There is no denying the fact that women are now taking significant roles in the food and beverage industry. Women are breaking the stereotypes and treading into the male-dominated entrepreneurship world. In our section of successful women entrepreneurs, let’s get to know all these women who have set an example in the food industry. Here are 4 powerful women who are making a great impact in the food business.

Pankaj Bhadouria


She was a teacher initially. Married and a mother of 2 grown-up kids, like all women, she had a great passion for cooking. The big change in her life came when she took a break from her teaching career and participated in India’s first reality show on cooling – MasterChef India. And she was the winner of the show. This changed her entire life and she wanted to dedicate her life towards her passion. Pankaj Bhadouria left her successful teaching career spanning over 16 years. As the winner of the show, she got a major recognition and appreciation. She was invited by Cambridge University to address the South Asian Community in Britain. This was a major breakthrough in her life. She displayed some Indian foods for health-conscious people out there and managed to break the general British myth that Indian food is all spicy and masala. Today, Pankaj is the face of many popular brands and is a host to cookery shows, one being the popular ‘3 Course with Pankaj’. Besides, she has authored and co-authored many cookbooks. She was the first MasterChef Winner worldwide to have an official MasterChef Cookbook in her name. Pankaj started her culinary academy in Lucknow in 2012. It offers Professional Courses and Certificate Courses for amateur chefs. As she was a teacher, this academy is a success.

Lisa Suwal


Let’s meet Lisa Suwal, VP- Marketing & Sales of Prasuma Meats & Delicatessen brand. A Master of Business Administration (MBA), Marketing @ Symbiosis Center For Management and Human Resource Development, she had a successful corporate career initially with Technopak Advisors, L’Oreal and Garnier prior to joining the entrepreneurship world. She left her job to join her father, Mahendra Suwal, in his food and beverage industry. Her father had launched the Prasuma brand way back in 1985, the first brand to start the ‘fresh and chilled’ segment in the country. Lisa joined her father in 2016 and she used her management experience to promote the brand all across the country. Today, the brand has its presence in more than 300+ retail outlets across 21 Indian cities.

Rashmi Daga


When it comes to successful women entrepreneurs in the food business, we cannot leave Rashmi Daga behind. She is the founder and owner of one of the most popular food-tech companies – FreshMenu, founded in the year 2014. After completing her MBA from the IIM-Ahmedabad, Kolkata-born Rashmi Daga went on to work in different companies in different industry domains, including Johnson & Johnson, IBM India, TutorVista, BlueStone and Ola. In 2014, she moved to the food industry with FreshMenu, an online restaurant that today serves almost 14,000 orders each day from its app and website across Mumbai, South Delhi, Bengaluru, and Gurugram. The average order value is ₹320. The best part is that her online restaurant included all types of meals, including international food delicacies and interesting food options that are different from the regular foodstuff and her freshly-cooked food is delivered to the doorsteps of its customers.

Garima Arora


We have with us another women entrepreneur in food business. She is Garima Arora. Prior to entering the food business world, she was a pharma journalist. She left for Le Cordon Bleu Paris, in 2008, to pursue her passion, which is cooking. She has worked with several renowned international chefs and had also done an internship at Noma in Copenhagen. She then started her own restaurant Gaa and within 2 years of its opening, the restaurant was awarded the Michelin star. She was also named in the Entrepreneur India’s 35 Under 35 list. Recently, Garima Arora, bagged Asia’s Best Female Chef 2019 Award. In her own words, “I’ve always known I would want to have my restaurant one day. After some research into the profession, I decided to do it right then, as cooking is very demanding, physically and mentally. “

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