For nearly a decade, Syed Faraz lived the Bengaluru life of an engineer. It took him two hours to switch the entire decision and pack his bags to go back to Bihar. “I realised that if I stayed in Bengaluru forever, Bihar would remain just nostalgia, never a part of my future,” he recalled in an exclusive interaction with financialexpress.com.
Back home, he was treated as a guest who would leave soon. One month stint in Delhi, and then began the startup trial. Retail stores, an event management company, and a delivery startup later, Shhe Foods was born. A Patna-based food processing startup that is trying to industrialise one of Bihar’s most traditional crops: makhana, or fox nuts. What began as a two-person experiment in a rented 8-by-10 office has since grown into a company with a 10,000 sq. ft. factory, over 2,500 associated farmers, and more than 40 brand partnerships across India and abroad.
From three lakhs to a factory floor
When Faraz and his co-founder, Shishir Shubham, started Shhe Foods in November 2021, they had just Rs 3 lakh between them and a prototype idea. “We didn’t even have the full amount at once,” he laughs. “We were borrowing, doubling small orders, reinvesting,” he added.
At that time, makhana wasn’t the superfood buzzword it has become today. Demand was sporadic, prices fluctuated, and most of Bihar’s production moved through unorganised middlemen. “The industry lacked trust,” Faraz noted. “Farmers didn’t have fixed buyers, and companies didn’t have reliable sourcing.”
Their solution was to formalise the value chain. With no budget for marketing or distribution, it was not easy to gain public trust for a company that had just started. That’s when the duo turned to B2B white labelling. “Retailers refused to stock an unknown brand. So we supplied makhana to other brands under their labels,” he explained.
Their first order, worth Rs 4 lakh, came in 2022. Most of it was fulfilled using a prototype machine Faraz and Shishir built from scratch, applying their robotics background. “We worked 13 hours a day, fixing problems like the smell of oil, moisture, and shelf life,” he says. “We broke the machine twice, and still delivered on time.”
Government aid and the first round of funding
As orders grew, the founders applied for government support. By the end of 2022, they secured a Rs 10 lakh loan under the PM Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) scheme. That same year, they raised Rs 15 lakh from an angel investor at a valuation of Rs 3 crore.
Those funds went into building their first small-scale unit, hiring local workers, and experimenting with new product lines. According to the ROC filings accessed from Tofler, FY23 saw the annual revenue of the company reach Rs 8.3 lakh, with a loss of over Rs 60,000. In FY24, the revenue was Rs 45.4 lakh with a profit of around Rs 14,000. As per the ROC filings provided by the company, FY25 witnessed a revenue of Rs 2.5 crore with a profit of Rs 72,340. According to Faraz, the company reports average monthly revenue of Rs 1.5 crore, with plans to close FY26 at Rs 20 crore.
Despite its scale, Shhe Foods remains conservative with spending. “We’ve hardly ever spent on marketing,” Faraz admitted. “Word of mouth is our advertising.” His outreach was often improvised; at one point, he even created a LinkedIn profile after hearing that “investors are found there.” “I didn’t know what a pitch deck was,” he laughed.
In 2022, Shhe Foods catered to four brands. By 2023, that number rose to 12, and in 2024, to 30. Today, it serves over 41 clients, including Indian and international food brands across the UAE and the US.
Fixing the supply chain
Behind that consistency lies the company’s biggest strength: direct farmer partnerships. Faraz explained that the company sources makhana from over 2,500 cultivators in the Mithilanchal region of Bihar.
Faraz says the move is beginning to reshape the local economy. “When we started, 70% of farmers had left makhana cultivation because rates were unstable,” he explained. “Now, about 80% of them have returned. There’s trust again.” This decentralised network is the company’s moat. Many FMCG brands struggle to secure year-round supply, forcing them to alter MRPs or pause production. Shhe Foods’ direct sourcing model helps it stay stable even as competitors rely on fluctuating intermediaries, Faraz explained.
The makhana market in India, once a cottage industry, is now an emerging food segment valued at roughly Rs 8.5 billion in 2024, as per IMARC research. With rising global demand for plant-based proteins and low-fat snacks, exports from Bihar are expected to surge over the next decade. Yet most of that value still leaks out of the state, with large FMCG brands capturing the final consumer margin.
As per a report by APEDA and ICRIER, India accounts for nearly 90% of the world’s makhana output, mostly from Bihar. Over the past decade, cultivation in the state has tripled from nearly 13,000 hectares in 2012-13 to 35,000 hectares in 2021-22. The seed production went up from 20,800 tonnes to 56,400 tonnes during the same period. Furthermore, the state’s productivity has improved from 16 to 28 quintals per hectare, aided by the government subsidy. Purnia and Katihar are now Bihar’s leading producers, together contributing over 10,000 tonnes of pop makhana annually. Even so, only about 12,000 tonnes of India’s total produce currently meets export standards, a fraction of the potential in global markets such as the US, UK and Japan, where demand for plant-based snacks is expanding at double-digit rates. Despite the various government schemes meant to protect this ‘superfood’, the sector remains fragmented, with farmers’ earnings varying between 27% and 55% of the retail value.
The pivot to retail
After three years of contract manufacturing, Faraz and Shubham decided to test their own brand identity. In late 2024, they launched Makhanza, Nutrimix, and Maket, three retail brands offering flavoured makhanas, makhana-millet cookies, and makhana flour.
According to Faraz, the products found shelf space in more than 80 stores across Lucknow, Varanasi, Ahmedabad, and Bengaluru within weeks. Some SKUs, Faraz claimed, enjoy 100% repeat orders.
Still, the move comes with risk. The retail makhana category has become crowded with urban wellness startups such as Happillo, Satvik, and Farmley, all of which have stronger brand visibility and e-commerce distribution. Competing with them means balancing scale with quality. The category also has FMCG leaders, such as Tata, competing. “We’re realistic about our challenges,” Faraz said. “Our priority is to make Bihar’s food industry credible first. Branding comes next.”
The company now employs 18 full-time workers and contracts seasonal labour during peak production. Its operations have expanded to 11 Indian states and a handful of export destinations, including the US, Australia, Dubai, and New Zealand.
Faraz’s goal is ambitious; he wants to take Shhe Foods to Rs 200 crore in two years, entirely from Bihar. The number may sound aspirational, but keeping the competition in mind, it’s only a matter of time that will decide.
