Success Stories
Chayaa Nanjappa Rajappa
Founder & Managing Partner, Nectar FreshChayaa Nanjappa, Country President – India and State President of Karnataka, ABWCI (Association of Business-Women in Commerce & Industry) and Founder & Managing Partner, Nectar Fresh, is an award-winning, first-generation rural woman entrepreneur. While her company, Nectar Fresh, is a Khadi & Village Board-backed rural social enterprise, she continues to empower the rural and tribal population through her efforts.
While she is also a member of the National Bee Board, Government of India, she is also a member of the National Level Advisory Committee for Honey Mission of Khadi and Village Industries Commission. Chayaa has made significant strides as a woman entrepreneur in the Food Processing industry. Her work experience spans across the areas, including transforming food production from farm to fork. In her journey as an entrepreneur, her understanding of agriculture, food processing, and adherence to quality has resulted in the successful amalgamation of farmer producers, the food industry and consumers. As a result, Nectar Fresh is also the first brand in India to be using the ‘Women-Owned’ logo of ‘WEConnect International’, and takes forward the ‘Make in India’ mission ahead.
Currently, she is in the process of setting up India’s largest rural and tribal artisans retail store, ‘Naman’ under her company’s sister concern, VeeraVartam Pvt Ltd. The initiative strives to promote the cultural heritage of India and provides for a platform to showcase the unique art forms of the rural and tribal communities.
Because of her efforts toward social entrepreneurship, she is the recipient of several accolades, awards and recognition, both at the national and international levels. Chayaa bagged the prestigious ‘Laghu Udyog Bharati Woman Entrepreneur of the year’ – MSME sector in 2016-17. Smt. Nirmala Seetharaman, Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs of India, Government of India, then Minister of State for the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, conferred the award.
She has also won the ‘Priyadarshini Award for Outstanding Woman Entrepreneur’ 2015-16 and went on to win the ‘SaarthakNaari Award‘- 2016. While she bagged the ‘Best Entrepreneur Award’ in the field of ‘Food Processing’ from Confederation Of Women Entrepreneurs Of India (COWE) 2013-14, she has won the prestigious ‘CNBC Women Entrepreneur Award’ for the year 2014-15 and The ‘VIT Amazing Entrepreneur Award – The Weekend Leader’ for the year 2014 – 2015.
She is also the winner of the Entrepreneurship Award by the Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association (KASSIA) in 2014- 15; Industrialist of the Year Award by Mysore Chamber of Commerce and SAP 2017-18 and also the Industrialist Award-2018 by Rotary Mysore Midtown Best.
Other than the awards, she was also amongst a few chosen women from Asia who got selected for special training on ‘Scaling up of Exports to quality conscious international market-2019’. The Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade organised the training.
Other than these, she is a frequent speaker at various national and international forums.
Due to her commitment toward a higher purpose, her brand, Nectar Fresh is a mark of purity and value. As a result, the brand is a primary supplier to several well-known companies, including The Marriott, ITC, Hyatt, Radisson or the multi-national retail giants like Walmart, Spar Hypermarkets and several other health-focused Ayurveda and pharmaceutical companies.