“God could not be everywhere, so he created mothers.”We often come across this saying, only to realise how blessed and grateful we are for those who made us what we are today. They take care of everything for us, be it nutrition, hygiene, grooming, and education, from the time we are born.Good nutrition in the early years of a child’s define the shape of their health for years to come. But for a lot of parents, especially first-time ones, finding baby food they can genuinely trust isn’t always simple.Labels may claim to be “natural” and “healthy,” but the actual ingredient list often tells a different story.For Jyoti Srivastava, a young mother, this exact frustration became the starting point for a completely new career to cater to her young .
Meet Jyoti Srivastava, who helped build rockets before motherhood made her transition into making baby food
Jyoti Srivastava wasn’t always in the food business. Before motherhood changed the course of her career, she worked as an engineer specialising in nanotechnology and rocket propellants, designing rockets meant for the Indian Army, according to The Better India.According to her LinkedIn profile, she is M.Tech from the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, DU, DRDO. interned at the Indian Oil Corporation Limited before transitioning into a full-time job.It was a job she genuinely enjoyed, though demanding and, by her own account, not particularly well-paying.
Everything changed once she became a mother
According to The Better India, Srivastava ran into several difficulties while breastfeeding her son, and once he was ready for solid foods, she was determined not to get it wrong. That search led her down a rabbit hole most new parents will find familiar, exploring brand after brand claiming to be “natural” and “healthy,” while their actual ingredient lists said otherwise.“We started Little Cherry Mom because we couldn’t find food we’d actually trust for our own baby, no hidden maida, no refined sugar, no ‘natural flavours’ that aren’t,” Srivastava wrote on the brand’s website.
Rather than keep searching, she decided to build the solution herself
In 2022, she launched Little Cherry Mom in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, a millet-based baby food brand built specifically around ingredients that she had been comfortable feeding her own child. The product range has since grown to include instant dosa mixes, millet flour, sugar, and jaggery-free laddus, and healthy snacks for children such as khakras.
Srivastava educated herself for it
Srivastava didn’t depend on instinct alone to build the brand. She pursued a certification in Infant and Young Child Feeding from UNICEF, which she says helped her understand how various micro and macronutrients, minerals, and vitamins affect a baby’s growth.“This certification helped me in understanding the roles of various micro and macronutrients, minerals, and vitamins in the growth and development of babies,” she told HealthShots. Along with this, she also studied Ayurvedic texts to understand how different herbs support a child’s development.The path to building the business wasn’t smooth. Restarting a career after maternity leave came with its own challenges, and funding proved to be a persistent hurdle in the early days. Still, Srivastava pushed through, gradually building a brand that now serves over 70,000 customers across India. Her journey also brought her to a wider audience when she appeared on Shark Tank India season 5, which aired earlier this year.
