International Women’s Day- Apeksha Jain

Apeksha Jain, Founder, Gourmet Jar

 

Having started The Gourmet Jar from her home kitchen in 2012, Apeksha now has a 4000 sq ft facility in Noida employing over 25 women, and supplies her products to all the major retail stores across India, a well as 20 five-star hotels. Apeksha is an Economics graduate from Lady Shriram College, Delhi and has no formal training in cooking or making preserves. She is a self-taught confiturier who’s passion for cooking is guided by her instinct and a husband that loves food!

 

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Apeksha Jain shares some personal space with NuFFooDS Spectrum-

 

My daily routine-

 

I get up at 6:30 and spend the next hour or so reading the newspapers and doing my Pranayama. Then I catch up with emails as the peace and quiet of the morning helps me focus and plan my day. I head to our production unit by 10 am where most of my day is spent overseeing production & logistics. Through the day, I taste the batches that we are producing that day. Solving issues that come up on a regular basis is part of my routine as well. After work, in the evenings i do an hour of yoga and then make dinner. That’s the most relaxing part of my day. Post-dinner I  catch up on reading and sometimes get back to emails again. 

 

My idea of nutrition and fitness-

 

It is definitely very important and I try to be conscious of what I eat and ensure I have an active routine. Being in the food business, my daily routine involves a lot of tasting, so I have to balance that out. And as a food entrepreneur, I’m also very aware of all the terrible things that go into our food, so I do try and ensure what i’m putting on my plate is free of all those things. I make sure I exercise 4-5 times a week. 

 

 

My favourite cuisine-

 

Very tough question…..i’m torn between Mexican & Japanese!

 

My favourite holiday spot-

 

Paris, for sure, because of all the memories it holds for me!

 

My idea of a balance between personal and professional life-

 

That’s a very difficult ask, especially since the past 1 year that my husband has been working with me….so the line between personal & professional gets blurred very easily, as we’re always talking about work, even outside office. But we make it a point to not talk about work on Sundays and also try to do many small holidays through the year where we forget about work completely.

 

 

My role model-

 

I don’t think I have one role model as such, but I draw inspiration from many different people, who’re following their dream and challenging tradition. I really look upto Alain Passard, who has taken vegetarian cuisine to a Michelin-star level in a country like France where gourmet is synonymous with meat. I also really admire some of the young urban farmers who’re bringing about a big change in the way we eat in cities and making farming cool.