“I grew up in Hyderabad, but our roots are in Thonda Thirumalagiri, a small village in Suryapet district. My father works in the Police Department, but he’s always been passionate about farming. During school holidays, we’d visit our village, and I started noticing how farming worked—the crop cycles, price crashes, and why some harvests went unsold.

After B.Pharm from BITS Pilani and an MBA from IIM Calcutta, I worked in banking in Bengaluru. During that time, my mother used to send me parcels of sun-dried vegetables and powders. These thoughtful packages made it easier to eat well on busy days—and that’s when the idea struck: why isn’t this available to more people?

India processes less than 10% of its produce. Cold storage is expensive, and dehydration felt like a smart, low-energy, preservative-free alternative. But what I saw in practice—open-air drying with hygiene risks—made me realise the system needed a better approach.

In 2020, I quit my job and spent a year learning the science, visiting farms and research centres. In 2021, we set up a 6,000 sq. ft unit in Thonda Thirumalagiri. Koh! Foods was launched in 2022 as a mother-daughter venture.

My mother, Odapalli Vijaya Laxmi, now leads operations—handling procurement, mentoring women from nearby villages, managing production, and testing every product herself. Her discipline and traditional knowledge are the backbone of what we do.

We work directly with farmers, helping them shift to pesticide-residue-free crops like spinach, beetroot, moringa, and carrots. We ensure fair pricing, training, and ongoing support. Our product range—vegetable powders, herbal teas, fruit candies—contains no additives, preservatives, or artificial colours. Just clean, honest food for daily use.

Our products are available online in India, and we’ve launched in the US and Dubai as well, via Amazon. We’re now working on ready-to-use blends for Indian cooking—simple, traceable food that supports the people growing it.”

— Keerthi Priya, Founder, Koh! Foods