79-Year-Old British-Indian Uses Mom’s Recipes to Start Jam Biz worth Rs. 2 Cr, Helps 100 Women
79-Year old Linnet Mushran moved to India after her marriage, and started Bhuira Jams in Himachal Pradesh
79-Year old Linnet Mushran moved to India after her marriage, and started Bhuira Jams in Himachal Pradesh
Linnet Mushran met her partner while they were studying in Scotland and after marriage, they moved to India. Linnet has a German mother and a British father, and after her marriage, she spent most of her time in Mumbai and in the jungles of Bihar and Delhi. In 1991, she visited the property in Himachal and fell in love instantly.
Linnet soon made Bhuira her second home. Over the course of multiple stays, she came to realize that many apples in the orchard would fall owing to strong winds and monkeys in the vicinity. The aim was to stop the apples from getting spoiled. She started making apple jelly out of the apples with her mother’s recipe. Later this developed into a jam factory that gives hundreds of women in Bhuira employment. The factory is named ‘Bhuira Jams’, and their products are sold throughout India.
Linnet’s daughter-in-law, Rebecca, who handles marketing, says the reason behind the jams becoming a success over the years is their simplicity and the natural process with which they are made. “These jams, marmalades, chutneys and spreads are made the same way a mother makes them at home. The entire process is handmade. The semi-processed frozen fruits allow us to make fresh batches around the year. Moreover, the products have a two-year shelf-life without using any chemical preservatives because the sugar and lime juice added to act as natural agents of protection. The seal is vacuumed, which ensures that no air enters the glass bottles,” she adds.
She adds that most importantly, the jams and marmalades have fruit chunks in them, and are not purees, as observed with other products in the market.
Rebecca says the products are available on Amazon, Big Basket, CostBo, Simpli Namdhari and retail brands such as Fabindia, Pepperfry and others. The seasonal blackberry jam, tomato chutney, Strawberry Preserve, Bitter Orange Marmalade, Black Cherry Preserve, Apricot jam, and Kashmiri Bichua chutney are top sellers.
Credits: The Better India
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