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Meet The 72-Year-Old Entrepreneur Who runs India’s one and only Zero-Waste Juice Bar

Geetha Chandrasekaran by Geetha Chandrasekaran
September 5, 2022
in Opinion
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From a five-year old Raju to seventy-year-old Rajkiran Jaiswal are regular visitors to this famous juice bar in Bengaluru. It is popularly called as Eat Raja. What makes it so special that anyone visiting Bengaluru can locate Eat Raja. This juice bar is different because it is run by completely banning the usage of plastic, paper cups, straws and pet bottles. Instead, patrons drink fresh juice from cups constructed from fruit peels. The brains behind this innovative concept are not IITians or commercial moguls, but rather 72-year-old Saroja Velan.

With the assistance of her son, this septuagenarian transitioned into entrepreneurship barely two years prior in 2018. She has recently gained national attention for her admirable effort to transform her company into a zero-waste operation. The International Institute of Waste Management invited her to participate in the Women’s Day-specific Wave Conclave in Jaipur, which will honour the nation’s female entrepreneurs on March 31 this year. Powerful Teachers team recently stopped by the juice bar at Eat Raja to learn more about the motivational journey of this 72-year-old.

Velan narrated her journey that when she ventured into starting a business, she was absolutely clueless about running a business as she has always been a homemaker until September 2017 when she lost her spouse. As her husband was a very conservative person, he ran a juice shop for 50 years and never wanted Velan to step out of the house and join the business.

“It was after my husband’s death, we had to shut the shop for about six months. One day I expressed my desire to start something new as I felt lonely at home. All I knew was cooking as that is what I have been doing all my life. My son suggested turning my cooking skills into a business. That’s how Eat Raja was conceptualised in March 2018,” says Velan

Velan’s entrepreneurial journey is a tale of how young and old could work together to accomplish tasks in a newer, more environmentally friendly manner. Anand Raj BSN, Velan’s son, was completely committed to supporting Velan but had one requirement. Anand Raj BSN had a 13-year career as a radio DJ before quitting to support his mother in her new enterprise. “I told Mom we wouldn’t conduct the business in the same manner as my dad. This time, we’ll refrain from using straws, pet bottles, paper or plastic cups. Instead, we shall provide our clients with juice in fruit peel cups. While initially, she said it won’t work, she now explains to her customers why we use fruit peel cups and convince them,” says Raj.

The 72-year-old woman overcame all obstacles in her path. Velan opened its doors as a café on its own in 2018, but it wasn’t an easy feat. She initially began preparing some juice and roti-sabji for her clients but struggled to find reliable helping hands at the store. She had also never managed a firm before and had no idea how to conduct a business transaction. She had also lost a lot of devoted clients after her spouse had passed away. Customers were first unaccustomed to sipping juice from fruit peel cups at the counter because she had stopped parcelling the juice in order to turn the business into a zero-waste enterprise. Consequently, she lost a lot of her clients. But she persisted.

“My son explained to me how excessive use of plastic and wastage of water are ruining the environment and I made my customers realise the same. Using fruit peel cups prevents me from wasting water to wash the glasses. My customers have gradually embraced the new concept and now they visit my shop only to enjoy fresh juices in fruit peel cups,” says Velan.

The mother-son duo teamed up to use watermelon shells as juice cups before progressing to utilising muskmelon and sun melon shells. They currently exclusively use a variety of fruit cups, such as cucumber shells and coconut shells, and are 100% waste-free.

“There is absolutely no throwaway waste at our juice bar, and we don’t even use things like paper cups, plastic glasses, straws, or PET bottles. As a result, dry waste creation is minimal. Fruit cups, citrus peels, pulp, and seed filters are examples of wet waste. My mother creates rangolis and other works of art with seed filters. Citrus peels are used to generate bio-enzymes, and our cow consumes 80% of the fruit waste. As a result, we ensure that nothing ends up in a landfill,” says Velan’s son Raj.

As a business owner, Velan ensures that all of her employees are paid promptly and on the same day. She is a proponent of zero-waste, a multitasker, and a real case study of active ageing. She is very particular about the calibre of the juices she serves at her shop and, even at the age of 72, manages everything with efficiency, including the shop, the housework, the finances, and the business strategy. She has demonstrated that age is not a barrier to learning new skills and putting them into practise, whether it be in business or going green.

Author

  • Geetha Chandrasekaran
    Geetha Chandrasekaran

    The writer is the founder of Powerful Teachers, an organisation working for senior citizens.

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