8 NOVEMBER2025Shumitha Periyasamy, third-generation food entrepreneur and Founder & CEO of Food Buddies, is the received recipient of the CII EntreprenHer Award 2025, for her innovative leadership in food innovation and sustainable business growth.The award is presented by CII Indian Women Net-work (IWN), Tamil Nadu, and in collaboration with Ra-jalakshmi Engineering College, to honor women entre-preneurs who make a substantial contribution to the business environment through innovation and leader-ship.Shumitha is a sensory expert and accredited busi-ness coach with a B.Tech in Food Technology and Pro-cessing. She was raised in an entrepreneurial family and has always worked in the food business.Shumitha has been able to combine technical knowl-edge with her entrepreneurial vision to deliver purpose-ful innovation with sustainability. She has worked with over 3,000 clients and completed in excess of 400 proj-ects across the food industry.Established in 2014, Food Buddies is a food innova-tion consultancy that supports entrepreneurs in devel-oping their idea into market-ready products.Using their navigating a Marketable Food Innovation (NMFI) approach, the company supports the whole pro-cess from product development to commercialization.The team of 50+ professionals has developed 2800+ food products, launched 320+ first time innovations, and completed over 340 projects altogether.Food Buddies have also established 75+, third par-ty manufacturing partnerships, creating a formidable presence in India's food innovation ecosystem.On being recognized, Shumitha noted, "Innovation is about doing something that changes the game. Being recognized is not just a reflection of what we do at Food Buddies; it is a demonstration of the common goal to help food entrepreneurs translate meaningful ideas into market viable solutions".Food Buddies works across all facets of the food busi-ness journey from product ideation, setting up factories, regulatory compliance, certifications and audits, and ac-tively shaping the future of food innovation in India. IN FOCUSSHUMITHA PERIYASAMY WINS CII ENTREPRENHER AWARD 2025· Shumitha Periyasamy food entrepreneur-ship focuses on sustainable food innova-tion in Chennai· She is the founder and CEO of Food Bud-dies, a consultancy focused on food inno-vation· Shumitha recently earned accolades with the CII EntreprenHer Award 2025
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