From Hive to Home: How Shruti Dhakad is Redefining India’s Natural Products Market with Tribal Empowerment through Shrupaneel
📝Interviews
The Indian honey market is growing steadily as consumers increasingly prefer natural, organic, and health-focused products. The market was valued at around $449.8 million in 2024 and is projected to reach over $626 million by 2033, driven by rising awareness of wellness, sustainable farming, and beekeeping. At the same time, initiatives supporting tribal entrepreneurship and rural livelihoods are creating new opportunities for women producers across India.
In the spirit of International Women’s Day, entrepreneurs like Shruti Dhakad, founder of Shrupaneel, are turning these opportunities into meaningful impact. Inspired by her work with tribal communities, she built Shrupaneel to promote natural honey products while empowering tribal women with market access and fair income opportunities. In this conversation with StartupTalky, she shares her journey of building a purpose-driven brand and supporting rural entrepreneurship.
The Inspiration Behind Starting Shrupaneel
StartupTalky: Every entrepreneur's journey begins with a moment of conviction. What was the defining experience or frustration that pushed you to start your own venture, and how did your perspective as a woman influence the problem you chose to solve?
Shruti Dhakad: During my Two-year Gandhi Fellowship by Piramal Foundation I interacted with many Tribal women/people at Chhattisgarh. I was making them aware about sanitation pads and how to use them properly. They were looking livelihood by selling their natural products. They were struggling to market their products, I felt the spark that I need to do something to these women who need helps not only in health but also to market their natural products like honey, Bee Pollen, Bee wax, Bee Propolis etc.
Overcoming Communication Challenges and Learning the Art of Sales
StartupTalky: Building a brand from scratch requires wearing multiple hats simultaneously. Which aspect of entrepreneurship did you find most unexpectedly challenging, and which skill did you discover you were naturally gifted at that you had not recognized before?
Shruti Dhakad: Sales and Communication. I was initially not good at Communication but when I started interacting with various stakeholders- District Collector, Education officers, Tribal People-I started gaining confidence. I even represented my firm Shrupaneel at various fora like IIT BOMBAY Tech Fest, Global Investor’s Summit Bhopal etc. On the sales part listing product on amazon, selling to them via my own website-shrupaneel.com. There are still many channels that remains to be explored.
Breaking the Credibility Barrier as a Woman Entrepreneur
StartupTalky: Women entrepreneurs in India often face a credibility gap where investors, vendors, and even customers question their capability before giving them a chance. Can you share a specific instance where you had to prove yourself twice as hard, and what you learned from that experience?
Shruti Dhakad: During my early days of product marketing people did not take me seriously like how you going to manage packaging, Fassai Licensing, GST, Vendor management, Social Media management etc. But when I finally have a well packaged product in my hand and able to sell it people perception about me changed. I have worked hard on designing, brand positioning.
Balancing Entrepreneurship, Family Expectations, and Support Systems
StartupTalky: The early days of any startup involve making difficult trade-offs between personal life and professional ambitions. How did you navigate the expectations of family and society while building your business, and what support system proved most critical?
Shruti Dhakad: We work as team-we are 3 sisters each manages certain aspect of business. As far as managing personal life-I prefer spending Quality time with family rather than more time. In fact, my family is quite happy to see where am I today. My family proved most critical support system for managing personal life and for managing professional life Our mentors-Pankaj Patel, Anand Patel, Toshan Kumar were really helpful.
Lessons in Leadership and Teamwork Inspired by Honeybees
StartupTalky: Mentorship can be transformative for first-generation women entrepreneurs. Who was your most unexpected mentor, someone outside your immediate industry or circle, and what advice from them fundamentally changed how you approach your business?
Shruti Dhakad: Honey Bees are my Mentor. They are industrious creature-for making one spoon of honey they visit thousands of flowers...!! They work as team, worker bee, drones, soldiers etc. each colony has thousands of them. For human perspective they help us in pollination which ultimately helps proper plant growth which in turn promote biodiversity.
Building an Inclusive Team Culture While Empowering Tribal Women
StartupTalky: As your business grows, hiring and building a team becomes crucial. What is your philosophy on building a team culture that is genuinely inclusive for women, and how do you ensure that inclusivity goes beyond policies into everyday practice?
Shruti Dhakad: Our brand name- “Shrupaneel” is a portamento made up of three words- Shru stands for Shruti, Pa-Stands for Prachi/Pooja, Neel stands for Neelu. We work as team just like honeybees. Our leadership moto “A leader is someone who creates more leaders”. We work closely with tribal women to ensure they get fair price of their product. We regularly conduct training in scientific bee keeping practices.
Embracing Failure and Staying Committed to the Journey
StartupTalky: This Women's Day, if you could go back and give one piece of advice to yourself on the day you decided to start your entrepreneurial journey, what would it be and why?
Shruti Dhakad: Failures and Successes are parts and parcels of life never be disheartened by failure and also over joyed by successes. Just keep going/moving towards one’s goal.
Sakshi Jadhav