International Women's Day 2022: Women from the F&B industry who deserve to be celebrated

The debate around whether there should actually be a Women's Day has always been a subject of controversy. Women do not need just one day in the whole year to be celebrated. The strength that they stand for, needs to be celebrated everyday. Here we list down some women from the food and beverage industry who have made their mark in a male dominated field and have proved their excellence.

Born and brought up in Shimla, when Shipra Khanna-an economics and psychology graduate won the Masterchef India 2 in 2012, she stepped into an industry that had a male predominance. A single mother with no support, Shipra made it big in the culinary world with her talent, grit and determination. A celebrity chef, an entrepreneur, a public speaker, a motivator and an author, Shipra has donned many hats ever since her iconic win at the age of 28. "When for the first time I got success, I used it as a pathway to strive for more and in the past 12 years, I have not looked back, stopped or rested for a while. There is nothing that a woman who makes up her mind- cannot achieve, "says Shipra.

Vidhi Puri loved to throw parties, meet people and have a conversation around drinks. She decided to turn her passion into a profession by launching The Cocktail Story in 2018. But what initially was conceived as a blog, gradually turned into a pan-India movement. Vidhi is now a leading entrepreneur transforming the Indian bartending industry as well as the evolving beverage and cocktail culture of India. Today, The Cocktail Story is one of the biggest platforms catering to the bar industry of India as well as the experimental beverage enthusiasts through all the requisite content one needs to know about drinks & more. Not just that, it also supports the bartenders across the country in various ways possible.

One of the leading Tea Sommeliers, Anamika Singh's professional journey has been inspired and fuelled by her passion. With over two decades of experience in the tea industry, Anamika who is the founder of Anandini Himalaya Tea says, "Navigating between Dharamsala and Gurgaon has allowed me to keep in touch with my traditional ‘purist’ roots as well as the rapidly evolving international market of demanding expats and the Indian tea ‘connoisseurs’. Working in collaboration with exclusive Spas, Star hotels and top restaurants Anandini Himalaya Tea has helped me be part of this taste revolution." Besides infusing tea into the lives of tea lovers across the globe, she also loves to drive. The longest stretch has been from Dharamshala to Darjeeling. A gifted photographer inspired by dried foliage, Anamika is an optimist who strongly believes in the words 'create your own reality' .

Rupali Bhatnagar Raghorte is the Associate Vice President and Senior winemaker -sparkling and white wines at Sula Vineyards. A microbiologist by qualification with no formal degree in winemaking or internships abroad, Rupali's journey has been phenomenal. She has proven that one can rise to the ranks of a good winemaker even without formal training in enology- only through sheer hard work, grit, and setting goals. She joined Sula Vineyards in 2006 as a lab technician and progressed within the organisation by changing roles over the years. She does not believe in making parametrically correct wines but always aims at making delicious, palatable wines with the perfect balance of flavours. She believes that winemaking is a skill, and it takes a lot of practice to convert an average fruit into a great wine. An experimental and inquisitive winemaker, she loves trying out new techniques, winemaking styles, varietals, and even yeasts, etc.

An entrepreneur and a chocolate connoisseur, Sheetal elevated her passion to the next level and founded Colocal. Colocal is India’s first live bean to bar chocolate factory with a casual dining café attached where the patrons can dine as well as learn chocolate making from scratch. Although she pursued her master in finance to kickstart her professional journey as a banker and lent her skills to several prominent names in banking, she realised there was more to her than financial assets and aspirations. Working her way through the market, she invested her expertise to manifest the chocolaty ambitions with her sweet venture. Sheetal educated herself about Indian cacao and its growing, processing and refining process in southern regions of our country, mainly Kerala. She aims to work closely with Indian cacao farmers and wish to bring recognition to their high-quality Indian cacao produce.

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