This IIT Kharagpur graduate quits his US job to start a dairy farm that now earns Rs. 44 crore

Quitting a well-paying job to pursue your passion is not an easy feat. We have all heard them say that following your passion will reap prosperity and success but how many people are able to gather enough courage to give up a life of luxury and security to start all over again? This is the extraordinary case of Kishore Indukuri, an IIT alumnus, who gave up his lucrative job with Intel in the USA to get back to his roots and start his own dairy farm.

The former IITian, Kishore Indukuri graduated from IIT Kharagpur and went on to pursue his master’s degree and Ph.D. from the United States, eventually landing a high-paying job at an American tech giant, Intel. However, he was not content with his job and yearned to return to his simple life in India. In 2012 Indukuri started his dairy farm with 20 cows and today the company is worth Rs 44 crores. This is the story of a gentleman who decided to follow his passion.

The Epiphany

Like everyone, Kishore wanted to get a high-paying job at a reputed company. But six years into his job, he realised his passion for agriculture and made up his mind to follow his passion, even if it meant giving up on security. He took a call and finally gave up his job in the US and got back to his roots. 

Once he was back to Hyderabad, Kishore soon realised that there were extremely limited options for hygienic and safe milk in and around the city. Kishore was already familiar with field visits and interaction with farmers, as his family owned some farmland in Karnataka. 

Thus began Kishore’s dairy farm in the year 2012 with just 20 cows as investment. “I decided to quit my job and return to my agricultural roots. Moving back to Hyderabad, I realised that there were limited options for affordable, unadulterated milk. I wanted to bring a change not only for my son and my family but also for the people of Hyderabad,” says Kishore.

The Initial Struggles

It is never easy to start a business from scratch, and Kishore faced numerous challenges while doing so. Kishore and his family started by milking the cows themselves and delivering the milk directly to the doorsteps of customers. Freezer and store systems was one of the first investments he and his family made to ensure the longevity of milk from the time of milking to distribution. From then on, there was no turning back.

He started his business on a subscription basis and over time his customer base grew substantially. Naming the business after his son, Sidharth, he officially registered the business as 'Sid's Farm' in 2016.

Sharing the challenges he faced, Kishore says, “Nothing was a cakewalk as it was an operationally intensive business environment and I had to quickly get acquainted with it. With the first 20 cows, we started selling milk directly to the customers. As people’s days start with chai or coffee, the milk should reach them by 6 am. So, we used to milk the cows at 4 am. But as the demand started to increase, we had to keep advancing the timing to milk the cows, which was a real challenge to keep up with.”

Starting with an initial investment of Rs 1 crore and then another 2 crores later, the ex-IITian managed to build a strong foundation for his dairy. It was only after Kishore had managed to secure a loan for Rs 1.3 crore in 2018 that he expanded the dairy’s operations and increased production to upscale his venture. He had finally “established a permanent manufacturing facility.”

Kishore’s dairy farm was delivering milk to nearly 6,000 customers in and around Hyderabad by the year 2018.

Expanding The Portfolio

Like all startups Sid’s Farm started small and eventually they diversified their products. Having started with just cow and buffalo milk, they have now expanded their portfolio to produce a range of dairy products including whole cow and buffalo milk, cow milk butter, skim milk, cow milk ghee, buffalo milk ghee and butter, cow and buffalo curd and organic paneer. 

He says, “We started with milk and realised soon that the shelf life of milk derivatives such as paneer, curd, and butter is much more than milk. We also observed that most of the dairy brands were not supplying cow or buffalo dairy products separately, which became our unique differentiator in Hyderabad. We saw an increasing demand for our dairy products in Hyderabad. So, we diversified into other product categories such as whole cow's milk, whole buffalo's milk, skim milk, cow's butter, cow’s ghee, buffalo’s butter, buffalo’s ghee, cow’s curd, buffalo’s curd, and natural paneer.”

Kishore’s farm uses superior technology to ensure that whatever they are producing is of the best quality. Talking about their target audience who are millennial parents with children, Kishore shares,“Our target customers are millennial parents, or any parents with kids, and health-conscious citizens who would like to drink unadulterated pure milk.”

Kishore is a live example and motivation for others who are stuck in a job where they find no satisfaction and want to follow their passions but are unable to. Kishore took a daring decision back in 2012 but with hardwork and dedication he has realized his passion and dreams.

Today, Sid’s Farm, located in Shabad, has expanded its operations to include 120 employees and has achieved an annual turnover of Rs 44 crores. It delivers milk to nearly 10,000 happy customers every day. 

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