a new dream was born – to bring millets back into the mainstream and improve lives through my business. I realized that my true calling was not high fashion but making age-old superfoods fashionable again and uplifting smallholder farmers.
In 2022, my co-founder and I established Danodia Foods in Solan, Himachal Pradesh. We collaborated with local millet farmers to source top-quality grains. Our mission was two-fold: to provide customers with delicious, yet nutritious millet products while boosting farmers’ incomes. We started selling online and in Tier 1 cities, however growth was slow; we needed a better business strategy and distribution networks.
In January 2023, I joined the Walmart Vriddhi program, a turning point in my entrepreneurial journey. Their structured curriculum and seasoned mentors provided the foundation that was needed to scale up Danodia Foods.
Walmart Vriddhi helped us optimize our operations for maximum efficiency. Based on the program learnings, my business partner and I decided to move from a centralized warehouse to regional hubs, enabling swift deliveries across India. Their training enhanced our supply chain agility.
With Walmart Vriddhi’s guidance, we onboarded onto Flipkart to increase our online visibility. This proved instrumental as we now sell pan-India.
The program equipped us with digital marketing strategies and encouraged Hindi branding. This helped us expand beyond metros into Tier 2 and 3 cities. The guidance on offline campaigns and product sampling in supermarkets also boosted millet awareness and drove sales growth.
My revenue grew from ₹15 lakhs in FY 2022–2023 to over ₹1.5 crore (over 30% of this revenue came from Flipkart) in FY 2023–2024, reflecting the program’s significant impact. Danodia Foods, also ranked #3 in Millets and #2 in Jaggery and achieved six #1 best-seller placements on the Flipkart Marketplace across both categories in April 2025 alone.
The Walmart Vriddhi program taught us to focus on both profitability and impact by managing inventory wisely and regularly tracking key metrics like farmer income, women’s empowerment, and nutrition awareness.
After listing my products on Walmart Marketplace (Walmart.com), I began receiving self- fulfilled orders, and I’m confident that integrating with Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) will boost sales further through faster delivery and lower costs.
Today, Danodia Foods is bringing millets back into the Indian mainstream, one bite at a time. My co-founder and I are keenly focused on building an ethical and inclusive brand that connects consumers directly with smallholder farmers to uplift rural communities.
I am also diversifying my product offerings, focusing on plant-based, chemical-free skincare products for the U.S. market, where there is a growing demand for natural products.
Everything is connected, from inventory planning to customer communication, from ads to product packaging—we understand this better today because of the insights gained from the Walmart Vriddhi program. I’ve learned a lot through my journey, and I’m eager to give back by mentoring others and sharing the knowledge and insights I’ve gained. Today, Danodia Foods stands as an example of how small businesses can make it big, not by doing it alone, but by leveraging the right support systems, focusing on sustainable practices, and keeping an eye on long-term growth.
